Llydia

"Thank you, Jade." Trisys whispered. Her eyes closed, she let out the breath she'd been holding, and slumped with released tension. That is, she would have if capable of it. Instead all she could do was murmur another inadequate, "Thank you."

Direct focus and good intentions can go far, especially vocalized. Jade had demanded to know what happened, and he was given a front-row seat. The entire Wish sequence was repeated, this time relived from the perspective of Trisys: Yanked from heavenly relaxation pools to Master for the Wish initiation. The countdown. Time ran out unto the awful realization of Jade's Wish granted. The critical moment Trisys choose to exchange her flesh fate for Jade's so that he might live beyond fifteen minutes after restoration. Her continued transformation as the magic and technology squabble, er, incompatible clash, tore at Trisys. Kethara, Cerelassion, Akat, and Lady Aineruda's retrieval of her from beneath the renewed mammoth dragon to discover the newly metalized satyr. And everything between.

Jade experienced it all like an IMAX epic. A little effort would make it possible to be dispassionate. But with the slightest yielding the experience would sweep up and carry Jade along its crest, a breath away from being swallowed whole by the momentous event.

The key information was there to be realized. Primarily that the consequence of Trisys's choice had resulted with her imprisoned in the metal body. Also that her basic senses, most notably touch and smell, were severely crippled or completely gone. Still, knowledge didn't always equate to understanding.

Trisys was silent for a long while after Jade's request not to be Master, but Friend. If not for the static she might appear MIA again with her absolute motionlessness. Finally, in a very small voice she could not mask a tremble, "Are you returning the Token to dissolve the Bond?"

"Be happy, Jade. Live a fullness of joy. What better thanks could there be?" Is was the right thing to say, even though there was a bit of selfish motive behind it. If Jade lived fully, he would be at peace when death concluded his life. He would not end up one of the Voices that haunted her.

Swallowing was definitely missed. Jade's effort to smile was encouraging. But Trisys had realized a couple things. Suppressing the terror of her situation was a struggle, one she was unsure she could win. Yet even the milder emotions still made her feel chilled like a premonition of an incoming storm. It may not be enough to not feel strong emotions. Any emotions at all might be depleting some kind of cosmic account; one that a zero balance meant she went back to the Cold Place. It was a thought that did nothing to make her battle with fright easier.

She could not ask Jade about it. His bad reaction before made it clear anything about his experience as a robot was not a safe topic of discussion. Trisys would treat it as taboo. She would have to battle her fears alone.

Trisys scrutinized the stone acorn as Jade cradled it for her view. "The Token is a symbol and a connection. As a symbol it binds me to you, Master. Though it I always know where my Master is, and any Wish my Master makes. Nothing more. As a connection, you, as Master, may use it to know anything about me: Everything that has happened to me, what I am capable of, even what I currently see and think.

"At least, that was my Token. Surely you know this from when our Bond formed? Except... this borrowed one has changed forms as well as owners. Still, you can know better than I. As Master you can command it to reveal information, even as through it your Wishes command me. I am its tool, not it mine."

Since Jade had asked, and since she was no longer confident he could get the information via the Token, Trisys started explaining aloud. "I can't move because I don't feel me. Power low? No, no that doesn't sound right. I... I don't feel connected."

Not helping. Trisys tried backtracking. "I can see what is right in front of me. Aside from the Voices it is the most pervasive thing. There is no reprieve. I am not able to see peripherally or blink or shift my eyes or close them. Don't think I can any more. It is always there. My eyes can be covered, but that makes sight dark, not absent.

"I can hear. That can be disabled, unlike my vision, though I don't know exactly how or why.

"Aside from that is almost nothing. No smells. No taste. Can't feel my own skin. Not even numb. As if blind to touch. There are... points. Not really like touch, just pressure. Seven? Eight? Maybe nine? It's hard to tell. Some of the others were trying to help figure out where when we were, well, interrupted." Don't think about the Cold Place. Don't think about being scared. Trisys continued quickly, "I suspect, maybe an instinct?, if I can identify them then I can move them. Then I can move me.

"My horns are the only thing that still feel like Me, and even those are strange. Like how my mane used to pull when the wind tangled it. I don't really know more yet. All of this absence, this isolation, is new. I'm still trying to figure out everything." Trisys caught herself before the finished the sentence as 'everything I lost.'

She couldn't feel his hands move away, she hadn't been able to feel them there in the first place, but the pain in his words and distraught gaze were as evident as a neon sign.

"No, please, no," it was the satyr's turn to beg Jade. "I'm sorry. Forget I asked. I only want your happiness. You are whole now. Meant to know joy. Please. Forgive my fear, Jade.

