Vivid Dream Reality 3

by Savannah Maun

  Wendy looked a bit shell shocked. “So many,” she whispered. “You are talking about the humans remaining on the Isle of Wight, will you also be observing the elves?”

  “Yes, though at the moment the number of female abusers is vanishingly small and since children are a rare event in elven families, culturally, neglect is highly unlikely. How that translates to humans who have become elves is unknown. There is also the possibility that all children in the Elven Nation will be female. My DNA has been examined and although it is being expressed differently it is still essentially human. Humans produce eggs that have an X chromosome. If men who have become female elves only produce eggs with an X chromosome then each child conceived between two females will have XX as their DNA and be female. We can't examine the elves from Lagbit's World and their DNA, but it is postulated that they use the ZW sex-determination system or something like it, where the sex is determined by the egg rather than the sperm. We have that system on Earth relating to birds and other creatures. If that is the case the Elven Nation on Earth will be entirely female and should have a very low rate of child abuse. That doesn't mean there can't be other types of abuse though.

  “I don't know if it is your concern, but the other worry that has come up is about the death penalty for these offences. Do you know what the success rate is in curing someone of paedophilia?” I asked her.

  “No.”

  “There are no successful treatments.”

  “Oh.”

  “The argument that mistakes can be made fall away if the truth spell is effective. People will condemn themselves with the truth. Evidence will become relatively irrelevant. Useful in determining who needs to be questioned, but not part of the conviction process.”

  Chapter 9

  I unclipped my headset with a sigh. Another twelve elves created. I loved my time in Lagbit's World and I spent so much more time there than here, as far as my mind was concerned. The pressure was completely different though. Here I was nominally in charge whereas there I was a pampered princess, so I did feel responsibilities settle on my shoulders when I returned. My time in Lagbit's World also gave me quality time with Vee. On Earth so much was happening that I felt our relationship was put on a back burner and I didn't like that.

  Over the past few weeks, most of our transformees were more working class tradesmen and women that would help our Isle of Wight plans. That would probably be true for some time to come. Not that I minded, I think it probably helped our public image that everyday men and women were being chosen. I was very glad that I was not part of the panel that chose who we would save. The vast majority of our most recent picks had significant disabilities or a high likelihood of dying, usually from cancer.

  Since Andi was using our considerable sums for very successful investments, money was less of an issue, so we didn't have to factor how much we were getting out of it as much. The power that people held would still be a factor for some time to come. We needed allies and the more powerful the better. The panel had approached me for my opinion regarding the Queen of England. Morally I didn't like the idea that one person was more important than another, but realistically, having the Queen as an ally would be very valuable, especially since part of the Elven Nation was going to be the Isle of Wight.

  The difficulty was that she didn't want to swear an oath to obey someone else. I had spoken to Mary and Kayla on Lagbit's World and they said there could be no exceptions and suggested as a compromise that I give a return oath that I would not order her to betray her country in any way. Today after the signing, I had been invited to a Tea Party with the Queen where she was hoping to be transformed. At least it was after the signing so wouldn't affect the deal with the British people.

  'You need to call another council together' Andi told me telepathically. 'There have been developments.'

  Rather than quiz Andi too much, I called out to Vee, Wendy and Lacy to gather around the table provided in the hotel suite and placed the phone in the centre. Lacy was the honour guard representative and I decided that Wendy needed to be kept in the loop even if that made her uncomfortable at the moment. I then asked Inda to give us some privacy, so she blocked off all outside sound. Andi managed to conference call Mia, Katie and Roni, the others weren't immediately available.

  “There was a mole in the security detachment for Mrs Blainey, the Senator's wife. I suspect with all the tips we have been throwing her way, someone criminal decided to keep an eye on her and this time, when we wanted help, we have merely tipped them off,” Andi reported with disgust in her voice. “At least I was able to follow the trail and have more of an idea of what is going on. One downside to trying to help catch the criminals is they have become smarter with their communications. Here is what I know. Within ten minutes of us informing Mrs Blainey of Cari's predicament, a text was sent from an Andrew Grim to the same house that I traced Cari to. Within a few minutes, she was moved. At least, I think so since multiple vehicles arrived at that address and travelled in different directions. I believe we are looking at a people trafficking operation. At the moment I am tracking seven different vehicles using the camera system which is not a problem in New York but will become harder as they get outside the more populated areas. I think they use burner phones and don't seem to have anything on them that I can connect to. The phone that received the text I can follow but that has remained at the house.”

  “How close are the security detachment that we sent?” I asked.

  “Barely in the air. Nearly ten hours away,” Andi replied.

  “What are the chances of keeping all those vehicles under observation while we are waiting for them to arrive?” Roni asked Andi.

  “Depends on their procedures. There are a certain number of cameras on some of the highways, but if they change vehicles between cameras I will lose them. I would predict that I will be able to keep track of some of them, but not all of them.”

