Millennial Mage

Chapter 463: This Gateless Paradise

Tala tried to hold in her nervous excitement as she waited in Mistress Holly’s waiting room.

It was as well appointed and clean as always, with sparse decorations just slightly shifting the ambience from being strictly utilitarian toward comfortable.

The attendant behind the counter gave her a nervous glance every so often, offering more coffee every second or third glance.

It was good coffee, well brewed for drinking black, so Tala took him up on the refill almost every time… It hadn’t been that long, but she’d still drunk too much coffee.

-You think?-

What? I’m nervous, coffee calms me down.

Alat gave a derisive snort within Tala’s head. -Sure it does.-

It had been almost an hour, and Mistress Holly had warned that it could take anywhere from half an hour to three, depending on several unforeseeable variables.

-Nothing we can do will change the outcome, Tala. It’s better to just—- Alat cut off abruptly, causing Tala to hitch mid-sip and sit up straighter.

-Wait.-

What’s happening?

-I… got a message from Rane’s alternate interface. We are establishing a contact protocol. Stop interrupting me, or this will take a lot longer. I have a bit more speed than he does, but I don’t have the space for even this explanation.- Alat cursed. -Now I’m behind. Hush!-

Tala almost projected more questions at her alternate interface, but she could feel Alat’s concentration drawing more power through her gate to increase their combined mental capacities.

Alat was claiming all the expanded ability for herself too, leaving Tala with no one to talk to and nothing to do.

Well, almost nothing to do.

She got another cup of coffee.

Then another.

She was drinking her umpteenth cup when Rane’s voice sounded within her head, “HEY! TALA!”

Tala practically choked, coughing up a bit of coffee before swallowing to clear her throat. Alat? What’s going on?

-He’s talking to you.-

Can he hear me now?

-Not unless you want him to.-

How do I respond then?

-...by wanting to. I’ll do the rest.-

Right. Tala took a deep breath, even if she didn’t need breath to respond. “Rane?”

“Not quite! I am, and I am not at the same time. Neat, huh? I mean, you have experience with this because of Alat, but for me? This is crazy. I see nothing and everything at the same time. Wait, Alat is telling me that I’m not actually seeing everything. I’m just experiencing information echoes based on my ability to recall perfectly how everything looked when Rane last saw it. Hmmm… what’s the difference? Oh! Because it’s not in real time. That makes sense. Yes! So, isn’t this crazy? We can talk anytime now and—”

Tala felt Alat cut the connection before the alternate interface sent the impression of a clearing throat. -Well… I think I might have a bit more sympathy for Terry, now…-

A moment later, Terry squawked without opening his eyes from where he was still curled up on one of the chairs .

-He forgives me, and I promised to not connect Rane’s alternate interface through to him any time in the near future. We’re in a good place, now.-

Tala was still feeling a bit overwhelmed from the storm of words basically being dumped into her head. Why is he so exuberant?

-...Really? You can’t imagine why Rane’s unfiltered, inner voice is so exuberant?-

…Right. Tala took a deep breath and felt a smile steal over her face. Is he still talking with you?

-...Yes, but I’m slowly reining him in.-

Are you sure that it isn’t you who is being ‘Raned’ in?

-...That’s a bad pun, and you should feel bad.-

Maybe, but I don’t.

Alat sighed. -Rane should be out shortly. Apparently, he’s getting ranted at as well, and they’re trying to figure out an operating agreement. Mistress Holly is trying to kick him out.-

Tala could just imagine the fiery woman shooing the giant man from her workshop.

In fact, she didn’t have to imagine it. Her threefold perception was able to see that far, and she could see Mistress Holly’s irritation with the big man.

Is he getting any better? The fact that she was referencing Rane’s alternate interface was obvious to Alat, so Tala didn’t bother to clarify.

-I think so. He wasn’t based upon a fundamental function like I was. So he’s really just a copy of Rane’s consciousness running in parallel.-

And you are? Tala teased lightly.