"Oh, that I could move my hands! I would clasp yours, or cradle your face, or fold them at your feet. I think I can learn how eventually. I will try, so you can then know the truth of my intentions. Please, Jade, please. Don't be sad. You... yours is the only nobleness, sacrifice, and goodness in a Master I have known since the first. Please believe how heroic you are. You are restored through your own merits, not mine."

Trisys was busy doing something. Many things, in fact.

She had next tried to create an image of her form seen via Toy. It had been much harder than summoning ghost images of her past. When constructed as best she could, her voice presence had tried residing in the same space. That proved as ineffective as trying to sit on a rainbow. She tried again, expanding to recreate Jade and the surrounding world environment. Still without substantial results.

A dozen more iterations were attempted as Trisys continued her monologue until she had as little mental power as form; aka none. Her presence draped over the PDA exhausted. Her voice echoes slowed, stilled, then went silent.

"... I tried I tried oh EarthMother! oh Jade! I tried sorry so sorry ... forgive me ... please ... ... Jade ... be well ... ... ... ..."

At this darkest, coldest moment a new voice came through. It sounded more wonderful than the summer solstice stars: please come back...

Jade!

In fantasy stories this is where Trisys would tap a hidden well of strength to blaze back along his connection in a glorious revival. What happened was more like a child nearly sleepwalking in a stumbling shuffle towards Jade's call.

The results were subtle, nearly imperceptible. The whole while Cerelassion was musing over alternative location the satyr's ear tips, wing tips, fingers, hooves, and tail tuff faded to a lighter amber shade. Next her eyes took on the same hue. Her weight lightened greatly. The cherry red spurts of minor spirit magic began flickering. Finally the pair of translucent white horns appeared on her forehead as ponderous as a rising sun. On another plane Toy's PDA connection terminated, no longer having anywhere to connect to.

"Jade." Her voice sounded groggy as it drifted out through her immobile visage. It did become a little more coherent as she continued. "Jade. You live. Thank EarthMother! How strange, I can see you clearly though I feel like I am cross-eyed. Not important. You live! You are normal, whole! My choice was worth it. It is all worth it if you live. I am grateful.

"Something. Something is niggling at me. A thought. Something important. About how I ended up this way. That's right. I panicked when they said they were going to disrupt your sleep. That is when I ended up in the cold place. It wasn't until completely worn out that you call let me return. That must be it. I can't have strong emotions. If I do I am in the cold place, all alone, lost. Though now is almost more a dream with the ceaseless Voices, almost nonexistent sensation, trapped."

She paused, the red electricity cascading from her head to her hooves like a shudder. "Jade, how did you survive as a robot?" Her subdued voice was part awe, a bit bemused, and a lot scared.

Inside the mechanical satyr was, well, dark. As would the inside of any enclosed metal sculpture that had no opening for light to enter. Though if the gnome was so inclined, he could get some great acoustics.

This both showed nothing and quite a bit. Interacting with the shell was ineffective. As would walking into a neighbor's house who had forgotten to lock their door: They may live there but the lights were out and no one was home. Others could not reach Trisys through the body because neither could she presently. In another metaphor the gnome's poking around with his embodiment/connection to the magical force of the Forest was the equivalent of driving an ice cream truck playing "Pop Goes The Weasel" and hawking wares over the loudspeaker to include, "Free samples! Come and get it!" while circling in an empty parking garage.

That was not to say reaching Trisys was an impossible feat. Jade as Master through the Token would have the easiest time of it, should he make the effort. And Toy Dispenser had proven that the spirit was reachable. It had not been Toy's touching the robot form that had given him access; it had his near-identical aura like short-range radios set to the same frequency. Likely Akat with her expertise on energy would have knowledge to apply. Kethara as a Kheldian knew about merging two entities, which was something distinctly new to the satyr. And Cerelassion could have a trick or two from his crossover studies between robots of the waste and magical artifacts. Any one of them might have success.

Meanwhile, she was a chorus of denial as Toy Dispenser turned to face Cerelassion. Her voices murmured their longing to again behold Jade. If there had been corporal form, it would have turned the PDA this way and that in a futile effort to restore the view. Though it was probably another blessing in disguise that Toy had turned away. Seeing someone stick their head in hers would probably have sent her into hysterics.

As it was, Toy's text message and the desire to see Jade again renewed the excitable energy.

"... program a program a chain of commands a cascade of Wishes program program have to download how? how? a delivery yes really? yes really? yes really? yes? oh EarthMother! oh Jade! scared unknown try try can only try where? where? everywhere yes everywhere search it all ..."

