***Tirnanog, Hochberg***

***Astra***

“No teacher's outfit today?” Magnus commented as soon as we entered Gaia's dream bungalow on her island paradise. “Don't tell me you are slacking off already, oh wise one.”

She was idling in the living room like always and looked confused at his statement before she regarded the oversized sweat suit she had chosen as her attire. Admittedly, one of the less enticing getups she had dreamed up so far.

The Avatar yawned as if to demonstrate her indifference and gestured at the chalkboard she had used yesterday to explain the horrific intricacies of electromagnetic forces and electrical currents.

Known physics was easy enough to grasp, but my sub-identities had gotten headaches as soon as Gaia began explaining how different layers of reality could be affected, like spacetime and the fabric of reality itself. For some reason, she was adamant not to call such things higher or lower dimensions – which felt more relatable to me. Even Magnus had fought her opinion on the terminology.

Unfortunately, it was hard to argue with a being which perceived the world vastly differently from us and was ‘lowering’ itself to our level to communicate.

How Gaia ever expected us to come up with this on our own, I had no idea.

My sub-identities rebelled at the mere sight of the formulas and the memory of what they could do. I knew it was stupid to complain about being tutored on the proper utilization of our abilities, but the lessons had given me headaches.

Unlike in earlier dream sessions, I hadn't woken up rested, but tired and annoyed while Magnus couldn’t wait for the next lesson. Not even the culinary treats Gaia regularly conjured up managed to sweeten the time spent looking at those formulas.

I sighed and inwardly chided myself for being childish and lazy while Magnus and Gaia continued their bickering. Wasn’t this the power I had always dreamed of?

Once we mastered Gaia’s teachings, we would be able to stand right next to the elders.

When Magnus first requested to be taught by Gaia, I thought it would be a waste of time.

But it quickly became obvious that Gaia hadn't given us just any random powers.

Yes, given.

I thought the avatar had been bragging when she claimed to have guided Magnus to Tirnanog. She also implied nudging him towards certain evolutions – or at least providing the opportunities. Which meant, implicitly, my path had also been influenced by her.

For one thing was certain: our powers matched each other just a tad too well. Upon seeing the bigger picture, nobody could deny the harmony of our mutations.

The muscles provided power and speed while the bones ensured the body could withstand the force. The filaments extended the range at which we could apply our electricity and Second Sight allowed us to see the electromagnetic fields around us – a necessity for more complicated manipulations. Precognition and other mental improvements allowed feats which would have been impossible to achieve with un-augmented minds.

Lastly, the remaining mutations shored up leftover weaknesses which were necessary for survival in Tirnanog.

I wasn't sure how to feel about Gaia's meddling. On one side, it felt like an invasive violation of my self-determination. Even if her methods were at worst a subconscious influence.

On the other, wasn't it preferable to be the best a demigod could come up with? Especially when this conflict was about much more than yet another war between humans.

“I'll indeed teach you no further until you have proven to me that all of this effort is worth my time.” The avatar hummed happily and conjured up a cup of ice cream. “I’ve been meddling with people’s evolutions for quite some time, but you two have received a lot more care than anyone else so far.”

I grimaced. How much of the elders’ success and power was owed to a fickle entity paying a little more attention to how their mutations fell into place?

“What do you mean!?” Magnus complained and spread his hands in outrage. “You have given us no more than ten lessons!”

“Nine times eight hours,” Gaia clarified. “Each one tremendously boring. It's like trying to teach toddlers their letters. You have to understand that I have no patience for such things. And besides, it's not like you could keep going with theory alone indefinitely. You need practice – which you can't get in the confines of your chosen exile. At least without announcing your true abilities to everyone. Which is why I came up with an errand for you!”

She licked her lips in anticipation and a spoon appeared in her hand which she pointed at us. “You two are going on a hunt! To slay the beast which is after you! Then you are going to find a certain plant and eat it and I am going to improve you two, no downsides. I have recovered just enough power for that.”

“You sound like some stupid quest NPC from a computer game!” Magnus retorted. “Why would we go out and hunt some dangerous beast if we could send an entire hunting party after it? Assuming we even knew where it is hiding. Which we don’t. Which makes the entire point moot.”

Gaia dipped her spoon into the ice cream and took a demonstrative slurp. She looked irritated.

This posing wasn’t getting us anywhere with someone like Gaia. Magnus was alienating her for no reason. Well, maybe he had a reason, but the avatar wasn’t used to being treated like a minion or teacher who could be argued with. She had always been in control of her supposed plan and now that we were adding our unique contributions she had problems keeping everything on track as she desired.

I placed a hand on Magnus’s shoulder and smiled at him sweetly. “Haven't you learned anything about the clan's traditions? It's custom to hunt for new evolutions together with your partner. To prove our power.”

“Not you too, Astra.” He turned to face me. “I went along with the caving trip because you said it's akin to a marriage ceremony. This is an entirely different matter.”

