"Born Again"

Chapter 3
"Tactics of Mistake"

By Brian Welch bwelchz7@yahoo.com

Based on the manga Aa! Megami-sama
(Ah! My Goddess!/Oh My Goddess!)

The wonderful world of Aa! Megami-sama was created by Kosuke
Fujishima. Aa! Megami-sama/Oh My Goddess! characters are copyright
Kodansha Ltd. Tokyo, Studio Proteus, and Dark Horse Comics, Inc.

-----

Yggdrasil Maintenance Facility

-----

Eric stared at his terminal, his hand hovering over the execute
button. The solution had been simple enough once it finally came to
him. Minor instabilities in the synchronization routine on the
Nidhog side of the system were corrupting shared data on the
Yggdrasil side. The worm which would patch the synchronization
routine was written and the Trojan horse to give him root privileges
on Nidhog was ready. All that was needed was to deliver the Trojan
horse where the Nidhog system would pick it up. Still, he
hesitated. Skuld said that hacking Nidhog was expressly forbidden.
What would the demons do after they discovered their system had been
hacked? I don't want to start a war, Eric thought. On the other
hand, if I do nothing Yggdrasil will eventually die. So, which will
it be? Risk war now, or lose Yggdrasil later? I guess, when I
think about it, that really isn't much of a decision. At least the
way I've done this I can safely take all the blame for this if they
need a scape goat.

Eric looked again at his hand. Urd's words came back to him, 'Do
you ever wonder where these ideas of yours come from?' He bowed his
head and whispered a prayer. "Lord, whoever's out there, let this be
the right thing," as his hand came down on the execute button.

The explosion lit the entire maintenance facility.

"What the hell!?" Urd cursed as alarms went off.

"Eric!" Skuld turned to see energy coursing around the young man,
then it was gone and Eric was collapsing to the floor.

"We've just been attacked!" Peorth shouted. "Check the firewall!"

"Firewall is intact," Ere reported after a moment. "Nothing came
through."

"So, where did the attack come from?" Peorth asked.

"Damned if I know," Urd grumbled. "I'm checking... uh-oh. Something
from Yggdrasil just wrote to Nidhog's privileged program space. The
automatic safeguards activated."

"But who would..." Peorth asked.

"I think we both know the answer to that one." Urd turned to where
Skuld was leaning over a very still Eric.

-----

"He's still unconscious?" a worried Skuld asked.

Belldandy breathed a sigh as she examined the quiet form before her,
then consulted the diagnostic sphere in her hand. "Yes, Skuld,
nothing has changed since we brought him here. He's still in a deep
coma. I wouldn't dare try to awaken him even if I knew how. Without
knowing what was done to him, anything we do could make him worse."

"Even the healers couldn't do anything."

"Our healers don't have experience with mortals, Skuld," Belldandy
gently admonished. "They tried their best."

Skuld reached over to brush Eric's forehead above the headband he
still wore. "I wish I'd never made this thing. The safeguards had
direct access to him."

"That headband may be all that's keeping him alive. Remember, when
we tried to remove it after the accident, it almost killed him. He
may be drawing his life support from Yggdrasil." She thought for
another minute. "His condition doesn't seem to be worsening, so I
think we should just leave him alone for now."

"All right," Skuld replied and took a seat. "At least they let us
bring him to our home instead of keeping him at the medical
facility."

"Eric would be happy that he has such a good friend, Skuld." I wish
I felt more confident about this, Belldandy thought to herself as
she left the room.

Skuld stayed by Eric's side for the rest of the day until Urd, at
Belldandy's request, came to relieve her.

"Hey, kiddo, don't worry. There's not much we can do about this,
he'll either be OK or he won't," the eldest Norn counseled. "It was
his own fault, after all."

"Don't talk like that!" Skuld cried. "I should have paid more
attention to what he was doing!"

"Hey, don't blame yourself. If there's one thing I picked up from
Donovan, it was that he liked to do things his own way. He would
have found a way to execute that hack when you weren't there no
matter how closely you watched him. There was nothing you could
have done to stop this." Urd placed a comforting hand on her
sister's shoulder. "Go and take a walk outside, or maybe go smash
some bugs. It'll make you feel better."

Skuld gave her big sister a wan smile and nodded, placing her hand
over Urd's. "Thanks." She stood and turned to look at Eric. "He
just seems to be sleeping, doesn't he? Kind of like that story
Sleeping Beauty."

Urd raised an eyebrow.

When Skuld had left, Urd looked down at Eric. He really did look
like he was just taking a nap. "You don't look nearly so cock-sure
of yourself when you're sleeping like this, Donovan," she addressed
the quiet form. "Not to mention you're a heck of a lot safer to
have around."

Urd thought about Skuld's comparison. Was the kid developing a
crush on this trouble-making mortal? She certainly was protective
enough. "The kid has a point, though. You are kind of cute, in a
puppy dog sort of way."

