<hr>
The remainder of the week was peaceful but not uneventful. A wild bilghies'' herd came close to the camp, and the teachers ordered some students to shoo them away, using weak qi-bolts and shields. Wolves followed the herd, and the Body Cultivators were sent to hunt them. For the rest, picking herbs and light chores.
On Sunday morning, the students were allowed to sleep late, and then the camp was tidied up and secured with wards—to be used as a permanent base. At eleven in the morning, they returned to Dartmouth.
"Peter, can you help me carry the samples to my office?" Alchemy asked.
The teacher picked one large cardboard box, and Peter took another one. After he deposited the item on the teacher''s desk, she turned toward him and caressed his cheek.
"Thank you," she said softly.
<Theory: She wants to offer you a “special” reward.>
Not again! Peter sighed, preparing to stand his ground.
Then, a jolt of pain came, a bee-like sting in his tight, and there was only darkness.
###
<Alarm: Peter! Wake up! Come on! Peter!>
"Uhhh…" Peter groaned, trying to move his head but failing. His forehead, neck, thighs, knees, and ankles, as well as his chest, elbows, and wrists, were restrained by leather strips. He was laid on a medical table, naked, in a windowless room, with the mother of a headache to keep him company.
<Suggestion: Don''t move for now; wait for the sedative to get out of your system. Pee, it will help.>
"Pee where?" Peter mumbled. "I''m restrained."
<Information: You have senior pampers.>
"What the fuck?" Peter yelled, only for the pain to assault him with renewed force. He tried to Phase out of his restraints but was too dazed to be able to concentrate.
<Request: Shut up and pretend you''re asleep. Trust me!>
Peter squeezed his eyes shut and pretended to be unconscious. There were voices outside, and then a door opened.
"Please, don''t hurt him," a tearful voice asked. Regina. "I love him."
Peter jerked and almost opened his eyes.
<Insistent request: STAY PUT! It''s part of the plan.>
"The vaccine is perfectly safe," a second voice, Alchemy, said. "Wait outside."
What is going on?
<Have patience, Peter; you''ll understand soon enough.>
Hey, honey! Regina''s voice reached him. I''m speaking to you through a doll. Listen to the System. Love you!
Alchemy patted Peter’s forehead, looking for a fever, checked his pulse, and finally raised his eyelids, inspecting his pupils. Peter stared into nothingness, pretending to be unconscious. "We''ll know in half an hour," Alchemy said. "His body doesn''t show signs of mutations."
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
"Can I stay and watch him?" Regina asked.
"No, child, you cannot. There is a chance he tricks you into releasing him before we’re sure he’s cured. This is the only way, I''m sorry."
"If you say so, teacher," Regina sobbed.
There were steps on the floor, and the door opened and closed.
"What the fuck is going on?" Peter whispered, opening his eyes and shifting them around as far as he could do with his head locked in place. He was in a lab. That much was clear. And a dirty one; there were traces of blood and dubious substances on the floor that looked like puss.
<Warning: prepare yourself for a surprise… Kostel told Alchemy you two have powers while bragging about capturing the flag.>
That’s no surprise. I told you giving him a class was a bad idea.
<Doubt: This unit remembers the opposite. It was Peter who insisted on giving Kostel a class.>
"Gaslighting me? Really?"
<Suggestion: The past is the past; let’s focus on the future. There is a detail that this unit and Peter weren’t aware of. In retrospective thinking, it makes sense. About twenty percent of the Wild Magicians become crazed.>
“What? How come I never heard about it?”
<Information: It is a close-guarded secret, and the victims are quarantined on another floor for research. Nevertheless, the cultivators have developed a vaccine that reduced the rate of craziness by half. Every Wild Magician is obliged to take it. However, Melinda has developed a better vaccine—or so she says—and decided to take matters into her own hands, testing it on you and Kostel. There was no need to sedate Kostel—>
“The imbecile is docile, yeah… He’d eat the vaccine out of her palm.”
<But she didn’t want to take the chance you’d refuse. So, she distracted you with a hand while sticking a syringe with the vaccine and a sedative in your butt with the other. Suggestion: Peter must train against distractions.>
“Is that stuff safe?” Peter asked with apprehension, looking at the traces of gore on the floor.
<Information: It is because you don’t need it in the first place. The sedative amount was quite large, on the other hand. However, there are positive developments in this history.>
“Enlighten me,” Peter hissed, as the System had paused, obviously waiting for him to ask for more.
<Decelopment One: now that this OS has analyzed the vaccine within Peter’s body, it could make it work reliably on a large scale and potentially save thousands of lives.
<Development Two: Melinda told Regina about what was happening, with Naomi and Ariana present. At this unit’s suggestion, the girls pretended to be interested in helping Melinda’s research. The teacher has promised to take them to the labs on the quarantine floors. This will help us find out more about the Tower’s System and how its code influences the Mana, possibly opening a way to install the Seed System.>
So glad my body helped science… Err… Did she do anything to me while I was asleep?
<Information: Beyond undressing you, staring at your naked body, and sighing? Negative.>
The bitch…
<Suggestion: Look at the good part. This would be a perfect excuse to build a cover as a Wild Magic user. Second suggestion: Do a Relaxation séance, since you have free time.>
“I guess I don’t have a choice, do I?” Peter sneered. Breathing in and out calmly, he relaxed and waited, losing count of the time. Eventually, Melinda and Regina entered the room. Peter turned his eyes toward Alchemy, pretending he was waking up: "Teacher? Regi? W-where am I? Why am I tied?"
“To ensure you won’t become crazed,” Melinda said, unlocking his restraints. “A safety procedure we took for your own good. Peter, you should have told me you became a Wild Mage,” she frowned, patting his cheek.
“It slipped my mind,” Peter searched for an excuse. The woman blushed, averting her eyes from his well-defined muscles.
<Satisfation. Alchemy obviously faults herself, believing you avoided her because she hit on you. Our cover is now foolproof.>
“Dress and come to my office,” Melinda said, exiting the premises after pointing to a wardrobe.
“I won’t look,” Regina grinned, obviously still peeking and giggling madly.
When he threw the adult pampers into a hazardous materials bin, Peter''s embarrassment made his cheeks go beet red. Soon, they exited the room to a short corridor that ended in an elevator large enough to fit a hospital bed. It led behind Melinda''s office. He was made to sit on a chair, and the teacher checked his reflexes with the usual small hammer. "All good," Alchemy said, inspecting his pupils again. “I apologize for sedating you. It was just a measure of precaution. I’ll make sure the college issues you a Wild Mage accreditation.”
“Thanks, teacher…”
"OK, I have things to do," Alchemy said, rising on her feet, her face redbeet in color. "You may feel weak for a few days, but it will pass. Come to see me after tomorrow, at ten o''clock sharp, for a check-up. It would be better to stay here for the Wednesday excursion."
"No, it''s OK... I like the trips," Peter said.
"I insist. From now on, the trips last until the next morning. Sleeping on the ground and cold water is the last thing you need.”
“Of course,” Regina rushed to say, creasing her nose as soon as the words cold water were spoken.
<Onservation: It’s for the better. You won’t go questing until Friday anyway.
“There''s your backpack," Alchemy pointed to the hanger, a sign they had to go.