Her presence voices scattered as far and fast as thought could go then coalesced back next to the PDA, the only point of reference. The resulting chatter was hyper.

"... anything? anything out there? no nope nothing try down to a single point like a black hole? yes try try anything? anything in here? no nope nothing how to get to Jade? how? how? I'm trying, Jade! I'm trying, Toy! I'm trying trying without result trying! what if space not like box? what if not in head? maybe need another way maybe? what way? think think! THINK! ..."

She didn't know if Toy, Jade, or anyone could hear but kept rambling anyway.

Toy's withdrawl was trailed by sighs.

"... home what home? no Master no EarthMother not even Toy Dispenser illusion after all all illusion gone away gone alone again all alone wait wait something yet something here something to see see what? not what no not what who Jade! Jade lives! He lives! He lives! He lives! ..."

The excited whisperings condensed around the PDA like morning fog. "He lives! ..." was the chanted refrain made of part doubt, part delight as Jade compacted into his smaller biped form. To her perception it had been a century, maybe an eon, and Jade was surely dead and gone. To see him alive was almost more than she could bear. Then Jade gathered the robot shell close, and the swirling tone changed to bewilderment.

"... is that me? all red blood red new wings no horns me? yes really? yes really? yes really? yes? oh EarthMother! oh Jade! You live! I live I live? yes Toy Dispenser said in own head truth teller can trust get out to self get out to Jade but how? how? ..."

It was like watching her own funeral. Jade searching eyes as flat as paint and trying to hold a stiff body tenderly. The most logical thing was to try interacting with the one difference in the otherwise featureless mindscape: Toy's PDA.

At first it seemed to work. The image growing larger, the sounds more immediate, a world of the living filling out in its wonder. Except that since she was trying to exit through the PDA it was into robot Toy, not the crimson satyr. The Powers That Be had no intention of allowing such, and she was slammed back again.

Like orcas jostling around a small break in the artic ice for precious air, her stream-of-conscious fretted at Toy's connection to outside.

"... sorry so sorry can't get out don't know how unknown don't know but Jade lives! so glad so very glad want to tell you want to say Thank You but don't know how sorry so sorry ..."

The acorn Token was marked with its change as well. When bonding Jade and Trisys it had become a mini super computer. During the restoration Wish, it had reverted to its original stone consistency. Jade, as Master, would be able to instinctively know it was the bond Token. More than that would take little energy. However, it would take intentional focus to utilize.

If that focus were directed, it would be immediately obvious that the Token could perform all its basic functions as it had before. This included knowledge of location, status, thoughts, history, and remote Wish activation for Trisys. Further, the malicious personality that had been developing was gone along with the computerized circuitry. It was now a tool, nothing more. Pretty much the only difference from before was that the information required deliberate will instead of being always at the surface. A parallel would be using a browser to search the internet instead of having a feed automatically correlate the information.

Jade, as Master through the Token, could even enter Trisys's mindscape without needing to have a compatible aura such as Toy was utilizing. Though whether he would desire to do so, especially as it harbored the same endless cold he had only just escaped, was another matter entirely.

Toy's audience experienced the presentation with some agitation. Her stream of conscious reduced to mutterings as his story unfolded. That is, until the end when one shadow bopped another on the head. The unexpected classic slap-stick comedy sent her into peals of laughter.

"...oh! oh hoho! what a gift so tell him? tell Toy? tell about Trisys? can't tell about Trysis not me not I not Trysis nor Tyrsis neither Tirsys or Trisis not me not I I am Trisys Trisys Trisys only Trisys just Trisys was Trisys yes was but can tell what was as a thank you thank you very much thanks for your gift the gift of laughter been so long so very long since first Master ..."

As a creature whose outward shape had been determined by the viewer, there was no clear form presented. Instead a crash-course history whirled by like brittle brown leaves in an stormy autumn sky, more impressions than fact.

First were of a little girl, cheery with bouncing blonde curls. To the girl she had appeared a pony with tiny wings and three horns, small as a newborn puppy. The girl had been the one to name her Trisys, raising her as an imaginary friend and using wishes to create more imaginary friends for such adventures as tea parties, fashion shows, and midnight balls. The last sight of her was a tear-streaked face, immediately replaced by a young boy with an untutored gaze. Shortly it was again replaced by an older version of the male, this time with a gaze both calculating and cruel. This third one was the face seen longest, the one who had taken his newly-acquired from her Paragon homesoil to his befouled territory in the Rogue Isles. He had pushed Trisys to her limit, broke her, then pushed more. Her abilities had flourished even as the mental bondage became complete.

