Born in Fire

Offices of the Academy of Training, Fire Plane

The Master of Training greets Lady Hurmiz and Lord Mirdas, called there to talk about their daughter, Thulia. Thulia manifesting an ability uncommon among them, hhm.

The Master nodded. "While a mixed heritage is hardly unknown, hers is considerably more complex than most. Normally in such cases, when the natural talents differ from the norm they are usually a mix of those normally attributed to the races involved. However, in Thulia's case, the combinations have resulted in something rather unusual. To put it simply, in addition to the normal traits I would have expected her to inherit from her immediate family, she shows signs of abilities more normally associated with humans, and they influence her other abilities."

Okay, was not expecting that.

In particular, her creative abilities are much greater than we are normally used to seeing."

Thulia's father frowned deeply. "Creative? I'm not sure I like the sound of that, creativity is by no means always a good thing. There is much to be said for traditional teaching and methods."

Good grief, her father sounds like someone stuck too much on traditions.

The Master gave him a considering look, before continuing. "Well, yes, I do realise that the sort of level of invention normally shown by humans is often disconcerting, but then in their case, it seems to be tied to their short life spans, which obviously does not apply to your daughter. Thulia is highly intelligent, and shows a high natural aptitude for the use of magic, what is different is that she applies somewhat unexpected solutions to problems."

So all those wonderful creations made by Thulia are far from typical of members of her people, very interesting. Pushing for new concepts and solutions can be disruptive, oof, sounds like people are afraid of progress. And the Master knows what effect this might have on Thulia once she is no longer a student, oh boy.

Academy of Training

Siveth, a subordinate of the Master of Training, wonders why he is in a bad mood.

The Master's frown deepened further. "It's not so much the amount of progress, it's the way she is going about it! She takes far too many shortcuts and novel approaches to the traditional methods. It's not a satisfactory basis for her to work from. I have just been talking with her parents, and while I tried to reassure them her... unusual traits... would not be a problem, I am not convinced of that in my own mind."

Like I said before, too stuck in traditions and not looking at new ways as potentially beneficial. I like Siveth's way of defending Thulia.

While he would of course keep to the letter of the Master's orders, he had deep doubts that it would work with Thulia. The most likely outcome was that the extra work would increase her abilities while not doing much to limit the energy spent on her own ideas.

The Master of Training might as well suggest trying to restrain a volcano with a large-cap on top with all the good this will do.

Academy of Training, apprentice's area, later

Master Siveth is Thulia's tutor, huh, with the way he was talked about I thought he was her teacher. A slab of red crystal, I wonder what that is.

"It's my modification of Veservias's Quantum Computer, master. The original was very clever, but tricky to make and rather delicate. Mine is much simpler to make, and also it manipulates more qubits. It's not quite ready yet" - she decided not to point out that right now it was decidedly alpha-test hardware - "and if it doesn't add too much complexity, I want to allow the units to be put into a cluster. That will give a significant increase in the available computing power!"

Dang, with the way she talks about her creations I'm sure she would get along with the kids in the Workshop at Whateley well.

Hardly a teenager yet, does that mean Thulia is just 13 and making this, whoa.

"Thulia, the Master of Training wishes to increase your formal workload. He feels that you have the capacity to progress faster and in greater depth. However, this will mean that you won't have so much free time."

Thulia looked up at him, emotions washing across her face, then glanced down at the slab, one hand caressing the crystal. "But Master...!"

"Thulia... I am not forbidding you from working on creations like this, but the Master of Training has been most specific. However... as long as you keep up with our new expectations, I see no reason for me to look too closely into whatever else you spend your time doing."

Siveth, you are a good man/being. Trying to suppress a gifted child because they might have a bad influence on the other students, makes me want to smack The Master of Training upside the back of his head.

The mountain outside Thulia's home, somewhere on the Plane of Fire, some years later.

Thulia is upset because she didn't get the funding she needs for her project. Bruce is there with her, wisely keeping his mouth shut.

"I just don't understand them. I showed them the maths, the calculations, my models. It would be a major advance in learning about how human manifestations and BITS interact, and how to attain a primal elemental connection at the same time. It's as if they just aren't interested in progress

From her parents' and the Master of Training's reactions to her ability I don't think they are.

"Conservative? This rock is a radical progressive compared to them! And then more than one made snide remarks about how a mixed-blood, part human, shouldn't get unapproved ideas. At least humans have an idea of progress and learning, that lot wouldn't recognise a new concept if they tripped over it."

Great, so they are a bunch of bigots as well. No wonder she had to come to Earth and work with that cult to get anything done.