-A copy of your consciousness that has run in parallel after being based upon, and melded with, a system designed to monitored your body and magic, and revive you in the case of unconsciousness.-

Fine, ruin the joke. Tala still projected amusement toward Alat all the same.

A minute later, Rane and Mistress Holly came into the waiting room. The Inscriptionist had an exasperated look on her face, but Tala could see mirth in her eyes.

Rane seemed a bit dazed, his eyes slightly unfocused, but he was moving alright.

Tala took pity on them both and came forward, taking Rane by the arm and leading him away.

Mistress Holly gave a shallow bow. “Thank you, Mistress Tala. Always a pleasure to see you.”

Tala returned the bow. “I am happy to assist. Thank you for taking such good care of him.”

“But of course.” The Inscriptionist gave a strained smile.

Together, Tala and Rane departed Mistress Holly’s building. As they did so, Terry flickered to her shoulder before squawking once.

-Terry would like to go into your sanctuary, but he doesn’t want to just abandon you two.-

That’s kind of him to check. Tala had no issue with that. She almost opened a small portal into the space which used to be the atrium to Walden’s cell, but when she went to do so, there was already one in existence, and Terry had already flickered through.

She knew what Terry really wanted, and sure enough, before she could fully register his movements, Terry was in Walden’s forest, looking for Walden in order to negotiate with the being for the terms to hunt within the immortal elk’s ecosystem.

The terror bird had been connecting with the elk every so often, working on the massive magical beast and wearing down his resistance.

You go, Terry. Best of luck. After a moment’s hesitation, Tala added another thought, this time directed at Alat, Please make sure he’s not negotiating away things we don’t want him to give.

-Already on top of that. I mean, he already tried to trade… well, it’s likely best you don’t know. I’m keeping an eye on it.-

Tala sighed, but sent her gratitude regardless. She was actually happy to not have to be the one to rein Terry in.

No, she was assisting with Rane at the moment.

The two of them walked through the streets of Bandfast, the latter still a bit dazed as his alternate interface clearly continued a deluge of… something within his mind.

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Finally, his eyes focused on Tala. “How do you stand this?”

He immediately flinched, the alternate interface clearly having had something to say about the sentiment.

“He… he won’t stop.” The big man was rubbing at his temples.

Tala placed her hand on his shoulder, giving him a firmer point of physical contact. “You can pull power from the scripts?”

Rane’s eyes immediately brightened, but even as the smallest tendril of his magic began to shift, he jerked to a stop. “Huh. He… he stopped.”

Tala gave a wry smile. “Having power to change his existence will do that, yeah.”

Rane let out a contented sigh, a small tear actually appearing in his eye. “Oh, beautiful silence. If that’s what it’s like to go mad, I have been vastly too harsh on madmen.”

-He’s cross with you. He is well aware that you don’t love him, but he still feels a bit betrayed that you told Rane how to essentially knock him unconscious.-

Well, Rane already knew, he was just being so overwhelmed that he couldn’t put the thoughts together.

-Speaking from experience, that very well might have been deliberate.-

…That jerk.

-Just a bit? But he’s also a bit concerned for his own existence. He’s basically a newborn with the mental capacity of an adult. He’s trying to find his way in the world.-

I suppose I can see that.

Rane smiled her way. “Well, he wants a name. Any ideas?”

“Enar?”

He grimaced. “I mean, it does match ‘Alat,’ but I don’t really like that name. I mean I don’t dislike it, but it doesn’t particularly grab me.” He considered. “Ideally, he’ll be my pal. I had a childhood friend who died after he joined the guard. What about Marvin?

Tala was skeptical. “Do you really want to be depressed by the memory? Or I suppose you might be to a point where it would simply be honoring him. You’ll have to tell me.”

Rane considered. “He says it would depress him, so it’s out.” His frown deepened as he considered further. “He processes a lot of information… Data?”

Tala shrugged. “I mean, it’s not a bad name, but it seems rather impersonal to me. If I were him, I’d be afraid that you were just going to use me as a personal assistant if you gave me that name.”