Finally another took his place. Then another. And another in rapid succession. Males plus an occasional female. So many it was impossible to count. At the end was a wrench when Patches had scooped up Paragon, Trisys's connection to the land bringing her along too. Except that a vital connection had also been left behind. Something about a borrow connection bonding her to her last Master, Jade, then his momentous Wish which left him restored and her a robot. All, from the first human girl until the restored dragon, had been only known as Master. Trisys had been treated as a pet, an amusement, a tool, a curiosity, envied, traded, hunted, coveted, feared, controlled, and was always a possession. That was among the Masters.

The other half was the dead. Relentless Voices bemoaning their lost lives. Demanding, ever demanding, their wish for a mortal form to be returned to them.

"... no longer Trisys not any more I have lost it all it's all gone now even the Voices even the Dead only me never thought it would be so lonely oh EarthMother! I have lost you it has been forever all for a wish a wish Jade's wish is Jade well? Jade lived lived and died by now was it worth it forever alone forever alone yes really? yes really? yes really? yes? oh EarthMother! I am lost I have lost it all it's all gone..."

It was probably clear to Toy that Trisys defined herself by the one she served rather than possessing a real sense of self. Thus why she had remained lost in her own mind: There was no Master to create a definition from. That, and she was too busy running in figurative circles to even sense Jade's awakening or that he was as delirious as her.

Toy's complete and clear interjection had a marked effect. The fear now churned with excitment.

"... a Voice! illusion just an illusion yes no another a Voice are you dead? am I dead? no yes No! not dead would hear all Voices would hear EarthMother alive? alive then who? not me not me I am Trisys not any more true true not any more then who? another Toy Dispenser who is Toy Dispenser? what is Toy Dispenser? do tell do tell the truth yes the truth the truth or travel on no please no not alone again yes yes alone better alone than living a lie no lying no lies really? yes really? yes really? Yes! the truth please the truth who are you? where are you? in head own head yes really? yes oh how is Toy Dispenser here? how is Toy Dispenser? who is Toy Dispenser? who are you? who are you?..."

Like to like. Even as Toy's mechanical nature had given access to the outside, his soul fragment found her 'other half'.

Normally in a dreamscape or mindscape there are environments, avatars, and other images. These things being a reflection of how the senses interpret the outer world and thus attempt to interpret the inner world.

Not so here. Here there was neither sense of direction nor anything pseudo visual to orient against. There was cold. Endless, oppressive cold.

And a voice. Or a chorus of voices. Overlapping in pitch and volume as a stream-of-conscious. Like green leaves rustling in a fierce spring wind. If during his chaotic entrance to Patches Toy had managed to hear Trisys's voice he could recognize it as the same, minus the echo which had been a result of her new shell.

"... lost it all it's all gone now even the Voices even the Dead only me never thought it would be so lonely for a second a second there was something sight and sound and sensation was there? a memory nothing more illusion all illusion just an illusion oh EarthMother! I have lost you it has been forever all for a wish a wish Jade's wish is Jade well? Jade lived lived and died by now was it worth it forever alone forever alone yes really? yes really? yes really? yes? oh EarthMother! I am lost I have lost it all it's all gone..."

My "Oh, there are a LOT of those up for grabs" discovery tonight...


Salvage: Computer Virus

How many? 93 bought for 1 inf each.

The store gladly took them for 250 each. ;->

Up for grabs for 1 inf at Wentworths...

level 47 recipe - Trap of the Hunter: Immob/Acc
level 20 recipe - Invention: Accuracy
level 49 recipe - Mocking Beratement: Rech
level 47 enhancement - Extension of Joule

Toy's examination would likely be perplexing. It was as if the robot had been designed by a mecha fan. That the mechanical form was resulted from clash of magic and technology and not by design still made it completely unrealistic.

It was more armor than robot. Organic in appearance, yet seamless metal with no opening. A shell only an inch at its thickest. Revealed to be hollow by the most mild of prodding. Knocking on various points would give different tones like musical drums.

As for the robotic part, it was there. It seemed to require only a like mechanical touch, such as from Toy, for access instead of the normal port interface required by most computers. Reading the programming, however, was like trying to read the mind of a rabbit. Not much there.

What were in the programming, if it could be called such, were instructions for automatic functions. It amounted to holding its own weight, self-repair, and maintaining integrity. Not bad for armor, not much for a robot.

It clearly required power to function even that much. Yet it was drawing energy from Toy just for this most basic of access. Probably if Toy wanted he could instruct movement while in physical contact. An example being if Toy needed to run in a hurry, he could grab an arm and through that connection command it to run with him. Otherwise there was resistance to movement like trying to drive with the parking break on.