Thulia's family, are we sure they aren't at least part-dragon with the way they hoard gold? Bruce is the one who suggested going to her Grandmother, I wonder why her Grandmother has put up with a lot of prejudice herself.

Behind her back, Bruce shook his head at the rapid change in her demeanour, and hoped he hadn't accidentally unleashed her onto an unsuspecting world.

So we have Bruce to thank, or from Ms. Grimes's point of view, blame.

Thulia's home

Oh boy, making a deal with humans to fund her experiments, Thulia is young and eager for results.

Tanau chuckled. "Oh yes, I'm sure you did! But you do have to realise that there are things that can go wrong, and many humans can't be trusted - if they can take advantage or cheat, they will. Trust me on this, I have experience."

Ah, the old manipulating a deal to their own benefit, screw over the demon/devil/whatever entity the deal is with not caring what happens to them crud.

"I realise there are certain risks, but I wasn't intending to cut any corners on the protocols." She wisely refrained from mentioning which corners she was prepared to cut if she felt it necessary - after all, what she didn't say couldn't be used as an argument against what she wanted to do.

Good grief, you can see how much Thulia is a teenager just from that bit of logic there.

"I need your help and advice. I know there are traps I need to avoid, and I know I don't have any experience in dealing with the human realm. You're the best expert I know of, so I was hoping you could aid me in making this a success."

Never try to fool your grandmother, just be straightforward with her, they can almost always see right through you.

Go-betweens for deals with otherwordly entities, huh, I guess it makes sense with how Tanau spells it out.

"Two things. First, as I said, they charge a fee for your first use, and a commission on your payments." She gave Thulia a much more serious look." Second, they make sure any contract is enforced, so if you make one, make very sure you intend to keep to it."

Uh oh, I hope the cult being decimated doesn't count as Thulia not keeping the contract. I like Tanau, I kind of wish Thulia had been raised by her instead of her conservative parents.

The Broker's Office

Thulia is not sure what species the man? in front of her is. The terms from the Broker and his organization are quite reasonable. Now I'm curious if the cult was the only suitable contractees that agreed to all Thulia's terms or not.

Thulia's Home

Oh, good. She had her grandmother look over the contract, and said it was fair. Always get a second opinion. Personal arrangements to visit Earth as needed, is this how the set-up used with Morgana came to be?

Thulia's Workroom

Thulia wiped her hands clean on a cloth before answering her sidekick with a smug expression. "Two things. First, the cluster is quantum computers, and they seem to work better with magic. But mainly I'm going to use my blood to make the circles attuned to me, like the cluster already is, so I'm avoiding a lot of the issues. Anyway, smart circles are so much better than having to do them all by hand!

Shoot, she could teach the magic staff at Whateley a thing or two I bet. A connection to Earth's internet, neat. Just who are these beings who Bruce calls the Cats and how can they claim to own Internet access?

Thulia nodded firmly. "Oh yes. I don't trust the Academy not to monitor what I look at, and it's not just technical stuff this time, I need to look at human culture so I can sort some stuff out. I know it isn't cheap, but I need the privacy."

Good grief, the Academy is starting to sound more and more like a tyrannical overlord than a place of learning. Bruce! Never tease Thulia about looking at porn.

Thulia's Workroom/Laboratory, some time later.

Wait, so Thulia designed the body she appears in on Earth herself, very interesting.

"Well... sort of. A few. I started by looking at lots of human source material concerning demon-girls and dragon-girls, to get some ideas. I thought I'd see how they thought we looked, that way they wouldn't be surprised at how I appeared to them, and they'd be reassured. There was a lot of variation, and quite a few of the forms were, well, ugly. I mean, they had hooves! I found most consistency in a medium called anime, it seemed to deal with a lot of teenage demon-girls for some reason. But I took that and merged some of it with the way I usually look. But... well, this somehow seems more me than my current look." She gave her grandmother a rather plaintive look. "I can't really explain that, it just seemed right."

Anime, I should have known. At least she didn't go for any of the stuff seen in the NSFW category for those kinds of images.

"So... do you think it's attractive? I mean, to others?" She blushed slightly. "The girls I saw on the Earth data usually had much bigger breasts, and more curves. Do I need to change to look more like that?"

Oh crud, Thulia, don't take the average anime girl as being what actual human girls are like in proportions, nor any kind of artwork you found online. Okay, I love Tanau's response to Thulia's above question, more girls need to hear this. And her human guise form, nice. Bwahaha, so that is why she doesn't have any body hair, anime trope strikes again.

