{"id":497,"date":"2024-07-09T18:43:10","date_gmt":"2024-07-09T22:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/?p=497"},"modified":"2025-01-28T23:41:20","modified_gmt":"2025-01-29T04:41:20","slug":"identity-theft-chapter-45","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/identity-theft-chapter-45\/","title":{"rendered":"The Changeling Game, Chapter 45"},"content":{"rendered":"<style type=\"text\/css\">\ntt {\nfont: .857em menlo, monaco, consolas, monospace;\nmargin: auto;\n}\nh2 {\ntext-align: center;\n}\nh2.chapterhead {\nmargin-bottom: 2em;\ntext-align: center;\n}\n  hr {\n    align-content: center;\n    width: 50%;\n    background: linear-gradient(to right, #4474BE 0%, #243a68 100%);\n    height: 3px;\n    margin-bottom: 2em;\n    margin-top: 2em;\n  }\n  .nowrap {\n    text-indent: 0;\n    display: inline-block;\n}\n<\/style>\n<p><b>Title:<\/b> The Changeling Game <small>(Formerly <i>Identity Theft<\/i>)<\/small><br \/>\n<b>Author:<\/b> Ardath Rekha<br \/>\n<b>Chapter:<\/b> 45\/?<br \/>\n<b>Fandom:<\/b> TCOR AU<br \/>\n<b>Rating:<\/b> M<br \/>\n<b>Warnings:<\/b> Adult themes, controversial subject matter, harsh language, violence<br \/>\n<b>Category:<\/b> Gen<br \/>\n<b>Pairing:<\/b> None<br \/>\n<b>Summary:<\/b> Jack\u2019s impromptu mission has been a success\u2026 but there may be repercussions that no one could possibly anticipate\u2026 or even imagine.<br \/>\n<b>Disclaimer:<\/b> The characters and events of <i>Pitch Black,<\/i> <i>The Chronicles of Riddick,<\/i> and <i>The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury<\/i> are not mine, but belong to Universal Studios.  I just <i>wish<\/i> I were in charge of their fates.  No money is being made off of this.  I\u2019m writing strictly for love of the story.<br \/>\n<b>Feedback:<\/b> Absolutely, the more the better!  Shred me, whip me, beat me, make me feel grammatical! I post \u201crough,\u201d so I can always use the help. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n<input type='hidden' bg_collapse_expand='6aac1542725b30097943597' value='6aac1542725b30097943597'><input type='hidden' id='bg-show-more-text-6aac1542725b30097943597' value='Long post is long. Click to read the story.'><input type='hidden' id='bg-show-less-text-6aac1542725b30097943597' value='Hide the story again.'><button id='bg-showmore-action-6aac1542725b30097943597' class='bg-showmore-plg-button bg-green-button  '   style=\" color:#D9ECFB;\">Long post is long. Click to read the story.<\/button><div id='bg-showmore-hidden-6aac1542725b30097943597' ><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"chapterhead\">45.<br \/>\n<u>Infinity Minus One<\/u><\/h2>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt>Where are you? Are you all right?<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Ewan had sent the message to her tablet an hour earlier. Fuck. Everybody was probably freaking out.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack grabbed her massive sandwich and bit down as she keyed in a reply. She was <i>ravenous<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt>I\u2019m okay. Comm died. Don\u2019t ask. Not on record.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She\u2019d have to delete any trace of their communications later, just in case. A reply appeared on her screen after a moment.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em\"><tt>Understood. Be safe. Come home soon.<\/tt><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Be safe\u2026<\/i> This day, Jack thought, had gotten absurdly complicated.\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The last artifacts from the <i>Scarlet Matador<\/i> had been disposed of, though. She had carried them down to the receding waters of Elsewhere and, one by one, had flung all sixteen pilfered <i>murder trophies<\/i> as far out to sea as she could. Then she had hiked\u2014slowly, but her ankle had thankfully stopped bitching after half an hour\u2014to one of the piers in U1. She\u2019d picked a touristy pier open to the public, isomorphed back in a sheltered location, and waded into the surf, slogging through the actual waters of U1\u2019s Mutawassit Ocean before climbing onto the pier holding out her now-dead, dripping comm for everyone to see, muttering in Arabic about her stupid cousin Abu and no warranty against saltwater corrosion. Everybody in hearing range had given her sympathetic looks, one man suggesting she try putting it in a bowl of rice anyway, just in case.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She\u2019d even done that, buying a bowl of uncooked rice from a chain restaurant that only English-speaking tourists seeking \u201cTraditional American Cuisine\u201d frequented, and that she\u2019d also bought her ginormous meal from. The dead comm\u2014which she\u2019d deliberately immersed, herself, to create her alibi for how soaked her pants had gotten in another universe\u2019s ocean\u2014sat in the bowl off to her side while she stuffed her face with everything she\u2019d ordered, feeling ridiculously famished and exhausted.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Apparently isomorphing the way she had, controlling her presence in and interactions with two universes at the same time, took a <i>lot<\/i> of calories out of a girl.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Kilometers away, the news on her tablet reported that downtown New Marrakesh was dealing with another security incident. Jack imagined that the moment Ewan or one of his relatives had seen that the Quintessa Corporation building was at the incident\u2019s center, they\u2019d begun trying to reach her comm. It had been a whole universe away at the time, and she\u2019d dunked it too quickly, upon her return to U1, for it to hook back up to the comm system and inform her of their calls.