-----

Three days later

-----

In the throne room of the Almighty, Belldandy remained on one knee,
her head bowed.

The Almighty stroked his chin contemplatively. "You say the mortal
remains unconscious?"

"Yes, Almighty One," Belldandy replied.

"You also say he has somehow become linked with Yggdrasil during
this time?"

"Yes, Almighty One, we believe that to be the case."

"The mortal has been in this state ever since the accident?"

"Yes, Almighty One." I shouldn't have waited this long to come
here. What if I'm too late? I should have acted sooner!

The Almighty smiled encouragingly. "It is well you came to me when
you did, Belldandy," he reassured her. "I believe time will be our
ally in this matter. Give the mortal a few more days to make a
recovery. Return to me in six days and we will discuss this
further."

"Yes, Almighty One." The goddess left.

The Almighty sank back into his throne as his countenance faded from
wisdom to worry.

-----

Five days later

-----

Urd hummed a simple tune as she added ingredients to her potion.
Babysitting day after day was really getting on her nerves, but as
long as she had to pull a shift watching over this trouble making
mortal, she might as well enjoy it. It's been much too long since
I've been able to take a little free time to indulge in my hobbies,
she thought.

She added another ingredient and watched the reaction. Yes, this was
going well. The next few steps, however, would be critical. This
particular type of potion had a tendency to become unstable in
inexperienced hands, but Urd was nothing if not experienced.

She glanced across the room at the diagnostic sphere floating over
Eric where Belldandy had left it. There was no change, as usual.
The current time showing on the sphere caught her attention. "Ah,
it's about time for Skuld to take over baby-sitting. Better wrap
this up."

Eric struggled up through the blackness. It was like swimming
through molasses, a seemingly endless, painful process. Why is it
taking me so long to wake up? he wondered.

Finally, his eyes pulled halfway open. Where am I? This isn't the
Yggdrasil Maintenance facility. Why do I feel so rotten?
Everything hurts. His body hurt, his head hurt, his eyes hurt, even
his hair hurt. His mouth felt like it was made of cotton and tasted
like someone had crammed a dirty sock into it. He closed his eyes.
Maybe he should go back to sleep, after all, and try this again
later.

Urd heard the beep from the diagnostic sphere and turned to look.
"What!? Donovan is awake?" The sphere certainly said so. It
didn't look like it to her, but she'd better check to be sure.

Walking over to where Eric lay, Urd noticed he didn't look any
different, maybe even a little worse than he had yesterday. She
snatched the sphere out of the air and shook it. It had obviously
become defective. "Even when you're comatose you cause trouble,
Donovan. Belldandy's diagnostics never fail like this. You know, if
you had any consideration for others you'd just slip off into the
next life and let us get on with ours."

Is someone talking to me? Eric wondered. I can't understand what
they're saying. Forcing himself back to consciousness, he opened
his eyes a bit. They widened a little more as he recognized the
angry goddess standing over him.

"Ah... you're awake after all?" Nine days of endlessly boring
shifts of baby-sitting, of watching Belldandy and Skuld wringing
their hearts out over this worthless excuse for a mortal came
erupting to the surface.

"Wh... what happened? How did I get here?" Eric slurred, struggling
to get the words out past lips reluctant to form them.

Urd leaned over him so her face was almost touching his. "Do you
have any idea of what you've put all of us through for the past nine
days? Do you realize how much you've hurt my sisters, how much time
I've wasted baby-sitting you? Do you have any concept of the utter
stupidity of your actions in Yggdrasil Maintenance? We and the
demons are NOT allowed to touch each other's systems! Do you
realize how close you came to starting a war? You call yourself a
COMPUTER EXPERT!?"

Urd became aware of strange noises coming from behind her. Turning,
she stared in horror at the runaway reaction building among her
chemicals.

"Uh-oh..."

*BOOM!*

The room filled with billows of acrid smoke. A quick dispersion
spell cleared the air, revealing a table of wrecked lab equipment.

Urd was livid. "Look what you did!" Picking Eric up by the front
of his shirt, she began shaking him like a rat. "I have half a mind
to wait until you recover, and then send you into another coma
myself!"

*Clink!*

The headband worked free of Eric's brow and dropped to the floor.

"Oops..." Urd let go of Eric, who immediately collapsed onto his
bed, and picked up the device.

"What's all the yelling abou... Eric!" Skuld entered the room and
threw herself upon him. "You're awake!"

"Owww...!" Eric groaned. "Take it easy, Skuld, or Urd won't get
her chance to finish me off." Man, how I hurt. My voice seems to
be working better, though. Must have been the workout Urd gave me.
How many days did she say I've been unconscious?

[Nine days,] his AI informed him.

Hey, you've been aware all this time? Eric asked.

[Yes, but deprived of sensory information. Our interface was
restored when the headband was removed.]

