by P. S. Power
Claire understood this as a side effect of their bond. Every time he did that exercise she felt a surge of power too. Her Shadow danced in place. This gave them leverage over the Alede, other than access to the Nexus. Not that they needed that kind of power right now, she rationalized to him, but who knew what the future will bring?
Courtney continued.
“Do you know what this would mean on the set? I wouldn't have to keep running off to sleep with every starlet and key grip that drools at me in order to stay sane. Not that I mind myself, but some of their husbands and wives take issue with it. I always feel a little bad for them...”
Sarah came up from the basement to see if it would work for her to. He didn't know what she'd been doing, but given who slept where he guessed Betty to be part of the equation.
Not seeing a reason not to, he repeated the procedure with her.
This time he stopped when she started shaking.
“Aww. I wanted the whole thing.” They all laughed, it had worked identically as it had with the other two.
Merri made him more food without his having to ask. His stomach had started to rumble again, a pain shooting through his middle. Hilda walked over, sniffing the air around them.
“You all smell... normal. Like Humans, but not like rut. This is much better. I don't feel like I want to hit any of you like I have all this time.” She smiled.
The Alede eyed her strangely when they realized that this hadn't been a joke. The larger woman had been holding herself away from them, restraining herself from violence, since Val had started hanging around. This, she assured them all, felt much nicer.
Merri brought them trays of sweet rolls with three different kinds of fillings, nut, strawberry and lemon. Still warm and a little soft, he ate all of his without talking, letting the others fill the silence.
Val came over and hugged him, and then suddenly, so did everyone else. Even Merri returned from the kitchen to join in.
He showered at six, Merri joining him, having noticed that Val, in her satiation and excitement hadn't finished with him earlier.
"I've been practicing what Lady Patricia taught me. She lent me a device for that, so I would not have to embarrass you or young Troy with my fumbling attempts. Would you like to see?" She didn't really wait for him to respond, not that he was going to say no.
When they got out, not all that long later, and dressed, he decided to go for a jog. It would require another shower before work, but his endurance seemed good enough for it. He ran for about an hour, not fast, but with a nice steady gait that came easily enough. It felt nice to be out and moving around without any demands on him for once.
Showering again didn't take long, so he played video games with Merri. Who trounced him wickedly, until it was time for work. Before they left, Courtney wondered about how she'd get in to the Mall unseen.
"That can be an issue. If people notice me it will be online before lunch."
They managed this by dressing her in one of Claire's schoolmarm outfits. With glasses. She still looked hot, Zack admitted, but not like her, which ultimately was the point.
Then they simply walked to the Mall. Val's mom was baffled when he first started passing people through, but got an explanation of the shortcuts from Hilda, who surprised him in her understanding of the phenomenon. Zack hadn't ever told her that much, he hadn't thought at least, but she knew nonetheless and explained it more clearly than he could have.
“Space isn't smooth, but bent and rippled. We see an illusion of smoothness, but Zack sees reality without the illusions. So he can move into and out of these ripples at will. The rest of us do things like that too, but most of the time we don't do it the right way, so we kind of skip over them. Even if we knew where they were, it would be almost impossible to walk them without being able to see.” She looked to him for confirmation as they entered the Mall itself.
“Exactly!” He said proudly. She never ceased to amaze him in her understanding and intelligence. He felt an outpouring of fondness for her in that moment.
Kaitlyn stood in front of the store waiting for him, though it wasn't nine yet.
Everyone broke off from there, agreeing to meet back at the store in half an hour, at least those going to Lesser Shia.
“All right, Kaitlyn, we need to move quickly today.” He used his key to open the front door of the shop. They headed toward the back and used the light panel next to Lisa's office door to turn on the store lights.
“As soon as Lisa gets here, you and I are taking a trip. You need to listen closely to what I'm going to tell you...”
He outlined his plan. They'd go into the void together, where she'd have hours, days, even years if she needed it, to develop her internal focus. He laid a compulsion on her that would bring her mind back to a single focus point if she started to lose control.
The rest, he told her, would be up to her.
Nervously she asked where he would be, when she did all of this.
“All around you. You don't have the awareness you need to hold yourself together yet there, so I'll stay with you. You won't be able to see me, or anything, at first, you may never. Don't let that worry you. If you're aware, then I'm there with you. Ready?”
She shook her head no, very solemnly and sat behind the front counter waiting.
Lisa got there a few minutes later, smiling and giving them both quick hugs. He told her what he and Kaitlyn would be up to. She frowned and asked him if he really thought that could work. Isolation being known to drive people insane. That had to be twice as hard for an Alede, with their high need for contact, she cautioned.
“I'll be there with her, keeping watch on her the whole time. She'll do great.” He walked to the back, motioning for the girl to follow him.
Stopping her before she entered the metal circle inlaid in the floor, a Mage thing he'd never exactly understood the meaning of, he asked her to face him for a minute and lift her shirt.
She over performed, but smiled about it.
“Not that high. I just need to see your stomach for a few minutes. Try not to make any noise. Lisa will think I'm doing something bad to you.”