Toy's interface did get a brief reaction. There was a sound very much like a squeak. The telltale red static barely flickered before it faded. There had been something, a definite presence, but it was gone as quickly as it came.

Basically it was the lamp of the genie, except the genie was MIA.

What is this?

These are my personal playing notes I use as a primary companion when playing City of Heroes/City of Villains.

Downloadable at http://drop.io/CoXNotes are two files:

CoX Notes.xls - This is a blanked version of my notes.

Screenshot: click for image

CoX Notes - Yydr.xls - These are my current notes.

Screenshot: click for image

File version 20100406-0143 and if I did my homework right then things are current for i16.



Why care?

Honestly, I didn't think anyone would care. But during a random conversation in-game when I told about the spreadsheet I use, someone expressed an interest. If there is even one other player who would benefit, that is enough reason for me to share.



How is this things read?

The file is divided into sections by tab along the bottom.

* Interactions - to keep track of altitis

* Badges - earnable badges, souvenirs, and costumes (because those are for me the fun parts of the game)

* Maps - zones, zones they connect to, amenities, Task Force/Strike Force contacts

* Enh Stores - zone, neighborhood, contact, origin, stock, and levels (because I kept mixing up who was in Brickstown/Founders' Falls)

* Salvage - as listed for consignment

* Chat - so I can reorganize my chat box layout when creating a new character

* Credits - resources used to create the file

* (Blank) - room for expansion

Some of the shorthand may cause confusion. Typically if a field starts with a number it is a level or level range. I like to track dates in yyyymmdd-hhmm format. Some tabs have extra translation notes in a grey line under the headers. what made sense to me is what determined the listing orders. etc. etc.



How is this thing used?

Short answer: However you want!

These are some .xls navigation tricks I use:

1) Search tab - Press Control then F keys simultaneously (known as [Ctrl]+[F] for short) to search by keyword in a specific tab.

2) Search multiple tabs - Hold down [Ctrl] key while clicking tabs before searching.

3) Search limited area - Click a column letter to limit search. Hold down [Ctrl] key while clicking multiple columns for larger search.

4) Manipulate tab manually - Click a row number, scroll to another location (if needed), hold [Shift] key, then click a second number to select a block of rows. Next right-click a highlighted number to hide, unhide, copy, or cut the selection; for the latter two right-click the number immediately beyond where the information is to be copied/moved. Can also be done with columns. Non-adjacent rows/columns can NOT be copied/moved. Example: (on CoX Notes - Yydr) Badges - Dynexus tab has had villain-only information hidden

5) Manipulate tab by sorting - Click blank grey square above row 1 and to the left of column A to select entire tab sheet. Click menu option "Data", then "Sort". (Or quick key strokes [Ctrl]+[A] then [Alt]+[D] then [S] for short.) Make sure "Header row" is selected at the bottom, then choose up to three sort options. Example: Enh Stores tab - Sort by Alignment, Levels, List Position

6) Manage tabs - Right-click a tab to rename, move, or copy it

7) Change color for cell - Highlight cell(s). Right-click selection, click "Format Cells" (or quick key strokes [Ctrl]+[1] for short), select "Patterns" tab, click desired color, click "OK" button.

8) Change color, font, and size for text - Highlight cell(s) or highlight desired text in box above the column letters (to the right of the equal = sign) to change only some text in a single cell. Right-click selection, click "Format Cells" (or quick key strokes [Ctrl]+[1] for short), select "Font" tab, scroll to and click desired selections, click "OK" button.

9) Misc quick key strokes - [Ctrl]+[Z] to undo previous change. [Ctrl]+[Y] to redo previous undo. [Ctrl]+[X] to cut selection. [Ctrl]+[C] to copy selection. [Ctrl]+[V] to paste cut/copied selection. *** [Alt]+[F] then [S] to save file. ***



Enjoy!

Unfortunately Tafari was not completely correct. The energy Trisys had used to grant Jade's wish had been amplified and meshed with that of the local land and denizens. Otherwise having the leftover energy siphoned away probably would have been a gift, a cleansing of spell residue. However there was no clear separation at present.

Like a tangled mass of yarn, pulling one string dragged the rest with it. Instead of separating the foreign energy out, Tafari was tying it closer together. Thus why anyone with magical inclinations who was nearby when the feat was performed felt the unpleasant drain.

It was a blessing in disguise that Trisys was currently nothing more than a decorative lump of metal, her energy and presence apparently "off-line". The static-looking lightening that had flickered over her new form just previous to her shutdown was raw spirit magic and exactly the foreign type of magic Tarafi had been targeting. If Trisys had been in full command of her resources (well, as fully as she was capable) the drain would have been immediate and devastating.