Skuld whirled around, placing herself between her oldest sister and
the mortal. "Don't you dare lay a finger on him, you bully!" she
shouted.

"Yeah, well look what he did to my equipment! Oh, by the way,
here's your gizmo."

Skuld looked at the headband Urd handed her, and then at Eric. With
a scream of joy, she gave him another life-threatening hug.

-----

Belldandy finished checking Eric's vital signs. "You are still
exhausted and very weak, Eric, but otherwise in satisfactory
condition. How do you feel?"

"As soon as Thor stops pounding on my head, I'll tell you."

"Do you think you could drink something?" she asked, beaming a
smile down upon him.

"I think I could." Eric replied, basking under her gaze. What a
bedside manner! Maybe I should get beaten up more often! Then his
throbbing head reminded him that the price was perhaps a little
high, after all.

Eric took the amber liquid she offered. The taste was appealing and
almost immediately he found that his headache was subsiding.
"Thanks, Belldandy, I feel much better. What was that drink?"

"I don't know," Belldandy replied. "I'll have to ask Urd what she
used."

"Urd!?" Eric winced as a twinge of pain stabbed him between the
eyes.

"Yes, she is very good with medicines and has had much more
experience with human physiology than anyone else in Heaven."

"Oh." I would have expected poison.

"I'll go ask her now," Belldandy got up and left.

Eric gingerly placed a hand to his head. The pain was almost gone.
He took the opportunity to shift into a more comfortable position
then stared out over the garden, enjoying the warmth of the sun or
whatever passed for sun here in Heaven, and watching the comings and
goings of the insects (or whatever those flying things were) and
birds. It was very peaceful, actually.

Of course, that couldn't last.

A shadow fell over Eric. "Hello, Donovan, how are you?" Urd asked.

Eric flinched, winced again at another stab of pain between his
eyes, and looked up at the goddess.

"Oh, hi, Urd." Uh-oh.

"Here, I brought you some more to drink. Belldandy says you
responded well to the first dose." She held out a glass.

"Uh," Eric hesitated, regarding the glass suspiciously. "This is the
same stuff Belldandy gave me?"

"Of course it is. Look, Donovan," Urd purred, "when I'm ready to do
you in once and for all I'll take care of it with my bare hands.
Poison is for cowards."

Eric's eyes widened a bit. You know, I believe her. "Thanks, I, ah,
always appreciate the personal touch," he replied with what he hoped
was a confident air before taking a sip from the glass. "So, when
did you take over nurse duties from Belldandy?"

"I see you haven't lost your spirit, at least. I'm not here to
nurse you, I'm here to interrogate you. We have a lot of talking to
do and I wouldn't want you to run out of energy before I've pumped
all the information I want out of you. Now, why don't I pull up a
chair so we can be cozy?"

"Said the spider to the fly."

Urd just smiled.

"Might I guess the topic of interrogation?" Eric asked.

"Let's skip the pleasantries and you tell me just what you were
trying to do when you created that fiasco." Urd returned.

"I was trying to hack into Nidhog. You already know that."

"Don't say it so glibly. Hacking each others systems is strictly
forbidden for gods and demons. It's one of our highest level
crimes, and punishment is severe. You're lucky you never got far
enough for them to notice. Now, what were you trying to do with the
hack?"

"Nidhog and Yggdrasil share data. There was a problem with the
synchronization between the two systems, so I fixed it."

"That's what I finally figured out you'd tried to do. You covered
your tracks well, Donovan. Now, can you tell me why it didn't
work?"

"What!?"

"Your patch failed to fix the problem. The synchronization errors
are still occurring."

"How... that can't be! My hunches are always right!"

"Not this time."

"I don't understand..." Eric looked stunned.

"Neither do I. Honestly, I was hoping I was wrong. We need to find
out what happened this time. What can you tell me about this
intuition of yours?"

Eric began to explain. Neither of them noticed that they were being
watched.

-----

Belldandy kneeled, her head bowed.

"Almighty One, I am here as instructed."

"You have news concerning the mortal, Eric Donovan?"

"Yes, Almighty One, Eric regained consciousness yesterday."

"What is his condition?"

"He is still weakened but recovering rapidly, Almighty One."

"Is there anything else of significance to report?"

"No, Almighty One."

"Thank you, Belldandy. Report to me if there are any further
developments in his condition. You may return to your duties."

"Yes, Almighty One."

-----

"Good morning, Eric," Belldandy said walking up to where he sat in
what was becoming his usual spot in the garden. "How do you feel
today?"

"Better and better, thanks."

"You're welcome. I'm glad you like it out here so much," Belldandy
said, looking out over the garden.

"Well, to tell you the truth, I'm kind of surprised myself. People
come from all over the solar system to see what I can see out my
window, but I never appreciated it like I do this. I'm not sure if
it's the change in scenery of if I've changed that much."