  “Can we hire some private investigators to follow any of them? or do you think we should involve any of the official channels?” Katie asked. “Kidnapping and human trafficking are FBI, I think.”

  “I know there is some corruption in the FBI and if the criminal organisation get any more nervous, they will just kill the victims and walk away,” Andi responded. “To be honest, human trafficking requires a lot of greased palms, so asking for any local help is dangerous.”

  “So what are you suggesting?” Mia asked.

  “That is the problem. I am frustrated and angry, but cannot think of anything more we can do,” Andi complained. “Perhaps send more security since we now know that whoever is here is going to have to chase down multiple different leads.”

  I turned to Lacy. “How many have we already sent?”

  “Eight. If we send any more we are reducing your safety,” she responded warily.

  “That is a very temporary worry. Right now I am back in the public eye which should create its own protection and Mia can send more immediately. I think it would be helpful if there was a druidic presence. Lacy you will need to talk to Leaf and see who she thinks would be best. I know Cari is only one person, but if they get away with it, they will think they can do so again. I want a very strong message to come out of this situation. We are going to recover Cari and anybody else that we can find and then we are going to tear apart their organisation.”

  “Are you sure that is wise? You will be creating a very powerful enemy,” Roni commented.

  “We can't afford to look weak. I have noticed that sometimes the only thing humans understand is brute force,” Mia argued. “Wendy has a fire familiar doesn't she?”

  “Yes,” Wendy answered quietly.

  “She should go as well. She will be a force to be reckoned with on her own and if we can't rely on their police then you will need to destroy any evidence of our actions,” Mia said, her voice full of admiration and confidence in Wendy.

  Mia didn't know that Wendy was going to be her bonded, but her trust in her was probably subconscious. I, of course,
didn't want to send Wendy away because I wanted to resolve that issue by confronting Mia with it in Lagbit's World. She was right though. Wendy's familiar could give us a huge advantage by affecting modern weaponry.

  With a reluctant sigh, I responded. “She is right. We can arrange another hand glider in New York and with another druid who has a wind familiar, they can be a strike team, all on their own.”

  The meeting broke up with nothing further to discuss. Andi arranged the flights and soon Wendy and Berry, with four other ground-based security including our two, now trained, investigators were heading for the airport. I asked Wendy to come back as soon as her mission was complete or they didn't need her help. Mia was going to be taking up permanent residence at the Isle of Wight, so we should have plenty of time to resolve their relationship issues.

  I tried to put my worries about Cari aside as I tried to get to sleep. Tomorrow morning I had a signing to attend and then Tea with the Queen. Vee snuggled into me and I took comfort in her presence.

  Chapter 10

  The next morning left me in a contemplative mood. The first lot of our security forces had landed in New York, however, Andi had already informed me that one vehicle had gone to a harbour, and she had lost track of another one. So there was a one in seven chance that Cari was now on the water and probably untraceable and a one in seven chance that we had lost her trail.

  “What's wrong, honey?” Vee asked me while we were having breakfast.

  I got Andi to give her a report. Of the five remaining, one was still travelling towards Florida, one had crossed the border to Canada and the other three had just relocated in New York.

  “We've done all we can, now we just have to wait for results,” Vee said, trying to comfort me.

  “That's what is frustrating me. We can't have assets in every country, let alone every city. We were too far away from this and it has taken us too long to get our people on the scene. I'm frightened that we are too thinly spread and growing too slowly. We have tried to keep everyone safe, but anyone who has decided not to join the Elven Nation is very vulnerable.”

  “But that was their choice. And maybe this will help them change their minds. They don't have to work for us, just relocate to somewhere near us,” Vee responded.

  “Tia is right,” Lacy admitted. “We are too small. Powerful and well trained but we could still be overwhelmed by sheer numbers and we have enemies everywhere. Is there any way we can increase our numbers quicker? Twelve a day sounds great, but that is less than five thousand a year.”

  I sighed. “We have discussed this and I can't think of anything. Over time we may be able to increase. The only option that sounded plausible was to copy myself and my intuition tells me that is a bad idea.”

  “Do you mind going over the stumbling blocks again. I'm not sure I can help but I love solving puzzles and fresh perspectives can sometimes help,” Lacy requested.

  I shrugged my shoulders, at least it would stop me from thinking about Cari. “Sure. We have a number of bottlenecks. At the moment, I appear to be the only one who can take people to Lagbit's World and I can only take seven people with me.”

  “Isn't Lagbit's World a VDR game that anyone can buy? I know they wouldn't have the same storyline, but couldn't someone else try and start the same storyline as you? I know what the researchers published. That doesn't mean they are correct,” Lacy argued.

  “We've tried and VDR are still trying various different ways to do just that and so far, no luck,” Vee answered.