“I don’t know. I think with the right interactions, he could be lovable.”

She smiled. “But that doesn’t have to do with the name.”

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right. And if the goal is just a lovable name, we could simply call him something ridiculous, like Uncle Bob.”

“True.” Tala chuckled. “I don’t really like it, but you might as well ask him. What about Bob?”

Rane glanced to the side for a moment. “Yeah, he hates that.”

“Fair enough. Do you have any other ideas?”

“Well, he exists because of metal, via my inscriptions… What about Hale?”

“Like hail?”

“Well, yeah. He’s the ‘hard’ version of me. He’d be Hale because I’m Rane.”

Tala sighed, rubbing her forehead. “Like rain?”

“Yup.” He beamed at her. “Surely you’d say it’s a good option, right?”

“I’m sorry Rane, I’m afraid I can’t do that.” She shook her head. “Besides, that’s how I would come up with a name. You’re better than that, Rane.”

His eyes sparkled. “So, you finally admit that you aren’t good at naming things, eh?”

“I said no such things.” She hid a smile behind a false grimace.

“Sure, sure.” He waved off her objection, clearly seeing through her facade.

“Come on now, big guy. I thought you were going to wow me with a better way to come up with names. Haven’t you been giving this choice a lot of thought before today?”

“Right, you’re right. I have, but nothing ever really seemed right. I also felt like I should meet him before trying to give him a name. “

“I suppose that makes sense. What does he think about our other ideas so far?”

“Well, his first suggestion was that he should be Rane, and that I should change my name. So, I’m not very inclined to listen to his other suggestions.” Rane was clearly grumpy at the idea.

“-Don’t worry. Time will show him that he doesn’t want to pilot the meat puppet.-” Somehow, Tala could tell that Alat was speaking to both her and Rane at the same time.

Rane jerked. “Wait… was that Alat?”

Her shared communication continued, “-Yes. He has allowed me to speak with you at this time. But despite what he thinks, I am not going to try to convince you to let him be Rane. No, don’t be grumpy. You are new. Take a new name.-”

Rane blinked a few times, shaking his head vigorously at what was likely a renewed deluge of words within his mind.

Tala led them the last few steps to a park bench, and they sat in the winter chill. Both of them actually liked the cool temperatures despite their lack of winter wear. They were hardly the only Mages out and about without ‘proper clothing.’ So, they didn’t stand out too much.

He groaned. “This is… a lot.”

“-I know, but he can’t be called that. That’s my name.-”

“You’re hilarious,” he said in a monotone.

“-Wow, you’re a lot less fun than I’d thought you would be,-” Alat sent to both of them.

“Yeah, well you’re both a bit more annoying than I thought you would be.”

Tala blinked a few times, making sure she understood what he meant.

Rane saw her reaction and quickly clarified. “Him and Alat. Not you, Tala.”

“Oh, I figured that. I am just trying to remember if I had a similar issue with Alat.”

-Not that you remember, no.-

Tala frowned. That’s an oddly… suspicious answer.

-I suppose it is. I wish I could tell you something different, but as far as I can tell, we got along well. It wasn’t perfectly smooth, but it wasn’t quite like this. I came to be who I am gradually, and I think that helped us have time to adapt.-

Tala sighed. “What can we do to help?”

Rane sighed. “I think once he has a name, that will make things easier.”

She nodded, mentally buckling down to help them make a decision. “Alright, then. What does he want to be called, that isn’t Rane?”

Rane narrowed his eyes in concentration for a long moment.

“Enar… that seems to be the only name that he doesn’t have vehement objections to.”

Tala nodded. “Enar it is. Good to meet you, Enar.”

Rane looked up and to the left. “He says that it’s good to hear your voice through someone else’s ears.”

She sighed. “Yeah, that will pass soon. It seems that he got all your snark without any filters?”

He regarded her with a puzzled expression. “I have snark?”