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She\u2019d need to buy a replacement when she bought the third tablet, on her way back up to the Rif.  All this cloak-and-dagger bullshit was hard on tech.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">But first she needed to eat and drink her weight in food.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Shit,<\/i> she thought moments later as Cedric walked into the restaurant, right as she was finishing her first sandwich. <i>I forgot to make the second tablet untraceable again\u2026<\/i> Half the family had connections to military and law enforcement; they\u2019d probably been waiting for her to reply so they could lock onto her signal and come find her.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Outside, she could see Takama and General Toal sitting in the front seats of a vehicle. She wondered which one of them had sprung for the tech to locate her.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Honestly, though, she wasn\u2019t sure why she hadn\u2019t just told them where she was and asked them to come get her. Other than the persistent, gnawing belief that she\u2019d be <i>imposing<\/i> on them if she did.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWelcome to the afterparty,\u201d she muttered as Cedric sat down across from her. \u201cY\u2019want anything?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhat happened to your comm?\u201d he asked, gesturing at the rice bowl.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cSploosh, into the ocean. On purpose. I needed a good alibi for why <i>I<\/i> was soaked to the waist.\u201d She stuffed several fries into her mouth before he could ask another question. While she chewed, she could see him taking in the size of her massive order\u2014one \u201cMega Mac\u201d down, one to go, and a \u201cfamily size\u201d order of skinny, salty \u201cAmerican Style French Fries\u201d\u2014and studying her more closely.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYou look exhausted. Why <i>are<\/i> you soaked to the waist?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI\u2019ll tell you on the way back? It\u2019s kinda\u2026\u201d She glanced around at the half-empty establishment\u2014somehow, she kept missing lunch and then eating like a <i>fiend<\/i> to make up for it\u2014before continuing. \u201c\u2026hush-hush. I swear, today I <i>could<\/i> eat my weight in crickets\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cMiss? Can we get boxes and a bag for my daughter\u2019s order?\u201d Cedric asked a passing waitress. \u201cAnd if she ordered dessert, that to go, too. Did you order dessert, Tizzy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cNot yet. I was gonna get apple pie. Haven\u2019t had that in more than a year\u2026\u201d Damn, she was feeling sleepy.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cDo you have an entire pie? Actually, do you have two? I think the rest of the family would enjoy that too.\u201d Cedric took out his card and offered it to the waitress. \u201cPlease put everything on here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI\u2019m hanging onto the fries for the ride,\u201d Jack told Cedric as he boxed up the rest of her food. To her amusement, he poured the uncooked rice into a paper bag and pushed the comm back inside it, adding that to the to-go bag.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Once everything had been paid for and gathered up, Jack followed Cedric outside and to the waiting vehicle, which had a military surplus look to it. Maybe the General owned it? He was behind the wheel. Takama had a device in her hand, switched off, that Jack suspected had been used to find her.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWe are quite eager,\u201d General Toal said once the vehicle was in motion, \u201cto hear about your adventures today.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhich,\u201d Takama added, \u201cdo not appear to have taken place anywhere near your old apartment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYeah\u2026 about that\u2026\u201d Jack shook her head. \u201cI was getting ready to go there when I remembered I still needed to check for anything else that was straddling universes before Quintessa could find it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThere was more?\u201d Cedric asked.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYeah. K\u2014Dihya and I\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYou can call Miss Wittier-Collins by her real name when we\u2019re alone,\u201d the General said as he turned a corner. \u201cWe all know it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Hoo boy. Just as long as they hadn\u2019t figured out <i>her<\/i> real name\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhen Kyra and I first got here and were just figuring out the rules, a bunch of the stuff we brought with us got wrecked by our first high tide. We didn\u2019t understand the significance of that yet when we threw it all out. I had to track all that stuff down. Then I was using my telescope to look up into the towers all the other survivors stayed in, in case they left anything behind, when I saw something in the Quintessa Corporation building that was <i>definitely<\/i> straddling universes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cAnd what did you find there?