"Well, when you return to Earth you will get the chance to find
out."

"Yeah, I suppose so."

"You look anxious, Eric. Are you still worried about what happened
when you tried to hack Nidhog?"

Eric flinched. Does she suspect that I'm thinking about trying to
hack Nidhog again? "I... I guess I am. I'm not used to being wrong
on something like this, especially something so important."

"Don't let this shake your confidence in yourself, Eric. Life is
full of little setbacks, but overcoming them only serves to make us
stronger."

"Thanks, Belldandy." Other people's lives may be full of setbacks
but not mine, not like this. "You and Skuld don't need to stay with
me all day, you know. I promise to take it easy."

"Don't worry, Urd said she'd check in on you this morning."

Urd!? "Oh, OK." I wonder what she wants this time? She sure didn't
seem very satisfied with what I told her yesterday.

"Um, do you think it would be all right if I took a walk around? I
could sure use the exercise."

"Of course! It would be fine."

"Thanks."

After Belldandy left, Eric returned to his thoughts. There's no way
around it. The errors have to stop, and that means hacking Nidhog,
regardless of the consequences. But what if it doesn't work this
time, either? Is my intuition failing me? Could I even tell for
sure if it was? 'Do you ever wonder where these ideas of yours come
from?' Urd's words kept mocking him. "Gah! I can't stand this! I
need to clear my head." Eric looked around. No evidence of Urd.
If I want to get out of here for a walk, I'd better go now before
she shows up to pin me down again.

Eric rose and walked to the garden entrance. Well, win or lose, at
least I can try to do the hack in a way that won't let the other
side pin the blame on anyone in Heaven. I've never played the
suffering martyr before. This could be interesting, at least.

The architecture of heaven was absolutely breathtaking. Islands and
jutting terraces populated by fanciful buildings were scattered
about and stacked in carefree disregard to the law of gravity.
Everywhere he looked there was the green of great parks of grass and
forests of trees. The sun shone brightly, the birds sang, and the
air smelled wonderful.

"Ah, just what I needed." Eric worked the kinks out of his body as
he strolled across the grass. "Even that Nidhog fiasco doesn't seem
so bad any more. Looking back on it, I should have had a program
initiate the hack, a program with high enough priority to evade the
safeguards. That would do it. It could still be killed from the
other side, though, unless I do something to distract the attention
of the demons. Some kind of physical manifestation to keep them busy
while the hack goes in. Hehe, now that's going to be fun to
program. Something big and nasty..."

"You!" A voice cried from behind him.

Eric turned to see what looked like a very tall elf. At least his
ears were pointed and protruded from his head in more or less
standard elf fashion, if there was such a thing. The elf, or god,
or whatever was a little taller than Eric but lighter in build. The
symbol on his forehead which identified him as a deity of some sort
was a dot with an inverted crescent moon over it, making almost a
bulls eye effect. He was dressed mainly in white with a red cape and
carried what looked like some sort of harp.

"You are the one who has conspired to steal Urd's heart away from
me!" the elf/god accused.

"Excuse me?" Eric asked. This person is obviously confused.

"You came here under false pretenses! You wish only to steal Urd's
heart!"

"Now, hold on a minute," Eric spread his hands in a gesture of
innocence. "No offense, but you must have me confused with someone
else. Urd and I don't even like--"

"Swine! Don't try to deny it, I saw you sitting together in the
garden!"

"Together in the garden? Oh, that! Let me explain--"

"I will have none of your lies! When I think of her serving you...
aargh!!" The elf/god raised a fist, his face a study in hatred.

What's going on here? I won't stand a chance in a fight with this
guy! "Now, wait a minute! She was interrogating me! You're
jumping to the wrong conclusions, here."

"No! I have proof enough of your guilt!" the elf/god cried, taking
up his harp and striking a chord. "When this song ends, so will
you." With that, the elf/god began playing a strange song. A song
about bugs. It wasn't even a particularly good song about bugs.

That 'so will you' part didn't sound good, Eric decided. How did a
simple stroll turn so suddenly into a life-or-death situation?
Should I try to run, stop him, or just scream for help?

A deep sense of foreboding and more than a little fear settled over
Eric. "Look, friend, I don't want any trouble. Let's go ask Urd.
She'll straighten this..." he began, then felt something move inside
of him. "What was..."

"Aaah!" Eric doubled over as he felt more things, many more things,
moving inside of his body. "Hey, don't! Aaah! What's happening!?"
he screamed as he fell to his knees. The pain was rapidly becoming
incredible.

"No! Don't do this!" I feel like I'm being ripped inside out!
"Help..." he called weakly, then screamed again and clutched his
stomach tighter.

Stop the pain! Stop the pain! Eric's mind screamed, but the spiky
things in his gut continued squirming, driven by that infernal
melody, driven by that program running in the depths of Yggdrasil...