He started gathering energy with his hand flat on her stomach, turned sideways. This being similar to what she'd been doing to get energy anyway, so Kate adapted quickly. It took longer for her to start shaking than the others had, probably because she hadn't been getting as much from the others as they kept for themselves.
Unlike the others, she didn't say anything, just assessed the situation, seeming to be a bit more steady for some reason.
“Now remember, stay focused on a single point. You can pick that point, even change it every now and then, don't worry about what it is. Just try to hold it for a few days at a time at least. When in doubt, go longer rather than shorter. Got it?” He touched her arm, trying to be reassuring.
“I'll be with you the whole time, in your thoughts. I'll try to stay quiet though.”
Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the line with him, and everything vanished.
Time passed for them. Her mind nearly broke over and over again, but each time he stepped in, helped her regain control, and let her go on by herself. After a while, weeks or months, of her holding an intense focus nearly constantly, it started to become natural to her.
He held her the whole time, surrounding her, keeping her safe, and not letting her dissolve into nothingness. Slowly, so very slowly, she began to become aware of her thoughts. She noticed when her subconscious mind began to spark something into action and learned to shut it down, focusing only on the point she'd chosen.
Good.
He communicated to her. She noticed that something had happened, still lacking comprehension of his presence as more than an abstract idea. They dove deep into her mind, together, seeking the source of her thought, and quieting it, though never silencing it all together.
She lost her sense of time and space, existing only in the focus of the now.
Then, suddenly, he s
tepped them out of the line. Twenty-three minutes had passed, according to the clock on the wall.
He held her for a while, to let her ground herself in this world again. Finally, when she smiled, he asked her how she felt.
“I... feel all right. Still full of energy, like no time at all has passed. Only I know a long time did on some level. How long was that, do you think? Void time I mean?” Her voice seemed calm and her Shadow self barely differed from her actions and words.
“Around two years, maybe more. Um... look, I know that everyone else thinks that they know how long time takes to pass in the void, but, well, it's a lot longer than I've let on. I don't think that everyone would understand if they knew exactly how vast the time scales were...” He took her gently by the shoulders and released the compulsion upon her totally. She wavered for a second, then asserted her own will in place of his. She hugged him in happiness, though her movements seemed slow and deliberate compared to before they left. Holding up her right hand she focused on it for a while, examining it carefully, before everyone else came and he shook her out of it.
"We're back. Kaitlyn is now a master of the mind, or at least good enough not to go all rogue Succubus on us now." This was for Lisa, who sat in her office.
"That's great! Good job Katy! We were all a bit worried..."
They got there before she stood all the way up, but she finished the move and gave the girl a hug.
Zack nodded, "Say, do we have any gold laying around here? People are heading off to Lesser Shia in a bit."
Moving to the safe, she opened it without waiting, "How much do you need?"
"Eh... I don't really know the prices in the market. Would a hundred each be enough?"
“Oh, yes, that should do nicely, they can buy a lot with that there, more than they could carry, even with Hilda around to help.” Lisa provided cloth carry bags for each pile of gold to go into.
Coming out of the office, he handed Hilda, Libby, Merri, and Courtney their bags directly and gave Kaitlyn's bag to Merri to pass over to her, as she stood in the back of the group.
Quickly he passed them all through, then went over with them to find a translator from the room next to the one he worked from. The blue clad and veiled being came running quickly, and he explained the situation to them. They'd worked together before, after all, though they never gave a name, preferring to simply be part of the conversation while they translated.
“Hi. Thanks for coming so quickly, I really appreciate it... Do you think that one of the translators would be willing to go shopping with these ladies today? I'll gladly pay for their services. I know I'm skipping the line here a bit, but I'm not allowed into the market proper...”
“We'd be glad to, sir. May I inquire as to their names? Hilda the strong, and Libby the flier are known to us, of course, from their good works. As well as Lady Mariposa of the Dawn. I do not believe we have met these others yet?” The man or woman behind the blue veil bowed as he said each of the names.
Zack nodded. He'd thought that the women that had gone to help the unnamed people might be recognized.
He moved to Val's Mom and said, “This is Courtney. She's the mother of Valerie, who you may know of?”
The translator bowed before her and spoke, “Yes. Of course. The resemblance is remarkable. Your daughter is well known to us. You must be very proud of her.”
Finally he stepped behind Kaitlyn. “This is Kaitlyn Swanson. My... protégé. I'll be working here all afternoon, even though it isn't on the schedule. Please let everyone know that I'll be available for shipments or transfers? I know that running messages isn't your job, but...”
The blue robed being bowed and finished for him, with a lilt to their voice that sounded kind and slightly teasing.
“But, you aren't allowed out of the secure section. It's not a problem, sir, in fact it's an honor to aid you.” He gestured to the women who followed him out. If that one turned out to be male, that is. The energy was right for it, but Zack didn't want to presume anything.
“Be back by five our time though. I should be around if you want to leave earlier.”
They waved as they walked out, leaving him alone in the node room.