I narrowed my eyes at Magnus, willing him to understand that this was the wrong battlefield. “No. It’s supposed to always happen when a partnered pair decides on a new mutation. Buying subsequent materials for advancement is fine, but the first is supposed to be special.”

“You just have a thing for outdoor trips,” Magnus grumbled.

Gaia chimed in from the side. “Hey. Don't make this into something between the two of you. This is between you and me.”

Magnus turned back to face the avatar. “Why?”

“Because I need to ensure my alterations are going in the right direction.” The avatar flickered and suddenly wore a white scientist's cloak. “Listen well, my students! You need to suck out the marrow of an acid root. This will allow me further improvements to the tissues throughout your body and give your blood a little boost. What holds you back right now isn’t the theoretical power you have access to, but keeping your muscles supplied properly. It’s a bottleneck we have to fix.”

“We already have mutations in those fields!” I pointed out, no longer sure whether it was wise to follow her suggestion without question. Was there a risk involved?

“It will be fine! Trust me.” She tapped her chin. “The Gestalt was never really into actively designing her, hmm...”

“Just say it,” Magnus groused.

“Her humans. Her body?” Gaia tilted her head and shrugged. “Her humans. The Gestalt just tried a lot of different things which offered themselves naturally and kept the stuff that proved to be beneficial, not caring about inefficiencies along the way! But randomly trying things is no way to fight a war. I want a humanity which can fight back against the enemy and you two are my best shot so far. Which is why I want you two to prove I am not wasting my time.”

“Sounds like a little rebellion the avatar's brewing in her exile,” Magnus commented and crossed his arms.

Gaia grimaced. “Maybe. And not. How should I explain this? The Gestalt and the various... other 'me's are one, but we are also separate through time and space. On Tirnanog, I have authority. The Gestalt back on Earth and other worlds is still the governing overmind as long as a portal allows communication, but otherwise, I am on my own.”

I interrupted with a question. “So, does that mean if there are enough humans in this world you could become your own Gestalt!?”

Gaia blinked. “No. We are all the Gestalt, no matter which world, but I might go up in the hierarchy. I could be one of the many arms instead of a fingernail.”

Magnus sighed and held up a hand. “Wait, wait, wait. You mentioned other worlds. Does that mean there are humans living on other worlds? I think you mentioned something about the Gestalt’s bio-matter spreading throughout the galaxy was what pissed off these other entities. Of course, there must be other worlds.”

He looked excited.

The avatar clicked her tongue. “That's not important in the here and now.”

“Hell, it is!” Magnus screamed at her, making me jump. “Other humans! Other worlds!”

Gaia rolled her eyes. “There may be a few more worlds out there similar to this one and Earth, but even the Gestalt can’t bypass the limits of information transfer without the wormholes. Those worlds might as well be out of reach for you. Besides, the people on those worlds aren't really 'human'. Whether cooperation could be achieved is questionable. They have just as much free will as humans do and you cannot even get along with your own kind.”

She blanched. “I wonder whether this means me being a masochist by human values?”

I baulked. “What are they then?”

“People compatible with me of course.” Gaia took another spoonful of her ice cream. “They can be considered just as much human as the two of you. You are aware that you are mutants by now. Your own race – if you will.”

She halted and corrected herself. “Rather, your own species. I doubt you could have children with an unaltered human by this point without the aid of the nanomachines. Can we get back on track now?”

Gaia stepped closer and offered me the ice cream with the spoon.

It didn't take much consideration to accept the offer. “Magnus, you can pester her about anything related to our current situation, but some distant worlds are hardly a concern for us now.”

“Seriously?” Magnus glared at the ice cream in my hands. “You allow her to bribe you with imaginary ice cream?”

I fed a spoonful into my mouth and looked at him with big eyes while I spoke with a full mouth. “Yeshmmm.”

Gaia gave us a few more details regarding the plant we should look for before we left the saherna the next morning. Our guards weren’t thrilled about us taking a trip alone on our drakes, but it wasn’t exactly like anyone present had the authority to tell us what to do.

Nor could the Caravaners or Hochberg stop a delegate from another clan if they wanted to leave.

Using the drakes was a calculated move.

We had no way to track down our foe and leaving by foot held as much possibility of being spotted as escaping the attention of anything watching the saherna. The fortress city’s docks were a relatively busy place with smaller caravans from settlements in the vicinity arriving and leaving by the hour.

But a flock of three drakes departing the saherna was sure to be a sight.

Thalia wasn’t coming with us, but for some reason, her drake, Cadence, wasn’t willing to stay behind alone.

The only thing we were certain of was that our foe was a land-bound animal, so we decided not to go too far with the drakes. Half an hour of flying brought us well out of reach of any accidental spectators like resource gatherers operating with Hochberg as their base.

We chose the plains to the west as our destination, as they were relatively open terrain. This made it harder to approach us undetected. The area wasn’t perfectly flat, but a series of gently rolling hills which still gave more than enough opportunity for predators to hide.