...wait, a program!? That's the key! Suddenly, through the haze of
pain he could see, feel the program running in Yggdrasil.

I have to kill it somehow! Eric's mind screamed. Just change this
attribute here and it'd terminate. But how do I...

The squirming stopped. The bugs were gone. Eric gulped air as
relief swept over him. He realized that he was lying on his side,
curled into a fetal position.

The elf/god, whoever he was, had apparently not noticed Eric's
improved condition, as he was concentrating his whole attention on
the song. Slowly, slowly, Eric uncurled and began to raise up on
one elbow only to feel something all too familiar moving around
inside him, again.

No, no, not again! This time, his mind reacted instinctively,
lashing out and aborting the new routine. The churning inside him
disappeared. Eric gulped more air and managed to get up on his
elbow again. He coughed up blood. Oh, great. Internal injuries,
he realized.

The elf/god seemed to at last became aware of what was going on, as
he redoubled his efforts in playing the song, putting renewed
emphasis into each note.

Eric felt something stirring more quickly than before, and killed
the program again. Damn, he must be regenerating it! I have to
hold out until someone finds me!

He killed the program again, this time as soon as it began to
execute, even before he could feel anything.

Slowly, painfully, Eric rose to a kneeling position, swaying a
little as he straightened up. He killed the hell-spawn program
again.

The elf/god finished his song in a fury of twanging and wailing.

"Catchy tune, there... but the lyrics... could use a little work,"
Eric gasped out. He decided that he hated this guy.

"What kind of demon are you!?" the elf/god accused.

"One who appreciates... good music... which that wasn't," Eric
managed to get out between coughs. He wanted very badly to choke
the life out of this person, but he seriously doubted he could
stand, much less walk the four or five steps required to get to the
guy.

The elf/god repositioned his harp and struck a chord. "It matters
not," he said darkly, and began playing.

Here it comes again, or probably something worse. Eric began to
steel himself.

That was when a figure dropped out of the sky to land between them.

There was the smack of a fist hitting flesh, and the elf/god was
laid out flat on the ground.

Eric blinked in amazement as he recognized his savior.

"Troubadour, are you crazy!?" Urd screamed. "Do you realize how
much trouble you could get into by messing with him?" her pointing
finger indicated Eric.

"Urd! My love!" Troubadour, rising from his position on the ground,
greeted the goddess.

"He's under the protection of the Almighty himself, idiot! You
could lose your license!"

"Oh, Urd, why have you shut me out of your heart?"

"What are you babbling about? Oh no, you didn't think that..."
Urd's body tensed for a split second before she hit Troubadour again
with a vicious right cross. This time the impact carried him several
feet, his harp flying even further.

Urd stalked over to the prone god. "Listen," she hissed between
clenched teeth. "If you ever mess with someone I care for again, so
help me I will fry you to a cinder and then turn what's left into a
rock!"

'someone I care for!?' Eric wondered.

"As for HIM," Urd pointed a finger at Eric, "how could you even
THINK such a thing? Are you COMPLETELY delusional!?"

Ah, that clears up that little matter, Eric decided.

Urd now stalked over to Eric. "And you, what were you doing
wandering around all by yourself? You could fall off the edge of
something or get into trouble any number of ways. This place wasn't
made for mortals, you could get hurt!"

"Yeah... tell me... about it," Eric gasped before coughing up more
blood.

"What the..." Urd's eyes widened then she turned to Troubadour.
"Get out. Get out, now." Her voice, her face expressed shock.

"Urd..." Troubadour pleaded.

"Do you realize you may have just destroyed everything you ever
dreamed about? You may have already lost your license, Troubadour.
Leave now... please."

"I'm sorry," Troubadour leapt into the air and disappeared into the
distance.

"Wh... who was that?" Eric groaned while holding his stomach. His
breathing was ragged and he was shaking uncontrollably. Great, I'm
going into shock, he realized.

"Never mind that, you need medical attention ASAP," Urd said as she
lifted him into her arms.

Eric winced at the shift in position.

Urd leaped into the sky. Eric noticed she didn't bother with wings
as Belldandy had done.

Once the wave of agony from the sudden acceleration had subsided to
merely excruciating levels, Eric looked at the ground rapidly
passing below them.

"Woooh..." He quickly looked back up as vertigo and the reawakened
the agony in his stomach threatened to overcome him. "You know," he
gasped out as they descended towards the home of the Norns, "this
really isn't... doing much for my... fragile male ego."

"How can you crack a joke at a time like this? Your ego could use
some paring down, boy," Urd growled.

Well, that attempt at humor certainly fell flat, Eric groaned.

Urd landed and placed Eric in the reclining chair he had spent so
much time in lately.

"Hey, anybody home?" she called.

"Sure, what's the emer... Eric? Eric!" Skuld rushed over to them.
"What happened!?"