\u201d The General asked. This, Jack realized, was a <i>debriefing.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cSixteen apeirochorons.\u201d It was only at that moment that she realized she\u2019d unconsciously counted them as she liberated their contents.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhat is an apeirochoron?\u201d Takama asked. \u201cEwan mentioned that the other day, but I do not know what it means.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cIt\u2019s a geometry term, I think,\u201d Jack said. \u201cIt\u2019s a cube. But it\u2019s not a three-dimensional cube. It\u2019s an infinite-dimensional cube.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cInfinite dimensions?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYeah. Like\u2026 it exists here and now in a very specific place in our universe\u2026 and it exists in that same location of every <i>other<\/i> universe at the same time.\u201d The <i>Apeiros<\/i> had described it to her without language, or maybe in the less articulable language of pure mathematics itself, and she was struggling to find the right words. \u201cThere was one on board the <i>Scarlet Matador.<\/i> When I managed to push it out of <i>this<\/i> universe, I broke that one. Nearly broke <i>me<\/i>, too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cHow did that break it?\u201d Cedric asked.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhat\u2019s infinity minus one?\u201d Jack countered.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cStill infinity, according to mathematics.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYeah, but what if it <i>isn\u2019t?<\/i>\u201d She argued, trying to explain something that she had learned in one of her not-dreams and that still hurt her head. \u201cWhat if, by taking away that <i>one<\/i>, you\u2019ve made the infinite <i>finite<\/i>?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThis is not a hypothetical situation you\u2019re posing, is it?\u201d General Toal asked as he wound the vehicle up toward the Rif. \u201cThis is what happened to the box you found on the <i>Matador<\/i>. When it ceased to exist in this universe\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI don\u2019t know for sure, but the <i>Apeiros<\/i> think it\u2019s collapsing in <i>all<\/i> the universes now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Like a knitted scarf slowly unraveling once a single stitch was lost\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cIs that why they didn\u2019t want you to do it?\u201d Takama asked.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cNo, they were afraid doing it\u2019d kill me. They seem to think it\u2019s a good thing that it\u2019s collapsing. I think. It\u2019s hard to tell with them sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhat about these new boxes you found?\u201d The General asked after a moment. \u201cIs the new security situation because you broke one or more of them?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cUnh-uh,\u201d Jack said, swallowing the last bit of the cooling fry she\u2019d been chewing while the General spoke. \u201cThat would\u2019ve knocked me out <i>cold<\/i> again. Or maybe dead. But these ones weren\u2019t sealed. They were being used to hold items the Corporation stole from the hospital after the first high tide got everybody evacuated. Stuff everybody\u2019d lost when they left or died, that didn\u2019t get taken to the morgue. Stuff that could\u2019ve been analyzed to learn more about Elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201c\u2018Stuff\u2019 that I presume you liberated?\u201d General Toal couldn\u2019t quite hide his smile when she nodded. \u201cAnd that\u2019s why they locked down a three-block radius around their building. And you spent your next hour\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThrowing it all as far out to sea as I could, putting a few klicks between me and downtown before I returned to U1, and making up a plausible explanation for why I was soaked.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cHer explanation,\u201d Cedric said as the General pulled into the <i>ait Meziane<\/i> garage, \u201cwas that her comm fell into the water by the pier and she had to fish it out. Which is why she still wasn\u2019t answering our calls once she returned to this universe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cSorry,\u201d Jack muttered, and then ate the last of her fries.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cAre you always so hungry and tired after a venture into Elsewhere?\u201d the General asked as he parked.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cOnly when I do something big. Like moving a whole fu\u2014freakin\u2019 spaceship or making a floor in one \u2019verse hold me up in another\u2026\u201d  Jack yawned. \u201cShit, I still have so much to do\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI think your other \u2018mission\u2019 can wait until this evening-day, yes?\u201d Takama said. \u201cIn fact, that gives Dr. Robie more time to get away from the comm he has been carrying around.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYeah\u2026 I think it\u2019ll have to wait,\u201d Jack admitted as Cedric helped her out of the vehicle and led her toward the stairs. \u201cI need my second sandwich\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">And then a nap. A long nap.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI have Tislilel!\u201d Cedric called out as they emerged on the ground level of the house. \u201cAnd apple pie!