“This is actually really important news” said Trina

“I don’t see why” said Aife “We already knew Sui was good at sewing, why does it matter if she could get system approval or not”

“That’s just it Aife. Sui got system approval that she was better than the skill. This means two things. Firstly, that the skills the system gives us aren’t perfect, and secondly that we can develop the skills the system gives us” said Trina excitedly

“I fail to see how this matters” said Aife

“It might not seem important, but think about Sui and her thread control. Theoretically she could learn that somehow, without the system is what this means” said Trina.

Silence

Even Sui was shocked by this revelation. Well… Trina does make some sense, but at the same time… why would that work? Clearly something else is at play then just concentrating hard when I lift my thread… is there really another way I could have gained this?

Sui let her sense spread through her dress and tried to examine the feeling. “Look, even if that is true Trina, why do I just get double strength for one of mine for example. How would that even be trained” asked Aife

“Look, I don’t know exactly, I just know it has to be possible” said Trina.

Hmm, I don’t really think this is something you could just learn… It feels like someone just stuck an extra sense into me. It’s like nothing else. It’s touch sort of but not quite. That’s at least a part sort of… Sui shook her head, when her thoughts started leading nowhere, trying to weave the loose threads of her thoughts back together.

“Didn’t we establish that five was the maximum for a human though?” asked Aife “If that is true then doesn’t that mean something that doubles your strength is impossible”

Trina grit her teeth “No, there has to be something… I mean…Wait, what about that… ah… fear response. I forget what it’s called but when mothers freak out when their baby is in trouble and they throw cars” said Trina

Aife nodded “I’d love to meet someone who can throw a car. Even mama can’t do that”

Trina growled “You know what I meant”

Aife shrugged “Still, does that actually give you ten strength? Even temporarily, or like, say they were at three and go up to six. Still quite a jump, and theoretically above what a person could have”

“Look I’m telling you” said Trina jumping to her feet “There has to be something here…”

Aife sighed as Trina started mumbling under her breath. She was not to be interrupted in such a state. She was merely throwing as many ideas out as she could, speaking the words and seeing if something clicked.

Sui was further investigating her own thread control. Feeling the different kinds of pressure it exerted on her mind. Ok, so I think I’ve got it. Sui shifted the coach thread around slightly testing her theories.

So, as I use it, my head feels like it is slowly being squeezed, or pushed down. It gets worse if I try to grab a long thread. On the other hand, trying to control lots of thread, or multiple parts feels like my brain is being pulled apart instead. These are distinctly different feelings.

I couldn’t quite pinpoint them in the first round of testing. Which is strange, they felt like different kinds of pressure, but still just pressure, a bit more like the first kind. Why is that? I haven’t learnt anything new… why is it so split now?

“Aha” shouted Trina “Sui!”

Sui jumped startled, looking towards her friend with confusion “I bet you’ve spent way too much time on your thread control, right?”

“Of course not” said Sui “I have such a basic understanding of it. I’ve hardly even started using it”

Trina groaned “Hahaha, she’s got you their Trina” laughed Aife expecting an answer along those lines.

Gritting her teeth Trina rephrased her question “You’ve spent the most time training your skill out of all of us, right?”

Sui nodded “Definitely”

“Ok. So, can you tell us if you improved or not?” asked Trina “Along with any other relevant details?”

Sui’s eyes lit up at the chance to speak about all her tests on thread control. She proceeded, to spend the next twenty minutes going into each and every detail of her practice, leading in to her night long sewing session and the few extra things she’d noticed today. Sadly, by the end of it, Trina was hardly paying attention and missed the important distinction between types of mental strain.

Aife for her part, had gotten up five minutes into the conversation and was now doing push ups with one hand and a chair on her back. Sui had used a large amount of specific terminology, and her explanations were unnecessarily detailed so Aife was making better use of her time by practicing her balance and strength. Shame the chair wasn’t heavy anymore.

“And that’s about everything I learnt” said Sui

Trina’s slightly glazed over eyes came back into focus as best they could “Right well… that was uh… very interesting… um”

Trina’s awkwardness was quickly forgotten in the face of a system notification drawing everyone’s attention.

Hello everyone, it has been around forty eight hours since wave 5. This does not mean wave 6 is starting right away, but users are warned that a wave may happen at any time. Hopefully you’ve gotten enough rest.

-System

“Shit” said Trina “I wanted more time to practice, dammit. Maybe brush up on my technique… damn. Aife we’ll have to rely on you”

Aife’s eyes narrowed “What if they keep us separate like wave three”

Trina sucked in a large breath “I’ll deal with it when the time comes”

Trina then proceeded to head for the kitchen and start looking around through the various knives available to her. In the end, she chose a thick steak knife with a cover that had seen better days.

“Want me to fix your clothes?” asked Sui I might get permission to access her closet this way if she’s freaking out over the waves.

Trina’s eyes narrowed, as if she was sensing something amiss “What do you mean”

“Well, quite frankly, your outfit is weak now” said Sui “Watch”

Sui swiftly moved over to Trina and grabbed the knife from its case it was in, then proceeded to hold up her sleeve stretching it the best she could with her short arms before stabbing into the material with the knife.

Trina gasped, but saw that as Sui removed the knife in question it hadn’t even managed to cut through the material at all. Only slightly messing with the point of contact. Sui quickly repaired the damage and handed back the knife “See, this is much better” said Sui

“I don’t have time to make you a dress from scratch like this, so anything really good will have to wait, but I can repair what you have, or if you want” Sui started to get a wide smile “I could probably do some major work on a few outfits if I have the matching thread. I’d just need access to some space and your closet”

Trina frowned “How about you just do the outfit I’ll be changing into later, and then we’ll see. You can set up in the spare room”

“You guys have a spare room?” said Sui “Isn’t there just the two bedrooms?”

“Yeah?” said Trina now the one confused “But it’s not like we use the second one?”

Sui frowned “Why wouldn’t you guys use them both? Seems cramped with two beds in the one room”

Trina looked over at Aife, and gave her a look that asked ‘is she serious?’ Aife for her part nodded solemnly. Trina then got a panicked expression and started gesturing wildly but the ideas didn’t carry across.

What are they making a big deal about? Can’t they just admit it’s weird they aren’t using their extra space properly? Why is that so hard? Not that I mind because I get a room to myself but still.

“Just tell, her. It’s not a secret” said Aife finally getting sick of Trina’s panic.

Trina nearly choked “But… how? Why doesn’t she know?”

Aife shrugged “Doubt it ever came across her mind”

“You know I’m right here you guys” said Sui

Trina groaned “Fine, but I don’t want to be here for this conversation. I’m going to grab my clothes for Sui to modify”

Trina swiftly turned and exited the room, heading to the bedroom she’d walked out of early this morning. “So, what Trina is embarrassed to tell you is that we are dating” said Aife

Sui nodded “Fair enough”

“See, this is what I told her” said Aife “You don’t care”

Sui tilted her head confused “Why would I care? I don’t see how this affects me or changes things except I get a bedroom to myself”

Aife laughed “Ahh, that’s the Sui we know and love, come on” said Aife as she led Sui to the spare room so she could deposit Sui’s belongings.