"No time to explain," Urd answered. "I'm going to stabilize him,
but we'd better get Belldandy here just in case," she said with her
eyes closed and hands over Eric's stomach.

"I'm already gone!" Skuld answered, rushing over to a small pond in
the garden and disappearing.

A healing light from Urd's hands bathed Eric for a moment. "Well,
that should hold you for a bit," she said. "I'm going inside for
some medicine."

Eric nodded weakly.

In a moment she was back. "Here, drink this," she offered.

Eric did, and the pain began subsiding. I guess she can be gentle
when she wants to, he decided, and she probably saved my life back
there. He settled himself gingerly, trying unsuccessfully to find a
comfortable position. "Thanks for playing the cavalry, Urd, I mean
it. You're right about not wandering around on my own. I really owe
you one."

Urd looked at Eric for a moment, then turned away. "It was partly
my fault you got into trouble."

"Oh?" Eric put two and two together. "So, he really is an ex-
boyfriend?"

"Yeah."

"If you don't mind my saying so, I think you were right to dump
him."

"We were together a long time ago," and he was the one who dumped
me. Urd began playing absentmindedly with one of her bracelets, the
one she still wore, engraved "To Urd from Troubadour".

"So, is he a god?"

"Yeah, of plum trees."

"Oh? I used to like plum trees, too."

Urd stood with her head bowed for a few seconds, then turned to
Eric. "Are you OK?" she asked in an only mildly irritated voice.
She blinked a few times.

Were those tears in her eyes? Eric wondered. Nah, must be a
reflection from the sun or something. "Yeah, I think so," Eric
replied, gently probing his abdomen. "That guy was dangerous, that's
for sure," he added, then held his middle tighter from a mild spasm.

"Well, you're lucky I arrived when I did, before he got any further
into that song. How did he hurt you so much before I got there,
anyway? He usually isn't physically violent."

"Oh, yeah, you missed his first time through on that song."

"What!? How much did you hear?"

"Like I said, he played the whole thing through. After he finished,
he seemed really upset that I hadn't reacted to it any stronger than
I did."

"If you heard that song, you should have bugs bursting out of you
everywhere. As a mortal, you should be dead."

"Ooh." Eric held his stomach again, the memories still fresh. "I
don't think I needed... to know that."

"So, how did you survive?"

"I'm not exactly sure. I think I was able to cancel the spell after
it started ripping me..." Eric winced. "Ouch, poor choice of words,"
he groaned, gripping his stomach tighter.

"What do you mean, 'cancel the spell'?" Urd asked, but Eric's reply
was interrupted by the arrival of Belldandy from a gazing ball and
Skuld from the pond.

"How is Eric?" Belldandy asked.

"Well, a lot better than he should be," Urd replied.

"What!? I shouldn't have left him with you, Urd!" Skuld shouted as
she ran to Eric's side.

"You misunderstand," Urd replied. "He heard Troubadour's little
song. You know which one, right?"

"Oh, no!" Belldandy stiffened, a look of horror on her face. "Not
that song!" That particular song would always be etched upon her
memory from the time it had been used on her Keiichi.

"I stopped the jerk, but not before he had sung it once through
already. Donovan weathered the experience remarkably well, though,
I must say."

Skuld stared at Eric. "You should be dead!"

"Please," Eric winced. "Does everyone have to keep saying that?"

"Well, I don't think we have to worry about Troubadour bothering him
again. I reminded him that by injuring our Mr. Donovan, here, he
had jeopardized his license. He won't dare lift a finger against him
now," Urd said acidly.

Those old wounds still haven't healed, dear sister? Belldandy's eyes
filled with concern. You still mourn that his love for you wasn't
stronger than his desire for advancement?

"How did you survive?" Skuld asked Eric.

"That's what I'd like to know," Urd said. "Donovan, you said you
'cancelled' the spell?"

"Before we begin questions, Eric, hold still a moment," Belldandy
said.

A light similar to the one which had come from Urd bathed Eric.
"There," Belldandy said.

Eric stretched gingerly. "Thanks, that's much better."

"You're welcome."

"Now, to get back on subject," Urd began.

"I wish I could tell you for sure," Eric said. "I can tell you what
I thought I was doing, but I haven't a clue as to what actually
happened."

"OK, then tell us what you think you did."

"I think that I somehow sensed the spell program running within
Yggdrasil and stopped it."

There was silence.

"You mean Troubadour's program?" Skuld asked.

"Yes."

"Can someone do that? Is it possible?" Belldandy asked.

"No." Urd and Skuld replied in unison.

"Not someone else's program," Urd added.

"Ownership is locked by the system," Skuld explained.

"But, then, how did Eric do it?" Belldandy asked.

Skuld shrugged.

"You got me," Urd said.

A rock began floating in the air next to Eric. "Donovan, see if you
can cancel the levitation spell," Urd directed.