\u201d He pitched his voice lower for her sake. \u201cYou may have a slice before or after your sandwich, as you please.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI\u2019d better give you guys a head start on the pie or I might eat the whole thing in one <i>gulp\u2014<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">An instant later, she had been lifted into an almost-crushing hug by a pair of strong arms, only her toes still touching the ground.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI was so worried about you\u2026\u201d Ewan whispered, holding her tightly to him.\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Her<\/i> reaction had <i>nothing<\/i> to do with worry.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Kyra cleared her throat loudly nearby.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cZdan!\u201d Safiyya said sharply. \u201cLet the poor girl breathe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Ewan released her, looking like a man just coming to his senses after blacking out for a moment. \u201cSorry\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Everyone, including Kyra, was giving him charged <i>looks<\/i>, but nobody was saying a damn thing.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>The elephant in this room is fucking ginormous,<\/i> Jack thought, <i>now<\/i> feeling breathless, and could feel Kyra suppressing a laugh in response.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Cedric led the way into the dining room while Jack caught her breath and Ewan got his embarrassed blush under control, everyone pretending that they couldn\u2019t see either of them even as <i>they<\/i> tried not to look at each other.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cSo. What kind of adventure did you have downtown?\u201d Safiyya asked as she set out plates and forks for everyone.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack threw a pleading glance at Cedric as she lifted her second \u201cMega Mac\u201d out of the bag.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">For the next few minutes, while she concentrated on eating, Cedric retold her story with a fair degree accuracy and even more flair. Jack found herself thinking that it was much like listening to her father narrating one of his probably autobiographical <i>Adventures of Jack B. Badd<\/i>, back when he\u2019d still told her bedtime stories. It all sounded like such a charming scrape now, but she remembered being more than a little scared the whole time\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u2026not to mention feeling an infuriated disgust at the idea that the Corporation, or even just the envoy, was keeping trophies from their victims\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Kyra turned and gave her a knowing look. <i>Better they think it <b>was<\/b> a charming scrape than we give them another reason to want to lock us up for our own good, right?<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Yeah\u2026<\/i> \u201cI know it all sounds really impulsive\u2026 but\u2026 only because I didn\u2019t think to mention that I needed to finish that job first before starting on my next one. And \u2019cause I had no idea I\u2019d need to go after those boxes to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>So yeah,<\/i> she admitted to herself, <i>really impulsive\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She was glad she didn\u2019t have to tell them about her ankle. And at least, she suddenly thought, she could eat. She\u2019d probably have had no appetite at all by then if she\u2019d gone with her original plans. Maybe that was why she\u2019d found an excuse to put those plans off\u2026?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWe\u2019re just glad you\u2019re safe,\u201d Lalla said, setting a slice of the apple pie in front of her. The rest, she realized, had been divided among everyone else at the table. Probably for the best.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThank you.\u201d She was, finally, beginning to feel like she might be approaching full\u2026 but not until she had at least some of her pie.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThere is, however,\u201d Tafrara said with a stern voice, \u201canother matter that we need to discuss with you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Uh oh\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Tafrara held up the scorecard, pointing to the <tt>0<\/tt> Jack had put next to her name. \u201cReally? <i>Really?<\/i> We\u2019re going to need an instant replay of this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Judging by the sighs and laughter around the table, Jack wasn\u2019t the only one feeling sudden relief. It occurred to her that <i>everybody<\/i>, including Kyra, was trying very hard not to scold her for scaring them <i>yet again<\/i>. Had they worried Tafrara was about to break some agreed-upon approach for dealing with her?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Definitely not telling them I fell off the stairs\u2026<\/i> Or, well, through a wall. She was suddenly twice as glad that her ankle hadn\u2019t even been sprained.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Kyra\u2019s breath hitched and she turned a searing <i>look<\/i> on Jack. <i>Don\u2019t make me take their side\u2026 <b>Jeez.