carl@fire

"Great," Carl said as he started off slowly in some direction. "Don't know if you saw it, but I read through the class schedule while I was checking out my room. Then I got distracted by the window. The view out of these places is amazing, isn't it?"

"It's so beautiful!" she exclaimed as she recalled the look of the ocean below, following along. "Does yours look out on the ocean too?"

"Nope, but I've got some mountains that are pretty cool. Can't imagine ever seeing anything like it in real life."

"Yeah, probably…not…" The phrase brought her back to an earlier thought. Wasn't he talking about New Era before?

He was.

Hey, wait, you were stopping me from telling him I couldn't log out!

If he believes you to be insane or an idiot, your task becomes more difficult.

"Rebecca?" Carl prompted.

She tripped a little going up the crystalline stairs from the combination of being distracted and the odd feeling of her new shoes. "What?"

"The class?"

"Um… Sorry, could you repeat the question?"

"Was just asking if you were psyched for the magic class—the one we're scheduled for now is something about glyphs. I mean, I guess you're already pretty advanced in all that stuff, but it's a kinda neat way to kill time."

"Oh. Um…"

I displayed some of my magic earlier to facilitate matters.

What? When was that? "Yeah, it should be really cool," she said to keep the conversation going and remain useful.

When I assumed control of this body for a short wh—

WHAT?! When the fuck did—

I permit you to remain in control of this body because doing so disgusts me less than having to act as a mortal, but do not imagine that you are its owner so long as our bargain remains incomplete.

Becca felt her stomach cartwheel off a cliff, and she took a moment on her current step before she resumed walking up the stairs. "So we're going to a class to learn glyph magic," she said, hoping she was keeping the anxiety out of her voice. If you want me to want to help you, why do you keep threatening me?

Are you wanting to change your decision?

What? No! She shook her head vehemently.

You have a choice. You can trust that I have our best interests in mind and see my cajoling you as the "carrot and the stick", or you can choose the other option, and I can, with great aggravation, do everything on my own efforts.

Becca's legs had resumed moving outside of her control while the exchange continued, and she flailed her arms when she realized that she was still moving What the fuck!

Stop being so obvious with everything you do. I have difficulty believing you're considered a leader in any form of negotiations with how poorly you conceal your emotions.

Kind of a different fucking situation now that I've got you riding around in my head talking to me all the time. It is nice not having to actively walk around though.

Her body abruptly stopped and teetered backwards, her arms locking to her sides and her mouth and eyes snapping shut as she tipped over.

I am not your servant. If I choose to aid you directly rather than rethinking my decision to offer you a chance, you will be grateful.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please don't kill me, please don't kill me, please…

Her eyes opened, and she was at the landing of the seventy fifth floor, having last passed the sign for the seventy first. What… Was that just a trick?

How stupid are you? I need this body in good condition. But you learned a lesson, and now you understand your position.

Indeed, Becca now understood that whatever was inside her could manip—control her senses at will, and it was being incredibly generous by teaching her that with such a gentle lesson compared to what a less benevolent…

Being.

Compared to what a less benevolent, kind, thoughtful being could have done.

"Oh, wow, I didn't know that," Carl said, giving her an impressed look as he held the door to the floor open.

What the f—I mean, what did you say to him?

I was telling him how you graduated from both your undergraduate and master's in a combined four years. He obviously views you as one born with a golden spoon in her mouth. Marianne does as well. Changing this should have been one of your priorities if you truly had any intent to repair your relationship with either of them.

"Yeah, um, I work really hard," she said. How could you possibly know that?

Her vision changed, and all the red drained away, leaving everything shades of green and blue.

The same way I can do that.

Oh. Her vision returned to normal, and she was again overwhelmingly grateful that this great being was being so magnanimous and—

Enough.

"Uh, yeah, well, you kinda…spent a lot of time talking about that year you took to travel," he said while they walked along a carpet that shimmered like it was woven from silver, the large cats represented on it baring their fangs. "And we didn't see you for a couple years after, so when we did, and you were just talking about partying…"

Becca grimaced as she forced her attention back to the less dangerous of the two conversations. She'd taken a year off after finishing her schooling, having already accepted an offer that had resulted from one of her internships, and she'd spent half of it in the Caribbean with the other half in Europe, but was it really possible that she'd come across as a total party girl? I did party a lot that one year, but I needed a break! I was practically a nun for those four years!