Eric concentrated but nothing came to him. "Sorry, I can't feel
it."

"Hmm." The rock settled back to the ground. "OK, I'm going to
place a spell on you, this time. Ready?"

"Sure," Eric replied, then found his arms moving in circles on their
own. The sensation was rather frightening. As he tried to resist
there was a momentary glimpse of a program running on Yggdrasil, his
mind performed the necessary operation as if by instinct, and Eric's
arms dropped to his sides.

"Wow," Skuld said.

"That felt really weird," Eric said, shaking out his arms.

"Well, it looks like you can indeed kill a program running on
Yggdrasil," Urd said. "Although how you're doing it is beyond me at
the moment. It may be that you only respond to programs which
affect you directly, though. We need to test this. Skuld, we'll
need a terminal and a routine to collect the data."

"I have an extra terminal in my room."

"Right, we'll do it here. Donovan is still a little shaky, and I'd
prefer we kept this under wraps for the time being, at least."

Skuld was back in a flash. She set the terminal up on the porch and
began programming it for data capture.

Keiichi walked up while she was working. "What's going on?"

"Urd and Skuld are about to conduct an experiment," Belldandy
beamed.

"Oh, that's nice... I think." Keiichi didn't see an obvious test
subject, and that made him a little nervous.

"Sit here, Eric," Skuld directed once she had finished. "Now, you'll
need to wear these." She brought out several sensors and placed
them at different points on his body.

"What are all these for?"

"We need to get all the telemetry we can. Besides, you look more
like a test subject wearing them."

"Oh?"

Keiichi turned to Belldandy. "They're going to test Eric?"

"Yes," Belldandy replied. "Isn't it wonderful? They're so excited."

"Well, this brings back memories." I'm not saying what kind.
"Those two really get carried away."

"Yes, they love a challenge."

"At least this time I'm not the guinea pig."

Eric noticed Urd was now wearing a white lab coat with something
pink underneath. Not that he had time to worry about it.

"Ready!" Urd cried.

"Switch on!" Skuld answered.

"I don't feel anything," Eric said.

"Of course you don't," Skuld answered. "These are only sensors to
collect data. They don't input anything."

"Oh."

"Quiet, please," Urd announced.

"Magical Stimulus Test subject Eric Donovan," Urd intoned in an
official sounding voice. "Test commencing."

"Test number one. Direct magical attack," Urd said.

"Attack?" Eric asked.

"Recorder engaged!" Skuld said.

"Lightning strike!" Urd cried.

"Waaaaah!" Eric screamed.

Nothing happened.

"Recorder stopped," Skuld said.

"Subject experienced no trauma," Urd said.

"Well, I wouldn't go that far," Eric replied, still breathing hard.
"I barely had time to stop that thing."

"They're having so much fun," Belldandy said, beaming.

"Scary, isn't it?" Keiichi said.

"Test number two. Indirect magical attack," Urd intoned.

"Hold up, let me catch my brea--"

"Recorder engaged!"

"Hey, wait a--!"

"Lightning strike!"

"Ouch!"

"Recorder stopped."

"Hey, what's the big idea!?"

"Subject experienced minor abrasions."

"I'm still an invalid, remember? You could have killed me!"

"With that puny bolt? Not a chance," Urd said, walking over to him.
"Let nurse Urd take care of those boo- boos, hmm?" The lab coat
dissolved, leaving her in a pink nurse's uniform.

"Hey, what's that in your hand?!" Eric asked, beginning to get out
of his chair while keeping his eyes on the large syringe Urd was
carrying.

"Don't move!" Skuld ordered. "You'll dislodge my sensors!"

"Oh, this?" Urd said. "This is just a stage prop. You don't think
we'd really use something as antiquated as a hypodermic in Heaven,
do you?"

"Well, I..." Eric began, settling back into his seat, his eyes still
on the big needle.

"Here, hold this," Urd said, handing Eric a glass of water with her
other hand.

"What's this?"

"A glass of water. What does it look like?" Urd produced something
small and shiny which she dropped into the glass.

*POOF!*

"Hey!" Eric yelled, holding the glass as far away as possible as a
small mushroom cloud erupted from it. Somehow, he didn't drop the
thing.

"There you go, now drink up," Urd said.

"What? You want me to DRINK this!?"

"Don't be such a wuss, Donovan."

"Eric is not a wuss!" Skuld said. "He's just wary of your weird
medicines, that's all."

"This one is a basic healing potion. Nothing unusual about it at
all."

"It blew up in my hand," Eric protested.

"That was just for theatrical effect. Presentation is half of the
fun, you know."

"Still, you can't blame him for not wanting to drink something which
just exploded," Skuld argued.

"Keiichi would have drained the glass by now."

"That's because Keiichi doesn't have the backbone to stand up
against you! Er, I mean _didn't_ have the backbone... back on
Earth," Skuld added with a chagrined look Keiichi's way.