A few more in the pot...


Recipes:
Recipe - (45) Aegis: Rech/Res
Recipe - (44) Glimpse of the Abyss: Chance for Psionic Damage
Recipe - (47) Pacing of the Turtle: Slow/Range

All still available from yesterday...


Recipes:
Recipe - (46) Ghost Widow's Embrace: Acc/End
Recipe - (42) Kinetic Crash: Knockback/Acc
Recipe - (42) Mocking Beratement: Taunt



And more added for you today!


Recipes:
Recipe - (15) Invention: Range
Recipe - (15) Invention: Fly
Recipe - (15) Invention: Endurance Red.
Recipe - (15) Volley Fire: Acc/Dam
Recipe - (47) Pacing of the Turtle: Acc/End

The Khelari's willingness encouraged in the face of such slow progress. Then came the new idea. "Maybe we're looking at this the wrong way. You got turned into a machine, right? So do you come with an instruction manual? I know we put those into ours. Maybe you can access it?"

"Oh! I, I don't know." Trisys mused it over. "At first it was as expected for a robot: Digital readouts, environmental sensors, super strength. And cold. So very, very cold. Then it sort of, well, turned sideways. Or inside out. Uhm, like a movie crew went home but the camera continued filming. Still..."

Ildela and Kethara's deadpan, "Incoming," gave a short warning. Then a rainbow fell, or that's what it seemed in the corner of her limited vision. Dirt kicked up by the 'meteor' showered Trisys. With a whinnied, "Meep!" Trisys instinctively ducked. Meaning she moved not at all due to her lack of physical control.

A few particles landed on her eyes, which thankfully did not obscure enough to be a concern. Plus more on the spots that could feel pressure as well as all the rest. Since it happened everywhere it was too intense and brief use identify with, like the white noise of a spring rain storm.

As the Khelari was attracted away by the landscape redecorator, she left the food for thought. Humans liked to talk aloud. Maybe it would help Trisys, too. And keep her too busy to wonder on things out of her range.

"Okay, user manual. Right. As when asking the stars for guidance, except the stars are depots of programming rather than nodes of life-force. Right? If there is one to find it would be built in, so it should be easier. Just need a password or key phrase. Something to get it started.

"Computer. Computer? Ah. Hello, computer?" Random keystrokes would have been more useful. Too bad a keyboard was not an available option.

Cerelassion helped distract from further futile vocal interface attempts with a discovery. "Yes!" Trisys eagerly exclaimed, "Yes, I can feel that pressure distinctly. Which hand is that? You say there are different shades? What color? Can you please hold up my hand so I may see?"

Before Cerelassion could react, Kethara's caution caused the earlier comment by Lazardarus to be processed. "Oh, no!" Trisys panicked. "Please, no! Let Jade rest. Please. Please do not disturb his fulfilled wish. Can he just sleep unless he is harming someone? Please, until..."

The emphatic pleading cut short. The amber colorations turned crimson. White horns disappeared. The red static flared then faded away. The mechanical satyr seized up as her weight increased many fold.

Attempts to rouse the incommunicado creature such as poking, shaking, and calling would be met with a universal lack of results. Knocking or pounding would only cause a hollow echo, like the deep gong of a cathedral tower bell.

Looking for something extra? You've found some...


Recipes:
Recipe - (46) Ghost Widow's Embrace: Acc/End
Recipe - (42) Kinetic Crash: Knockback/Acc
Recipe - (42) Mocking Beratement: Taunt

The Khelari's confirmation could not be discerned, though the curt remark was heard. "What? What is new?" Then the connection clicked and Trisys rambled. "Oh, I can hear again. Then those were my ears! That must be why I can hear. Except I did not loose sight when my eyes were covered. It was dark but not absent. Nor does covering my mouth prevent talking. I wonder what the difference was?"

"Tell me do you feel .. er Well function better now?" Cerelassion inquired.

Trisys instinctively tried to shake her head. Nothing happened. That type of movement normally happened in the neck, which she no longer had control over. "No," was her quiet replied, subdued by yet another reminder of loss. "No, I don't function at all. Everything happened so fast. This is new to me. All of it. At best if I can figure out what of me remains and what is currently... available, then maybe I can recognize if more is still changing. I feel... I feel so little yet so much. Trapped and disconnected at the same time. Best guesses are all can offer on my own."

She didn't mention that if Jade was awake, he as Master could have made a wish for the knowledge to be known and understood. If deep sleep was his reaction to the transformation exchange, even as eternal wakefulness was hers, then it was best to be left until Jade woke on his own.