She grinned in return. “Nope. At least not any more. He took it all.”

That made Rane chuckle. “I suppose so, yeah.”

With Rane and Enar on somewhat acceptable terms, he and Tala stood back up, continuing their walk toward Lyn’s house. “Oh, Lyn and Kannis are going to love him.”

Rane’s mouth quirked up on one side. “I bet they will.”

Fannas still didn’t like to come out when Terry was around, so they hadn’t seen as much of him of late, but he still made it a point to say hi whenever they came by.

Regardless, it would be a pretty standard visit all the same.

* * *

They were on their way out of Bandfast the next morning when Alat made a surprised sound within Tala’s head. -Oh, oh! Stop!-

Tala stepped off to the side of the street in order to be out of the path of the morning foot traffic, and not force any of the vehicles to divert around her.

Rane and Terry moved alongside her with looks of curiosity. She held up a finger, asking for them to wait. What is it, Alat?

-Lisa just reached out. He is asking if we are still in the city. Apparently, he just heard that Irondale was here, and he wanted to check in.-

What did you tell him? Tala felt a bit of excitement rise within her. She would love to give Lisa another option for housing, and once he was out from under his obligation to answer certain questions, she would be able to ask them without feeling like a terrible person.

-I just responded, letting him know we were on our way out of the city.-

So…

-He’s writing in our shared note.-

Can I know what he’s saying? She was practically bouncing with expectant excitement.

-You really want his thoughts as he composes them? You don’t want to give him the chance to think through and finalize? Are you some sort of monster?-

Tala growled internally. Just tell me the gist of it.

Alat chuckled. -He’s open to moving into Irondale, but he wants to see it for himself before he moves forward with the idea.-

Oh! Alright. I imagine he’ll want to negotiate with Artia as well, given they’re in similar businesses, now.

-Yeah, that’s likely.-

So… are we going to see him?

-Yes.-

Tala turned to Rane and Terry. Rane was watching her carefully, making sure nothing was going wrong, and Terry was watching the crowd, eyes peeled for any unattended treats.

His… proclivities were getting expensive, even if he had reined them in after a few talking-tos. He even seemed to have found some way of gaining money… Alat said it was perfectly legal, but she also said that Terry didn’t want her to know just yet.

Regardless, it wasn’t that important.

“We’re going to swing by and drop in on Lisa at his shop. He has asked to look around Irondale to gather more information about what it might mean to live there and help inform him as to whether or not he wants to immigrate to my little city.”

Rane frowned in thought before nodding. “Sure, that makes sense. I actually haven’t seen it in quite a while, it will be interesting to see how it’s grown.”

Terry let out a little huff, but he didn’t argue or protest.

Tala grinned. She hadn’t visited herself in a while either, but she could see everything that went on regardless, so it wasn’t like there would be any surprises for her. “Alright, then. Let’s go.”

They made their way through the city to the magic shop, finding the door unlocked for them this time. When they opened it, however, they found Lisa standing right inside, his impenetrable human illusion already in place.

He gave a vulpine smile as greeting before getting right to the point, “You’re here. Good, good.”

Before they could respond, he stepped out, spun around, locked his door, and then turned back toward them to regard Tala with expectant eyes.

When she didn’t immediately react, he gestured to her. “Well? I can see your town hanging there, ready to be investigated, but I can’t see any details. Additionally, I feel that it would be rude to breach my way in from here.”

Tala felt herself smiling even as she wordlessly opened a door into Irondale on the wall of his shop, having it match his own door perfectly. In fact, it was so perfect that it made it look like he simply had a double door instead of the single that had been there before.

The disguised fox sighed. “Well, that’s not confusing.”

“I think you mispronounced ‘convenient’.” Her smile had grown to match his.

He gave her a flat look.

She shrugged in return, maintaining the smile.

With a shake of his head and a huffed laugh, he walked forward and pushed open the door into the pocket-city. “Let’s see what madness awaits in this gateless paradise.”