  “Why can you only take seven people with you? I know the headset only has seven inputs, but I'm sure they can make a special headset, just for you.”

  “Empirical evidence suggests adding more than seven minds to one persons VDR experience doesn't work,” I answered.

  “But that will be based on your average Joe. Isn't your mind supposed to be more active than anyone else? Maybe that means you could add more than seven, even if no one else could,” Lacy continued.

  I thought about that for a moment, then spoke aloud to Andi via the phone on the table. “Andi, could you speak to Katie and ask about that and what happened to those who tried to have more than seven minds connecting. If it doesn't work, does it do any damage?” Then I looked back up at Lacy. “Good thought, but that may not change anything. Our main hurdles are the number of people I can bring and having the energy to convert them. Vee needs to come with me each time so I have six spaces usually available, but I could go into the game a day at a time and so bring six people each day of my week-long Lagbit visit which would be forty-two per day.

  “Although I appear to have nothing to do with the transformation, according to the research it is my energy that is effected to make the magic happen. The priestesses perform the ceremony and the most they feel they can do is two per day with one day of rest which is why we are at twelve per Earth day. That may change as my mind gets more powerful with use, that is our hope anyway. We test it occasionally by trying to do three in one go and then see how tiring that is.”

  “The headset only allows you to go for the equivalent of a week's time in VDR per day. That only takes two hours. I know it locks you out from doing more than that, my question is why? And if you use a different headset would the same lockout apply or could you go for multiple two hour/ one week in Lagbit's World in one day?” Lacy asked.

  “Funnily enough, we are going to be trying that out today. Originally we only had the one headset we could use, so we had no choice in the matter, but the only reason for the limitation was a worry about addiction. We are well past those concerns and now that Andi is in control of the resume function, we can use any headset and it is only habit that I have been using my original one. Today, the Queen wants to be transformed after or at her Tea party and when I automatically thought it wasn't possible because we would be locked out until night time, Andi suggested I use a different one which shouldn't be locked. My intention is just to go for one day and only transform the Queen. If that works we could do more. It does mean I would spend more and more time in Lagbit's World compared to here and Vee's pregnancy will last forever,” I responded.

  “But each time you do that you could double the number we could help as well as become much more secure,” Lacy commented.

  “It does use Tia's energy though, so it may not be possible or may be limited to a certain number of times per day. We have to be careful with our golden goose,” Vee said affectionately, stroking the side of my face.

  “It won't be easy to do while we are in hiding, and travelling all the time, but if we establish a proper base, it may be possible, depending on my energy levels,” I agreed.

  “We have over three million valid applications and more coming in every day,” Andi noted.

  “What do you mean by valid?” Lacy wondered.

  “There are many attempts at infiltration and also we have a bias for those who have a strong feminine side.” There was a brief pause while Andi asked me to get Inda to make our table more private. “We were aware of the websites that you visited, Lacy. There are many factors that the panel go through to chose who Tia will take with her. Applicants have to fill out multiple quizzes and have to record themselves doing them with an app I developed. We rate everyone with a death score, as in how close to death or being unable to use the VDR headset as well as a disability score, feminine score, family score, usefulness rating including job skills and power rating. I put it all together and then leave it to the panel to choose. We have had a few who were unable to go through with the transformation and that was due to the psychological difficulty in going from male to female and we know what scores they had so anyone with a score equal or below their femininity score we don't consider valid.”

  Lacy had blushed when Andi had brought up her internet usage. “I can understand that. Considering supply and demand we should get the cream of the crop. What is the family score?”

  “That is a bit controversial,” I admitted. “It is a security issue really. People with no
family or who are estranged from their family cannot be blackmailed with loved ones. They are also more likely to make the Elven Nation their new family. We also ask if their family would be interested in working for the Elven Nation, or willing to be transformed. I try and stay away from those decisions because I hate saying no to anybody.”

  Vee hugged me and we started getting ready for the signing ceremony. Mia had done all the work, so all I had to do was confirm that the treaty was the same as the one agreed and then sign it in front of a media frenzy. A table had been set up in front of 10 Downing Street. There would be a bit of a press conference and then I would be going to Buckingham Palace. In the meantime, there would be two security teams following Andi's leads in the US. Andi was going to keep Mia informed for any decisions that needed to be made since it would be best if I wasn't distracted. What I was doing today was too important. I agreed reluctantly. I felt responsible for all the elves in some way and didn't like not being in the know. Truthfully, I wanted to be there in the thick of it but knew that was not an argument I was going to win.

  Chapter 11

  Mia's POV

  I had passed on almost all of my duties to Katie and Roni. Ash was going to take over on Elf Cultural studies, so I was ready to leave. I had delayed my flight so I could keep track of what was happening in New York while Tia was occupied with her diplomatic efforts. I was so proud of her. And yet I thought it was probably best that I made the decisions regarding our action there.