It was nonetheless better than the temporary marshland to the north or the karst to the east of the city.

“This looks as good a place as any,” Magnus commented as soon as we landed on one of the hills. It was one of the larger ones in the vicinity and gave the best view possible. “Loops, please look out for the enemy. Astra and I will be busy for a few minutes.”

“You want to try it right here?” I asked while I signalled Elegance to let me dismount. The drake laid down in the high grass and I allowed myself to slide down her flank.

“Better here than somewhere else. If we are going to use it, we can reach the city within an hour or two. The drakes didn’t fly especially fast to get here,” he explained while he looked around. “It’s also very unlikely this area would be blocked by something, impeding the anchor.”

He took his spetum from his back and used it as a scythe to mow down the waist-high grass with long, arching strikes. It was an awkward solution, but it worked well enough to clear out a free area for our experiments.

“I still think we should set an anchor somewhere in the city,” I argued. “But if it’s just about testing the theory, here is as good as anywhere.”

Magnus smiled and clapped his hands together after he put the spetum away. “Then let’s do this! The longer we wait, the likelier it is for pursuers to catch up to us.”

I sighed and held out my arms for Magnus. We touched our palms together and interlinked our fingers before we nodded at each other. Together, we adjusted the ring formed between our arms and chests. Any inaccuracies, we would have to account for with more power and inefficiency.

The process was fairly simple in theory – though whether we were able to create the necessary magnetic ripples was another matter.

I sneaked out a few filaments from beneath my armour and interwove them around our arms, joined by Magnus from the other side until we were tightly interlinked.

At last, we added some more filaments to the strange construct from beneath and above to shape and concentrate the magnetic field.

“Ready?” I asked while I circulated a low current down my left arm and tasked several sub-identities to supervise and adjust the process. “Maybe we should try a low-power test run first?”

Magnus nodded and answered in kind until we circulated the power between us perfectly. Just as we had trained in our quarters.

Once we had the timing down, he made eye contact with me. “I suppose I will give a countdown and then we sink everything we have into the attempt. But don’t power yourself out needlessly if it looks like it doesn’t work.”

I took a deep breath and nodded. If we got it right, the process should be relatively quick, but power intensive.

“Three.”

“Two.”

“One!”

I felt him send the circulating current into my right arm, which I caught and amplified before sending it down my left. Arcs of electricity traversed down the stabilizing filaments and ignited a little ball of plasma between us. It was held in place and flickered violently around as it tried to escape the magnetic field.

We put more power into the effort and pulled, slowly expanding the plasma into a ring.

I grit my teeth as I felt my chest and arms heat up from the effort.

The plasma stretched with a final effort and snapped back into a ball while we collapsed the magnetic field around it.

Then it dispersed with a crack and a gust of hot air which would have singed my eyebrows if it hadn’t been for the helmet.

“Yes!” Magnus exclaimed with glee and we untangled ourselves, careful not to interfere with the creation between us.

To the naked eye, it seemed like there was nothing between us, but Second Sight revealed… something. It looked like a three-dimensional fracture. A crack in a mirror?

“It looks like a multi-faceted crack inside a block of glass,” I concluded once I had taken a look from different angles. “I hope Gaia isn’t teaching us to create black holes and destroy the world in its entirety.”

“Nah,” Magnus denied with a huge grin on his face. “This is a small dent in space-time at most.”

He reached out and stuck his arm through the anchor before I could stop him. “See?”

It looked like nothing happened to my normal eyes, but with Second Sight I could see how the energy running through his body warped slightly.

“Idiot!” I slapped his forehead. “Don’t use your arm to test it!”

Magnus laughed. “I see you are trusting Gaia’s lessons less than I do.”

“What if we made a mistake!?” I pointed out the wavering edges of the anomaly. “The anchor isn’t stable!”

Magnus went closer and squinted his eye as if it would help with his Second Sight. Which it wouldn’t.

“It’s stable enough for our purposes. We will have to monitor it to see how long it will hold. I would give a finger for some instruments to take measurements. For now, all we can do is eyeball it.”

I giggled. “You want the honour of being first? Gaia said it should be safe once the anchor is set. All we have to do is lock onto it and… jump.”

“I will try!” Magnus answered with glee and began running down the hill. Occasionally, he flash stepped forward a dozen metres which was some kind of hard limit for the technique.

Once he was about two hundred metres away, he turned around and waved.

I waved back and stepped away from the anchor.

Magnus began running back and flash stepped after a few metres, appearing closer as if he had made a normal flash step. It hadn’t worked.

He ran back to his starting point and tried again. This time, he vanished and the anchor warped, expanding until it popped open a portal for the barest fraction of a moment, spitting out Magnus before it returned to its original state.

“Did you see that!?”

I didn’t answer, because I was already running down the hill to try it myself.