Lady Aineruda's misconception was being addressed by Ildela, and Trisys was glad to let her do it. It was more than she could handle to figure out herself.

Maybe there was a twinge in the words that echoed hollowly, maybe it was the way she quickly re-engaged Kethara and the Khelari's services, but it was fairly clear Trisys was trying to keep too busy to let the situation really sink in. "Maybe try shoulders next? I have wings again, right? Please tell me. Please let them be there. What do they look like? Do they feel any different than my head?"

The answer was much like her ears: They were the same organic-looking, metallic-feel red material except at the tips, which were amber in color.

"Thank you," Trisys repeated to the females, more humbled than ever. So much open willingness to help. It was a complete 180 from her life's experiences and expectations. Who would have thought on a world that takes pieces of planets without so much as a by-your-leave that there would be wealth of charity. Trisys doubted she would ever get used to it. She hoped she never would take it for granted.

There wasn't really anything she could take for granted now. How to start? Well, there wasn't much more she could think to do to test sight at the moment. Having an narrow, unblinking, fixed view point was unnerving enough. Should she ask one to turn her head while the other one touched her limbs? No, seeing what she should be able to sense might trick her into feeling phantom touch or make her second-guess.

"Uhm, how about starting on my head." That seemed the most likely place to be normal. Wouldn't it? "Try gently touching the cheeks. Gently. You are? Oh, how about firmly. More firmly? No, nothing.

"How about hair? It is? Oh." Learning her hair was an intractable solid was saddening. It has been a point of pride to have a full mane that streaked in the wind.

"I don't know... Try the rest of my head. Mind the horns!" Trisys cautioned. As they were the only part that still felt her, it was likely their properties were intact. Besides, they were a very private part, like the inner mind of a human, and even now casual touch of them would not be welcomed.

It was really weird to be directing touch as if examining someone else. Doubly so since the whole experience was impalpable to her.

Nothing triggered one of the pressure points she knew were there, somewhere. Even her eyes being touched were as personal as someone covering the far end of binoculars, ie not at all. Until someone touched the ears. "Wait! I think there is something. There! And there! Can you cover those two spots more? Yes, that definitely is! Where is it?

"Where? Are you saying something? I can't hear anymore." The blatant connection between hearing and finally finding a couple pressure points was missed by Trisys in her excitement compounded by the newness of it all.

The static-looking red discharge would randomly pass over the hands touching the mechanical satyr. They appeared illusionary, or at least likely had the same effect as such: Harmless. Rather than electronic, it was minor spurts of spirit magic. Though if she came in contact with a major arcane artifact it might react like a magnet stuck on the side of a computer.

"Or be only a statue," her conclusion echoed Cerelassion's. "But it wasn't to something lifeless, it was to Jade." As if that made things any clearer.

She hesitated over the Khelari's offer. Should she wait until Jade could decide what parameters she functioned in? No. Part of her choice had been to act as more than a mindless tool. She had a voice, and she would use it. "At all times, and in all things, and in all places," Prosopopoeiasys affirmed aloud to herself.

In a more speculative tone, she replied, "I do not think I sick. Broken? I have never been a... robot? before. I don't know what terms to use. I don't know what is normal for me now.

"I don't see much. Just what is directly in front of me. When you need my attention will you please be in front of my face, or else turn my head to face you?

"So much has changed. It is... difficult to know where to begin. Or what to do!" She paused a moment to reduce her rising pitch. Being able to take a steadying breath was deeply missed. "Is someone available for a while? There are a few spots left that feel something. I think. It is hard to know where. I could use help figuring it out.

"If that is too much to ask, will someone instead please lay me against Jade? I can wait with him until he wakes."

Trisys had been remarkable enough before. The effects of the discord transformation were downright strange. It didn't help that in her floundering she had managed to tie herself into a pretzel like a tangled puppet.

Upon the green grass the changes could be more clearly perceived. Crimson. A first, continuing, and lasting impression: crimson red.

The tattered feathers and subs of new growth on her shoulders were gone, replaced by disproportionately small wings. Another feature almost lost in the chest fur was the pattern of a circle out of sync with itself - a symbol encompassing the state of Trisys herself.

Furthest tips faded to amber: hooves, palms and fingers of hands, tail tuff, wing tips, and ear tips. As if the body was one size too small so parts of Trisys poked through. Trisys was still figuring out that these extremities were the points capable of feeling pressure. Her horns shone translucent white. The two lower had merged into an upward curve while the third had grown straight, reminiscent of rhino horns. The only part of her that felt... her.