Heh, annoyed at the need for the body of human mutants to adapt the more their powers move them from being different from baseline humans. She made the mechanism at a cellular level, mind blown. Wait, is what Thulia just described the basis for Morgana's dragon form? You planned to explain this all that long ago, most impressive. A good reason not to have a tail, don't want it getting stuck in a door. Bwahaha, Tanau knows how to embarrass her granddaughter well. Good idea to change those details, Tanau. When someone is too perfect is can trigger an uncanny valley effect on people and lead them to question what they are seeing more.

Abraxus's Office, an island somewhere in the North Sea, Earth

Taking longer than expected to make the connection, no wonder Thulia listened to what Abraxus had to say about making a contract with him. *chuckles* Thinking Thulia is old and experienced just because of what she claims she can do, foolish to assume that. Thulia wanted volunteers, Abraxus lied to her about the test subject. Human sacrifices, so glad about his future fate. A device to detect an appropriate test subject, I always wondered how they chose who they did as it didn't seem random.

Thulia's Workroom, some time later

She wriggled out from under the hunk of equipment she'd been working on - no matter how sophisticated it was, or how much of it was solid-state with no moving parts, working on it always seemed to require crawling around and getting into uncomfortable and unlikely positions. She had dark suspicions that some sort of universal law was involved somewhere.

Ssh, you will give away the secret, and then the Instructable Aliens of Order will come. Talking to Thulia like she is a lowly servant, Abraxus needs to learn not to anger the otherworldly entity who is working for you. Thulia's ambition blinded her to one major detail of what she was just told, the subject is sedated. Why would a volunteer need to be sedated?

Bruce is right, if they saw Thulia in this state they would realize how much this all means to her and try to take advantage by forcing new conditions onto her. Boy, Thulia can act the part when needed.

Cult cell block

*facepalms* She still thinks he is a volunteer, Thulia is so naive sometimes. More detailed test and she needs to do it in the work area, so we get to see what happened to Rob from Thulia's perspective. Rob in awe of Thulia's workshop, told by Bruce they have work to do and at this point probably still confused as to why he is here.

Thulia's Workroom, some days later.

Thulia is ready for the full set of testing on Rob.

"No, I want you to go and get him yourself. I'm not happy about the way the guards drag him here, I don't want to start the tests with him upset."

Bruce just looked at her. "Oh?"

Thulia deliberately turned away from Bruce to concentrate on her equipment. "It wouldn't let me get the most precise readings, that's all."

Oh boy, she has already started to fall for Rob at this point.

She knew that the reason she'd given Bruce was false, but ever since she'd found out that Rob wasn't a volunteer, but had been kidnapped and dragged into her experiment, she'd been feeling increasingly guilty. She knew now just what the Cult was, and if she'd known earlier she would have found some other source of funds, even if that would have meant putting things off.

Ouch, stuck in a bad deal due to the contract. Though since Thulia specified she wanted a volunteer from the start when bargaining with Abraxus shouldn't them bringing her a kidnapping victim null the contract as they broke part of the deal?

Dressing up to get Rob's attention and in an outfit normally worn by the villainess in animes, Thulia, you sweet innocent child. Well, that got his attention.

Comprehensive medical, but Rob has never had one like this. Thulia is very thorough in her testing, she reminds me a little of Washu from Tenchi Muyo. *head hits desk* She wants to see Rob naked, Thulia isn't as innocent as I thought. Stop teasing the poor boy, you will cause him to pass out from embarrassment alone at this rate. And checking Rob out like that, oh boy. A machine like that for scanning, reminds me a lot more of Washu now, eep.

Bone marrow sample, thank you for the mercy of putting Rob to sleep for that. And what other samples might Thulia not have mentioned needing from Rob, Bruce?

"OK, that's a bone marrow sample, spinal fluid, and some cell samples from his heart and liver. Just one left to do."

Oh, those probably would have freaked him out. Wait, the last sample...eep, no wonder Thulia didn't mention it. Rob would have definitely passed out from embarrassment right then and there.

That was all there was to it, nothing more. Really. She pointedly ignored the way her body was feeling right now, she was doing this for Science, not to enjoy the feeling of arousal the task had given her.

Denial so deep you could dive halfway down the Marianas Trench if it were water. And a kiss on the cheek for Rob, Thulia finally admitting her feelings, if but a little.

Thulia happy to have met Rob, but feeling guilty that her experiment dragged him into this and he would be safe and sound at home if she had never come, ouch. Bruce, you are a good gargoyle to shield Thulia and let her keep as much innocence as she has as long as possible. *double facepalms* Thulia, you are deep in denial about your feelings for Rob to say that to Bruce.

Thulia's Workroom, a day later.

At least there is a good reason for the straps, falling out of a magic circle while an experiment is going on, I don't want to imagine what would happen. Rob sees Thulia naked because powerful rituals are done naked, surprised the sudden rush of blood didn't make Rob dizzy. Hehe, Thulia doesn't realize ritual magic isn't common among humans, I wonder if anime gave her that idea or she just assumed they shared that common cultural trait.