<\/b> Can\u2019t leave you alone for a <b>minute\u2026<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack napped for a few hours, Sebby insisting on sleeping beside her head the whole time, and woke shortly before dinnertime. The sun was shining directly into the courtyard, still about six hours away from actual high noon, but summer-intense enough already that nobody wanted to actually walk through it and instead took longer detours through the house to reach the dining room. Her ravenous appetite was back.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Thanks to her excursion, she learned, and also to her nap, she had missed two of the Tai Chi sessions that Ewan and Tafrara had started up for Kyra. That, it turned out, had been the big surprise Tafrara had hinted at the night before.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cIt\u2019s <i>so<\/i> good, Tizzy, you need to try it,\u201d Kyra said, seeming to prefer that sobriquet to <i>Jack<\/i>. \u201cIt\u2019s <i>slow,<\/i> didn\u2019t pull my stitches at <i>all<\/i>, but after we were done, I felt like I\u2019d had a real workout.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYou had,\u201d Ewan laughed. \u201cSlow and controlled takes as much effort as any other kind of action. More, sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Usadden picked that moment to swallow wrong. Jack wasn\u2019t sure why both Ewan and Tafrara promptly shot him glares.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThat sounds amazing,\u201d Jack said. Usadden, still sputtering, excused himself from the table and went into the kitchen for a moment.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWe\u2019ll hold another session after the overnoon sleep,\u201d Ewan told her. \u201cPerhaps you can join it before you go off on your next, hopefully easier, adventure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI\u2019d like that.\u201d She\u2019d seen vids of people doing Tai Chi and had wondered about its slow pace. If Kyra said it was the real deal, though, it undoubtedly was.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cSo,\u201d Tafrara said as the table was being cleared, \u201cit\u2019s time for us to settle the matter of the crickets. Definitively.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Izil and Ewan both began laughing.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYes, we need proof of this,\u201d Izil agreed.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cOkay\u2026\u201d Jack felt herself struggling not to smirk. \u201cC\u2019mon up\u2026 you can watch and learn.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Kyra began snickering.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Everybody<\/i> wanted to see. Practically the whole family, plus the General, followed Jack upstairs as she carried Sebby\u2019s singing box.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">This, she thought to herself, was going to be <i>fun.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Sebby was a little bit nervous when so <i>many<\/i> people came into the room, but it was <i>dinner<\/i>time and that part had him ecstatic. While he bounced on the bed and shrieked at her to hurry, she knelt down in front of the tub and lowered the cricket box inside. Winking at Kyra, she isomorphed herself and the cardboard into Elsewhere, letting the crickets spill out into the tub and vanishing from everyone\u2019s sight except her sister\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The room erupted in gasps of astonishment. Sebby hesitated for a second and then leapt into the tub to begin the carnage in earnest.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack stood up, holding the box in front of her, and reappeared in U1. Opening its lid, she tilted it forward so that everyone could see that it was empty of any crickets. \u201cTah-dah!\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cYou <i>cheater!\u201d<\/i> Ewan exclaimed, his expression one of pure delight.\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThat\u2019s not cheating,\u201d Jack told him, laughing.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cOh no?\u201d He stepped forward, his smile wide and giving the lie to the faux scowl he was trying to effect. \u201cHow is that not cheating?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201c\u2019Cause it\u2019s <i>skill<\/i>,\u201d she replied, walking toward him in mock challenge. \u201cI got <i>skill<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cSkill at <i>cheating,<\/i>\u201d he teased back, eyes dancing with humor as he stepped closer. \u201cI\u2019m calling <i>foul<\/i> on this\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cOh yeah? What\u2019s the penalty?\u201d She found herself grinning up at him, inches from him, daring him to\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u2026to what, exactly?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThe penalty is\u2026 tickling!\u201d He laughed, his hands going for her ribs and startling a <i>squeak<\/i> out of her!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The rush of feeling that exploded through her was almost nothing like being <i>tickled<\/i>, though\u2014<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Kyra coughed loudly.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cOkay, enough of that,\u201d Cedric said with strangely forced levity, moving between them. Jack found herself backing up and then sitting down abruptly on the foot of her bed. How had she gotten so out of breath <i>again?<\/i> Her heart was racing\u2014<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cWhat do the judges think of the instant replay?\u201d Tafrara asked everyone, her tone odd. Ewan had turned away, nodding at something his father was murmuring in his ear.