Since it was technically still his day off, he visited with Claire for a while, who took advantage of his new hunger to test some new ideas she had. He tried to be critical and honest, knowing that to be important to her work. Everything tasted good to him though, so it took effort to remain impartial.
After eating ten variations of a strawberry cheesecake swirl, with real cheese cake bits mixed in, and graham cracker crumbles on top of the whipped cream, he decided to go and visit Patty quickly.
“I actually want to see if she or Norris would like to try the new energy thing too. They've all been running so low lately. I think Kaitlyn's closing in on being able to take care of herself now.” He explained about the time in the void with her and how well she did.
“If she spends enough time in the void like that, will she become like you?” The lovely Vampire asked sweetly enough that he wondered what she meant, but decided to play it straight and assume she meant learning to walk the lines and such.
“That remains to be seen. Probably not, to tell the truth. She's a Succubus, so her energy patterns are incredibly different than mine. She'll probably become something totally of her own creation. I think each person would probably turn out differently given the same situation. Most would go insane, especially without help. Her mind is stronger for it though, so, she'll probably do some interesting things.”
He moved over to her and kissed her for a while, since no one was around. Her lips were cold, but he didn't mind as much now as he used to.
Sarah jumped him coming through the door of Beautiful Plus, hugging him for a while without letting go, and told him that she'd informed Patty and Norris about their amazing discovery. She led him to Patricia's office, as if worried he'd get away or something, and left him there, going to get Norris too.
Sighing, he reflected that it really did take a lot less energy to do it this way than to have sex with them all the time. True, they wouldn't think he seemed as cute any more, once their reason for thinking that vanished, but then again, he doubted he'd ever seen any of them truly well-fed before this morning. He didn't know what they would be like long term, except possibly less hungry.
Patty smiled at him and took her shirt off. She wore a pretty lace bra holding in her ample breasts. He placed his hand on her stomach and began, stopping only when she moved back, after several minutes of shaking.
“Oh, my, that really is almost too much! Sarah said you didn't do the whole thing with her...” Her hand rubbed the spot on her flat stomach slowly. As if remembering what had just happened, rather than trying to rub it all away.
“And I don't have to in the future with you, I just thought that you should have the information the experience would provide. I also didn't do the whole thing with Kaitlyn before we went into the void for lessons.”
Patty looked at him funny.
“You took her into the void for real? For how long?” Concerned she frowned a little.
Not wanting her to worry, he explained the whole thing, how well it worked and how well she seemed to be doing so far. Only when he had informed her of all that did he mention that the time had been months or years to her experience.
“I'd guess two years of solid meditation time under her belt this morning. She did well. Better than just well really.”
Norris came to try the new feeding thing, but being a guy he got cut off when he started shaking. Zack didn't want to be a homophobe, but the Alede clearly took a lot of pleasure from this kind of energy transfer.
The other man asked what the side effects of this would be, finding himself fully fed for once, then he suddenly stiffened, a look of shock and horror on his face.
He mock staggered and put his hand to his head...
“Oohh! Man, I...I feel a sudden urge to... drink beer and watch a sporting event..
.”
They all laughed.
Chapter thirty-nine
Christmas went really well. The presents showed up a few days before hand, all wrapped nicely and labeled clearly. There were a lot of them. Hilda helped him shift the sofas around and redecorate before the big day, and things actually looked pretty nice.
The highlight of his morning had been when Merri opened her present, a cheesy looking hand written ticket to the Alfric homeland. He told her about how he'd taken the whole Lesser Shia deal in order to try and open the lines up again. She sat still in shock for a while, he almost thought he'd messed up. Her concern though had been for her brother and the others, some of whom hadn't seen their homeland for over twenty years.
He shrugged, trying not to wince at his obvious oversight.
“Well, they'll have to schedule their trips in advance with Lisa, but I can take them through easily enough. Within reason I can just take them whenever they like. You, I'm going with though, if that's all right? I was thinking mid-February?”
She bounced around the rest of the day.
Kaitlyn did great, actually showing better control than the others did at this point.
It was Norris that noticed that and turned to Zack, though he didn't bother speaking softly.
"This is incredible. When do you think you can start trying her without the compulsion? Do we need to arrange for isolation first do you think?"
“Let's see, she's had them off for three days now... so far so good.”
Norris didn't believe him at first, when he finally did, he started poking Kaitlyn playfully, then kissed her, then when he thought she would be distracted he pulled back and aimed an uppercut right at her mid-section, following this with a flurry of blows.
She blocked. All of them. Zack wasn't certain that he could have done that. Actually, he was pretty sure that he'd have missed several of them.
More than that, she held her composure through the whole thing, merely tilting his head and smiling at him when he stopped.
Troy almost jumped on him, but Hilda put a hand out to restrain him, seeing that the girl could handle herself without outside help in this case. Trolleinkein didn't often interfere in what they viewed as a fair fight. It would dishonor those they sought to help. Besides, her Shadow seemed pretty certain the Norris would hurt Troy if he felt attacked.