While the body may appear overall the organic one she had possessed an hour previous, a first touch or second glance would confirm otherwise. Her body was cold metal. Hair did not stir for it was sculpted in place, not individual strands. Pairs of horns sweeping horizontal from the collarbone made mockeries of the pair adorning her forehead. Flickers like static discharge, also stained cherry red, might give a perception of being normally astir, yet she had no breath. Eyes their color harvest-moon were as blank as paint. Overall a demonic version of what had been.

As helpers tried to sort her body out, Trisys continued to try untangling her new limitations. Sight was bothering her greatly. The field was restricted, virtually no peripheral vision. And it wouldn't change. She had not appreciated how much movement her eyes made until they did not. Since Trisys still could not control her head, what was right in front of her was all she could see. She needed a break from it. Just a moment's respite.

She could not blink! No breath, no smell, small pressure points - and those too disconnected to coordinate - for touch, and Voices chanting, 'You're like us now. You're like us now.' What could she do to anchor against the growing anxiety coming waves like an incoming tide? Focusing on others always helps. Focus on gratitude. Focus on staying still.

"Thank you," Trisys was earnest in her thanksgiving to Kethara, Cerelassion, and the Khelari for helping straighten her limbs, plus to Lady Aineruda for her liberation. "I cannot move much. Or well." Stating the obvious being a trademark of epic situations. "Jade has his wish." Well, obvious to Trisys. "Exchanging forms is the price for him to live. And he lives! It is a price I chose to pay."

It was another devastation to hear her voice no longer was the double-tone of husky warm earth overlay with rustling leaves. Instead it was only rustling spring leaves echoing faintly as if spoken into an empty aluminum can. From the reaction of someone in front of her, Trisys deduced that mouth had not moved. Her visage was as immobile as a mask. When would the shocks of discovered loss be finished? Trisys boggled.

On the other hand Trisys was relieved to know she could talk. She could hear, she could talk, and she could feel. Though each as small in proportion to before as a single leaf from a century-old oak. All told it was a surprise to be more than a statue.

The spirit of Prosopopoeiasys was that of an evolving winged unicorn. When in solitude with a creature innocent and pure of heart her true form would shape to their unclouded perception. That would no longer be. Shapeshifting was another lost attribute. Her outward form was locked into that of the mechanical satyr for good.

Her transformation continued.

Trisys learned that there was a difference between timelessness and a time lacking meaning. The former she was familiar with. It had been part of her nature. Now with the processing and information feedback speed of a computer, a moment seemed like a weeks.

She couldn't keep up with most of the information flooding her. The one piece she did care about got through: Jade slept. He lived! Thank EarthMother, he lived! She wanted to nuzzle him in delight. Her exuberance was cut short. She couldn't figure out how to move. Every time she tried an error message flashed, the self-diagnostic ran, a confirmation replied that all systems were within acceptable parameters, then the error started the cycle again.

The cold set in. Antarctic winter cold. Heavy glaciers permeating everything. Trisys longed to shiver, with no more success moving than before. She knew she was supposed to be able to life Jade without strain. Yet the cold, the heaviness, the instability of it all was too much. Too much.

Too much in another arena, as well. For magic was the traditional antithesis of technology, as the Circle of Thorns proved during the first Rikti invasion on Earth. The two forces were less than amendable to the merge. Like children doing one-up-manship over a pile of toys that degraded into squabbling, toys were alternately snatching away from the center until both were sated. Except those 'toys' were abilities and attributes of Trisys in the 'center'.

First the computer interface abruptly disappeared. Her world went from red to black, and she briefly wondered if she had died. No, no. It hadn't disappeared completely, just mostly. She vaguely knew there were remnants handling automatic functions but had no conscious control, like a body of flesh sending signals to inhale and exhale. If she could, Trisys would be hyperventilating. Yet breathing was another property denied.

The strength was gone. Her chance to move Jade on her own gone with it. It was more. Just what though was unknown for now.

Next the cold left. She had been wrong before - numbness was worse. Wait. There were a few spots identified as 'self' that felt pressure. Which half-dozen parts of her they were she couldn't tell. Best guess was that the pressure was from being under Jade.

She could sense more being lost, bit by bit. The Bond and Voices remained, the only thing familiar in the whirlwind of change and rechange.

Light! Blessed daylight! Except something was wrong there, too. Could she at least move towards it? Trisys tried but the light remained stationary. Was she moving at all? No, the scattered sensations of pressure were still relative to each other. If only she knew which pressure was which part of her, maybe she could coordinate.

Thus it was when Lady Aineruda lifted Jade that Trisys was found a tangled mass. What all physically changed was hard to tell. A first obvious one was that Trisys was once more crimson. As dark in color as the spilled blood of the Khelari's breakfast, save this time it was all over instead of just her backside.