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI think the score is valid,\u201d General Toal said. \u201cZero and zero.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cAgreed,\u201d Lalla said. Izil nodded.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cPerhaps we should allow our \u2018cricket champion\u2019 to rest,\u201d Safiyya said, ushering everyone out of the room.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack was still regaining her equilibrium as they left; they were gone before exactly what had happened really sank in.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI swear, you two are like\u2026 some kind of dangerous chemical <i>reaction<\/i>,\u201d Kyra said, sitting down next to her on the bed.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cMy cousins and I teased each other all the <i>time<\/i> that way,\u201d Jack found herself protesting. \u201cNothing like <i>that<\/i> ever happened when we did\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cLike I said, it\u2019s the combination of the two of you,\u201d Kyra replied. \u201cNever seen <i>anything<\/i> like it, myself. If you could bottle it, people\u2019d pay <i>billions<\/i> for it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThis sucks,\u201d Jack grumbled. \u201cWe\u2019re <i>trying<\/i> to just\u2026 be\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Friends? Siblings? Cousins? Something, anything that would let them retain the powerful <i>emotional<\/i> connection that had blossomed between them without it veering into hormonal chaos. But the chaos kept taking over.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cMaybe, in five years or so, you can come back and see if those crazy-huge sparks still fly,\u201d Kyra said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cIf we can break our trails well enough,\u201d Jack sighed. Why did that suddenly stir a tickle of fear in her? The hungry ache Ewan\u2019s touch had awakened in her had abruptly disappeared.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cThat video of yours probably will,\u201d Kyra chuckled. \u201cEverybody\u2019s gonna be looking for our trail on Shakti Four now, right? It\u2019d probably be a bad idea for either of us to ever go there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cA very bad idea,\u201d Jack agreed, glad that the subject had, more or less, moved on. She shivered against a sudden chill. \u201cIt\u2019s a big world, though, right? Plenty of places Riddick and his two\u2026 <i>hench-bitches\u2026<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Kyra laughed. \u201cThat\u2019s us, yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201c\u2026could go to ground for <i>years.<\/i> Aside from one or two big cities where most of the population lives, it\u2019s all wild frontier. I could see him liking a place like that.\u201d It should have been a comforting thought, but somehow it wasn\u2019t. Her mouth felt weirdly dry. The cold seemed to be deepening, even though it was a bright, hot day outside. The hairs on her arms, she noticed, were standing straight up.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cI could see <i>me<\/i> liking a place like that, too,\u201d Kyra sighed. \u201cDamn.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cSo mercs might spend years looking for him on that one world\u2026\u201d Jack continued, trying to slow down her heart\u2014which had begun racing again\u2014and quiet the growing sense of foreboding that was filling her, \u201cand we can go anywhere else we want, maybe even\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Whatever Jack had been about to say next was lost in a sudden surging flood of panic.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cTizzy? Tizzy, are you okay?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She felt ice cold. Her heart was hammering. Pure terror was flowing into her, not her own, but from somewhere close by, somewhere\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cSomething\u2019s wrong!\u201d Kyra shouted.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>No, no, no, please no\u2026 no\u2026 please don\u2019t make me\u2026 please\u2026 no more\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Those weren\u2019t her thoughts. It wasn\u2019t her terror. But it was consuming her.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>I\u2019ll die, I\u2019ll die, please don\u2019t make me\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u201cSomething\u2019s <b>wrong!\u201d<\/b><\/i> Kyra screamed, from far, far away.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack could hear footsteps and shouts as people poured back into the bedroom. She could see the ornate ceiling above her, feel the bed beneath her back\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">But she was somewhere else. Somewhere dark, cramped, shot with pain\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Screaming. Not her. Only a tiny thread of sound could escape her constricted throat.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The <i>Apeiros<\/i> were <i>screaming.<\/i> The spangled darkness behind her eyes was full of their terror.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Help me\u2026 please help me\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack flung herself forward, reaching out toward the voice.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>I\u2019m here! I\u2019m here! I\u2014<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The world went dark.