"Yeah, this is looking a lot like old times," Keiichi said to
Belldandy.

"OK, OK, I'll drink it," Eric said, taking a swallow from the glass.

"There, you see?" Skuld said. "He's a brave guy after all!"

"You just called Keiichi spineless for doing the same thing," Urd
said.

"This is different," Skuld said. "Eric had already stood up to
you."

"You know, you're being awfully protective of Donovan," Urd smirked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Skuld looked at Eric who was
suddenly very busy draining the glass.

"Well, whatever, let's wrap up this experiment, shall we?" Urd said.

"So, where were we? Oh, yes! Misdirected magical attack," Urd
spoke.

"Recorder engaged!" Skuld said.

"Lightning strike!" Urd cried.

*BOOM!*

Eric twitched.

"Recorder stopped!" Skuld said.

"Well, that wraps this up. Skuld, let's take a look at those
results," Urd said.

"What about me?" Eric asked, holding up the wires to the sensors
covering his body.

"Oh, yeah, guess I forgot for a moment," Skuld hurried over and
removed the instrumentation. "Just wait here and we'll have the
results in a minute."

"How does it feel to be a guinea pig?" Keiichi asked, walking over
to Eric.

"Uh, frightening?"

"Don't worry, their methods are unconventional but they do know what
they're doing."

"Thank you, Eric," Belldandy said.

"You're welcome!" Eric beamed back at Belldandy in reflex. "Um, for
what?"

"You've made my sisters very happy."

"Oh, well, I didn't really mind that much being a test subject."

"I was talking more about your work on Yggdrasil."

"Oh? It's what you hired me for."

"Yes, but it's been many years since my sisters have been able to do
something they really enjoy, and you've made that possible."

They enjoy blowing up helpless guys? "Then you're certainly welcome
for that. I was glad to be of service." ...I think.

"Bell, you want to come over and take a look at this?" Urd asked.

"What did you find?" Belldandy asked.

"Yggdrasil issued a root level command to kill that lightning
spell."

"A kill command? Is there some kind of program guarding Eric?"

"The command wasn't issued by a program," Skuld said.

"Then..." Belldandy said.

"It wasn't issued by a user account, either," Skuld said.

"So that leaves us with the question of where that kill command came
from," Urd said.

"This will require further testing," Skuld said, stroking her chin.

Eric groaned.

-----

"So, everything came up negative," Urd said, leaning back from the
table.

"Zilch," Skuld said.

"What does that mean?" Belldandy asked.

"It means that no detectable force is issuing those kill commands,"
Skuld said.

"So, either the force is undetectable by the system or else the
kills are issued spontaneously," Urd added.

"Either of which should be impossible," Skuld finished.

"That's not the only strange thing, though," Urd said. "Whatever it
is only affects spells which either target Donovan directly or which
include him in their area of effect. It's that last part that
really has me spooked."

"What do you mean?" Belldandy asked.

"Look at it this way. Let's assume something happened to connect
Donovan with Yggdrasil when he was knocked unconscious for all that
time, something which now gives him root level access to any program
about to influence him."

"Oh, that would be... unique," Belldandy said.

"Yeah, that's scary enough. What's scarier is his ability to affect
spells which will only include him in their area of influence. To
do that this ability of his has to scan every spell program running
in the entire system to determine if he will be affected by it.
That's a whole lot more involved than simply waiting for a spell
program to target him directly and then giving him kill authority
over it."

"I see, now."

"We're talking a major amount of processing power, here," Skuld
said. "That much processing power would have to be detectable if it
was running on the system."

"So, do you think it's running on Nidhog, then?" Belldandy asked.

Urd and Skuld looked at each other.

"Nidhog would have to be accessing Yggdrasil's privileged space for
that to happen," Skuld said.

"The safeguards would have kicked in," Urd added. "That much traffic
would be hard to keep undetected. Still, we'd better recheck the
logs to make sure."

Skuld began pulling up the logs.

Urd peered over her shoulder, scanning entries.

"Mmm," she said.

"Hmm," Skuld said.

"Well?" Belldandy asked.

"Nope, no activity crossing between Nidhog and Yggdrasil," Urd said.

"We're back to unknown forces," Skuld said.

-----

End Chapter 3

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

What's the significance of the 9 days Eric was unconscious? Odin
pierced himself with his own spear and hung on Yggdrasil for 9 days
to gain understanding of the world and become the Allfather. I used
a similar mechanism here for Eric, only substituting the mental link
for the spear.

I really enjoyed writing the "experiment" section of this chapter.
This fic has been way too serious so far, and it was a great
opportunity to lighten things up a bit. Given the way Urd and Skuld
acted around the Ultimate Destruction Program during Terrible Master
Urd, it would have been out of character for them not to take a
break from the angst when the opportunity presented itself.