Uh oh, readings slipping from what Thulia is expecting. Oh crud, burnout because Exemplar trait not growing fast or far enough.

On top of that, there was something - unusual - about the power flow, it was fluctuating slightly in ways she wasn't familiar with. She ignored that, there wasn't time to start worrying about things like that, even though all her predictions had said that shouldn't be happening.

Don't tell me, this is the parasite demon the cult implanted in Rob/Morgana to control them and that is what is causing the fluctuating. The syringe, she had to use her own blood on Rob to stabilize him and it affected his forming BIT, didn't she?

Two days later

Hadn't slept in two days, watched and monitored Rob's changing for as they stabilized. And Abraxus' men just come in and drag Rob off, ugh, morons. Abraxus not allowing Thulia to see Rob, I hate this contract.

Rob is so hurt, afraid, and frustrated, not knowing why Thulia changed his form the way she did. The only way to save Rob's life, ouch.

"I need to explain what happened to you. My procedure started out fine - your BIT was growing as planned, you were exhibiting all the signs of an Exemplar and Wizard, making you ready to absorb the elemental link I had prepared. All as planned. But there was a problem." She looked at Rob almost sadly. "It was working TOO well. You were starting to manifest out of control, the stresses on your body were making you burn out. If I'd let it go on, you would have died."

The speed that things can happen to a mutant, even an artificially induced one, varies and can be unpredictable. Spliced her DNA into Rob's to make him strong enough to survive, didn't know it would make him a girl, it could have been much worse.

Thulia's workroom, slightly later that day

"It's all gone wrong! Now he's going to hate me for what I did to him!"

Anyone who says she isn't a teenage girl never saw the real her.

"But he was happy as a boy! Humans and so inflexible with their forms, he's going to hate me for changing him like this." She sniffled, then spoke very quietly. "I liked him as a boy."

"Look, kid. Give him a day or two to get over the shock, then I think you'll find he still likes you. And if he does, he'll forgive you. He just hadn't had time to work through it all yet. And it's not like you don't like him as a girl, is it?"

She shook her head slightly. "No.... I guess you're right, Bruce, I'll see how he feels in a few days." Then her voice firmed "But, somehow, I'm going to make this right for him. I owe him that."

Bruce is very wise, I would how Ms. Grimes would react to him if she heard the kind of sage advice he can give.

Thulia's Workroom, a week later.

A technical explanation of his powers to Rob at this point, Bruce is right, simplify it until he is more learned on the subject matter.

"There are some things in his power set I'm not quite sure about myself. I mean, it looks at first glance as if everything is as it should be, the link providing power to energise a copy of my form. But when I dig into the data in detail, there are discrepancies. I thought at first they were just minor things, incidental. But I've been digging into them a bit more while I examined him, and now I'm not sure that was the right assessment. Some things about the way it went just shouldn't have happened, but my theory can't have been that wrong, or it would never have worked at all."

"Is it going to be a problem for Rob?"

Thulia looked at the displays projected in front of her and tried not to show her frustration. "I don't know! Whatever it is, it's settled down stable, so I don't see anything major changing now." She glared at her displays again. "I can work it out, I just need more time, that's all."

I still think the cult putting the parasite demon in Rob is what messed up the experiment, I forget if they did that before, during, or after the experiment though.

Abraxus's Chamber, the following day.

Good, Thulia sees through the false image Abraxus is trying to project. A power source, a slave, I wish their deception about the source of their "volunteer" was enough to make the contract null and void. Replicate the procedure, he is insane! Oh good, just doesn't tell him about what isn't in the notes.

Thulia is scary when angry. Testing a pretense for talking with Rob, Thulia is good at manipulating the word of an arrangement.

"You aren't a thing, Thulia."

No wonder Thulia fell for Rob so hard.

"Rob, there are some things they will want you to do. The first is to enter into an agreement, a contract, to do as they wish. Don't sign it. If you do, they will control you, mind and body. You won't be able to break it on your own." She gave me a worryingly sober look. "They will put pressure on you. Resist it. As long as an oath doesn't bind you, you can try to escape. Something will turn up."

"Yeah." This time, it was Bruce's gravelly Australian accent. "Give it time; something will turn up."

It was only Thulia's words that kept Rob's hope alive and resisting those cult creeps. A kiss like that and then sleep spell, darn, no chance to savor it.

Abraxus's Chamber, after Thulia has departed.

This scene makes me wonder, did he just implant the psychofágos into Rob or did that happen earlier? All I know is I can't wait to see him get his deserved fate again.