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Break it open\u2026 do it now\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>We will keep you safe\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>You will not die\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><b><i>\u2026yet\u2026<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>We will not let the demons find you.<\/i><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Stone that wasn\u2019t stone cracked, splintered, shivered into dust and vanished into nothing. Ripples spread out, twisting across dimensions. Something tiny but enormous clutched her hand.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Floating\u2026 drifting in a shattered oblivion\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Rest now, little larva. You have done well.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Something was unraveling, an impossible equation breaking down before her not-eyes.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Infinity minus one\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Infinity broken.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>You will not die.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Long, black legs, tipped with claws, emerged from the gaping tear in reality.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Sebby hissed beside her, rising up, stinger flailing\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cIt\u2019s okay, Sebby. She won\u2019t hurt me\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">He slowly backed away, stinger still lashing with agitation, as <i>She<\/i> approached, void-black appendages reaching toward Jack\u2019s face. A thousand eyes gazing down upon her\u2026 A million eyes\u2026 infinite eyes\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Infinity unchained, uncontained\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u2026<i>this<\/i> infinity unbroken and\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u2026rising.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Little sister, what you have done will never be forgotten\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>Her<\/i> obsidian skin contained the shine of galaxies.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>\u2026by us.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">One delicate tarsus touched Jack\u2019s forehead\u2026 and something vanished. There was an empty space where once there had been terrible knowledge, peace where there had been crushing anguish.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\"><i>One day, you may remember, too.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">The door to the bedroom opened.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Reality twisted and <i>She<\/i> was gone.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Takama entered the bedroom, carrying an I-V pole. Usadden and Ewan followed behind her, both carrying I-V bags and monitoring equipment. They stopped, their morose expressions dissolving into astonishment.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Jack sat up in bed, yawning, wiping at her wet cheeks. She looked around. By the shadows, it was nearly high noon. Had she fallen asleep? The last thing she remembered\u2026 was\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201c<i>Baraka,<\/i>\u201d she heard three voices say in unison. A saline bag dropped from Ewan\u2019s hand to the floor.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">Sebby climbed onto her lap, his stinger tucked away. She thought that it had been out a moment ago, but that made no sense. Had he been trying to protect her from something? She stroked his carapace, and he caressed her arm with his antennae. She\u2019d been feeding Sebby, she remembered, and then\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">She\u2019d been dreaming, she thought. A strange dream about demons in the darkness\u2014no, <i>of<\/i> the darkness\u2014and a creature whose <i>n<\/i>-shape was both impossible to look at and too beautiful to look away from\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u2026and an unraveling scarf?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">\u201cHi guys,\u201d she said, wondering why they were staring at her so strangely. \u201cWhat\u2019s going on?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent:1em;margin-bottom: 0\">As if things weren\u2019t already weird enough, a loud, rumbling <i>boom<\/i> struck at that moment. The emergency alerts on three comms and one tablet started going off a few seconds later.<\/p>\n<p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Title: The Changeling Game (Formerly Identity Theft) Author: Ardath Rekha Chapter: 45\/? Fandom: TCOR AU Rating: M Warnings: Adult themes, controversial subject matter, harsh language, violence Cate","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"\u201cThe Changeling Game\u201d 45: \u201cInfinity Minus One\u201d","bgseo_description":"Jack\u2019s impromptu mission has been a success\u2026 but there may be repercussions that no one could possibly anticipate\u2026 or even imagine.","bgseo_robots_index":"index","bgseo_robots_follow":"follow","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fan-fiction","category-the-changeling-game"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=497"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1179,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497\/revisions\/1179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/wips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}