Females with strong faith behave much differently in your world than this one.

"Well, I finished it all in four years, and then I took a year to recover before I started at NL," she said, suppressing a sigh. "You probably just think my dad gave me my job, don't you."

"Wha… No," he said, denying it just a little too slow for it to be convincing. "C'mon, the schedule said this was the place," he said, walking just a bit faster to reach an especially ornate door so he could tug it open and, after taking a step like he was going to go through first, he paused to hold it for her.

There's really a schedule? Becca walked forward, feeling like she was finally getting a handle on the oddness of her shoes, which threatened to fall off her feet if she lifted them too far off the ground, forcing her into a different, awkward style of—

A more elegant style of walking.

She was walking more elegantly now as she passed Carl. "Thanks, you're a good doorstop," she said, recognizing too late that it wasn't at all a funny joke like she'd thou—

I stopped you from saying it, even though you were correct.

"No prob," Carl said, and she felt a rush of relief.

Why am I such an idiot when it comes to them?

"We have new additions to our knowledge consortium, it seems," announced a tall woman standing at the front of the room in front of a blackboard with glowing runes drawn all over it. She tilted her glasses down on her nose and peered down at Becca, who was in the lead. "You may refer to me as Magister Romalieaux the Fourteenth, or simply Magister. Introduce yourselves, then have a seat wherever you like."

"I'm…Becca…" Becca said with an increasing sense of awkwardness as she looked over the rest of the classroom, which had a raised, stadium-like seating style as she'd seen in any number of lecture halls during her time as an undergraduate. The seats were filled with twenty-ish silent people who ranged roughly in age from late teens to mid-twenties, and she barely managed to pull out the face she used in meetings in time to—

"Ah shoot, it's all kids," Carl grumbled too quietly for anyone but her to hear, and she bit her lip to avoid laughing. "I'm Carl," he said more loudly. "Uh, I think I'm just gonna…" he walked up the nearest set of stairs to the first row and took a seat at the first chair.

This is so awkward. Why are we doing this? I think I missed that part when…you were…displaying your magic earlier? Becca followed after, brushing behind him to take the seat adjacent.

Ah, yes. Carl is waiting at this tower for his friend Vol—or is it Voal? Vole? Vohl? An unfamiliar name. I chose enrolling as students as an alternative to standing around outside the tower for however long it until this person shows herself. Without knowing her full name or more about her, I have no way of knowing how long we may need to wait. And in the meanwhile, you have the chance to be of use to me.

"Now then, you've arrived at an opportune time. We've just begun our first lesson of the day," said the teacher with the pompous name. "We were delving into the essence of using a latticed substrate for a glyph framework in order to—"

No need to listen to any of that. She lacks even the ability to properly draw the glyphs she intends to teach.

Becca shifted in her seat, glancing at Carl out of the corner of her eye. He seems interested enough.

Carl was sitting with one hand slowly stroking his beard as he frowned, a clear expression of concentration visible.

He believes himself to be inside a game. This is an idle diversion for him.

Does he re—He…does? That's right, he was talking about New Era, and I even thought I was in a game because of it—

Until I helped you free from that foolishness.

Um, yeah. And if I wanted to help free him from that foolishness?

I would stop you, as it would make your task more difficult.

She wasn't entirely sure why that would be, but—

If he believes you—and he may not, which would have its own troubles—then he may act unpredictably, and we do not want unpredictable. Do you understand, Rebecca?

Becca shuddered, somehow feeling that the mere use of her full name was a threat.

Not a threat. A reminder. We are of one mind and one goal until one of us stops being useful to the other.

I don't understand what you gain from any of this.

A hundred lifetimes could pass, and you would still remain a newborn compared to me.

So you're really old, which makes sense since you're immortal… And which was leading her towards a conclusion that whatever was inside her now was either some sort of cosmic ghost or, she hoped wasn't the case but was reasonably certain was the case due to one specific comment about religion, a god.

Goddess, actually. Feel honored by my choice to use you as my vessel, temporary though my presence will be.

Becca's eyes widened.