"Incredible. You've done phenomenally on all grounds today. I believe you've been able to increase your soul's capacity for magic use about thirty fold today alone. It's an incredible amount. You've earned a great deal of respite. I do hope you'd be up for this daily though. Your growth would be immense. You truly are built for this."
Kazu smiled through her struggled breaths. She pushed herself a lot. She did the whole program designed by younger Kirim all in one go after fueling Ela's home Ygg with almost her whole original capacity. A short break in between, and it was more than enough to replenish her capacity. Twice she exhausted her capacity in one day and it increased her capacity immensely both times. Reality and her biology were kind to her.
"Wh-what...what time is it in Japan?"
Ela gave it a tiny thought and she was given the answer in the form of a time converter.
"It's about three in the afternoon. Do you want to keep going? Or do you want to return home?"
She shook her head side to side.
"Koeru hasn't woken up yet, and I'd rather not return home a husk, so I'd at least like to refill sufficiently. And I don't know if she would be different but I'd like to give her some time to rest by letting my body rest. She might wake up with me resting."
Ela nodded.
"Then come into my shrine. I can wake up Koeru for you if you want to know what the inner world is about. And my bed is something I'm incredibly proud of, even if I don't use it much."
Kazu didn't think much about it, especially since the building was a shrine. She expected it to be not very different from other shrine homes. At first, it was very similar. A lot of open floor space with sliding doors for the outer walls, a kitchenette to the side, and near the kitchenette, there was a door she assumed led into the basement where she did her inventing. She didn't see the bed anywhere, so she figured the bed was downstairs.
Ela led them through the door into the basement, and the first floor of the basement somewhat continued the feel of the shrine in that it used the same type of wood, had plenty of traditional Japanese architecture, and it had tatami flooring around the bed area. There were two beds, and Shii was sitting at the edge of one.
"Oh, welcome home mom. Welcome to our home, Kazu-chan."
Kazu waved with a bright smile, but she was surprised at how calming it was to be in a basement. She struggled to put it together in her mind that she was below ground level.
"You can take the other bed-my bed. It's a floor level bed like Japanese futon beds, but has a little more cushion than typical, and the frame is inset to the floor. There's some heating in the frame of the bed, and it's just firm enough that it supports you with that extra cushion. Which means it still performs optimally for heavier weight. You're definitely lighter than I am though, so the cushion's bonus size is more fluff than you'll be using."
Kazu was intimidated just hearing what the bed was like.
"Let me guess, it also auto adjusts depending on the type of support the user needs?"
Ela had a thoughtful expression.
"It's not like mechanical beds. The extra cushion is what does that. The cushion is like a sponge, adapting to the form of the person using it. When your body sinks into it, your body adjusts how it needs. Don't need to make such a complicated answer for a simple issue. All that technology is wasted. Instead a nice heating system for the house and a thin but well constructed frame is better if you can have the house heating run under your bed, you could easily heat your bed too. That ends up a structural design of the house however, so it's not as possible if you didn't design the house for such things."
Kazu kept it in mind and got low, sitting then adjusting herself until she could comfortably lay down in the bed. First impressions just from sitting on the cushioning for the bed had her surprised. The level of the sponge was perfect. Just resistant enough to stop her from sinking entirely into the cushion, and also soft enough to contour to the shape of her. There wasn't a shape for Ela, so she hadn't slept in it recently. She noticed a rolled up blanket on a shelf on the wall next to her. She reached up and naturally swiped the blanket to the side. It perfectly fell over her body to hide from the upper chest down to her feet.
The comfort of the bed was unrivaled. She was barely staying conscious, fighting mentally to stay awake. She felt that the slightest relaxation in her mind would plummet her into sleep. Even the warmth of the cushion surrounding her and the blanket were holding her firmly.
"How long will it take Koeru to wake up? And how will this let me understand this inner world you speak of? I just feel like I'm going to fall asleep the moment I relax the rest of the way..."
She felt her mind drift a little and she pushed out a breath to confirm her sense of being awake.
"I am awake. I'm not so fond of finding myself in an unfamiliar building, and with my older self no less, but I suppose there's reason to this after what was talked about before..."
Koeru's voice arrived out of Kazu's mouth and Kazu was surprised. She only felt her control of her body slip momentarily. It was a surreal feeling, like she was playing a dance game and someone stepped into the controls for the length of time taken from her. That was how she imagined it, but she wasn't sure how accurate it was.
"This is because I couldn't leave you vulnerable in that potentially dangerous situation. You are much too unstable and I can't risk you or the project world you were on before. So I logged you and Kazu out of there. Now, I was just about to teach Kazu how to understand control of a shared body, the inner world experience."
Koeru sighed. She was familiar with it, since plenty of her memories returned, but she wasn't experienced with it. Use of inner worlds was exclusive to those who held many souls within a single body, or those whose soul split in order to cope with trauma. Her knowledge of inner worlds came from her original mother's teachings she imparted through her own experiences.
"So, in case it's not part of what you remember, I'll explain how to access your inner world. It's not something even magic is needed to access. If you're familiar with the use of magic it's easier to access though. You access it through a similar method to meditation. Similar, but not the same. What's different is that once you've reached a heightened sense of your surroundings, you surround yourself in your imagination. For some, this doesn't do much. They can't do anything with their inner world but remember things. For others, it can be used as a physical space depending on their state of conscious. For those who either share their body with another soul, or those who split into several identities of a single soul, it's possible to control this. There are accidents commonly among those of the split identities variety, but it's much easier to control in the souls sharing a body variety. Whoever isn't in control, could use their imagination to create an ideal mental space. That fact is also shared by split identity, but often those with split identity are split due to trauma and being unable to deal with it properly at the time of a split. Those with the split identity variety often neglect the inner world, or don't know how to control it. There are rare cases where the split identity variety is as well maintained as shared. For those cases, it often comes with a great deal of time and effort."
Her explanation was taken in by Kazu and Koeru, both of them struggling to stay awake. They managed to absorb the information completely, but it wasn't without incredible effort. In short, it just took a strong imagination, and access to the inner world.
"It's also easier to access the inner world with a shared body. Those not controlling the body can freely interact with the inner world. It's like being in a sci-fi spaceship. A massive room, with one person at the controls. That person typically is focused on the driving, and is thus unaware of their surroundings inside of the inner world. This can lead to sudden interruptions where someone else either touches the controls, or forcefully takes over. You could easily return to the controls, but this is infinitely more difficult with the split. Shared is something that could be taken as a blessing, if those sharing the body have personalities which easily get along and have an agreement on how the body would be shared."
Kazu and Koeru understood and both managed to enter the inner world, instead of fully succumbing to sleep. Their minds no longer attached to the state of the body, were in the mostly blank expanse of the shared inner world. There were places in the distance which reminded Kazu of recent dreams, however those were rare bubbles in the massive expanse. They still heard Ela's voice while close to the control station. Kazu had a strong feeling that simply sitting in the chair would be enough to return to controlling the body. It was like playing a game and sharing the seat in the end. They could both fit on the chair, both be conscious of what was happening, and make minor cooperation work. If they both worked together, then better control of the body through larger scope of available vision was possible. However, it would still be ideal to only have one in control.
"Feel free to use this time to customize your inner world. I will alert you to return to the controls in an hour so you don't lose track of time. Don't stray too far. Also a hint on how to create a permanence for your inner world. Connect it to the control space. Magic is unneeded and you may even use limitless magic there since it's your imagination, so of course having fun in there is also good."
Kazu and Koeru looked between each other and sighed.
"This could be used as a good bonding experience..."
"It could also serve as a way to find out whether we'll like each other or not. I hope we come to like each other in the same way you and Ela get along."
Kazu nodded. She couldn't help but feel that Koeru was very different from Ela. They were the same person, a margin of time and life experience making the difference between them. She didn't think such a thing would make it more difficult to get along, but she was honestly afraid of Koeru.
Kazu had something in mind for the space directly around the controls. She was feeling inspired by Ela's shrine home. Especially the living space below the ground floor. She imagined the control center being a two seat sofa, with a large thin television screen and a gaming computer in a style which matched the traditional and advanced coming together theme Ela used. She set up a room around the control center, with a bed mimicking Ela's in the corners behind the sofa, so they would have view of the screen which was viewing outside of the body. If she had a way of inviting others to her inner world, or she wished to rest peacefully in her inner world, it would be best to be in the most comfortable setting she could imagine.
Koeru smiled when she glanced back and saw it.
"Recent inspiration, we were thinking similarly."
Koeru had attached traditional Japanese styled halls and outer walls to the room, starting the makings of a house. The two of them smiled at each other and kept going until they had a full house rather than a mimic of Ela's shrine, including a sizable yard. They also added day and night to the area so that it would feel natural being there instead of having endless black surroundings. The imagination was incredibly powerful. The illusion of an expansive rolling plains and a bamboo forest behind the house along with a hot spring made it feel like some sort of heaven for the both of them. Only the purest of comforts were made there. The time passed so quickly, they were depressed when they heard Ela's voice calling them back.
"Has it really been an hour?"
Kazu was the one in the controls, Koeru hanging back and watching from just beside one of the beds. Ela hummed affirmative and Kazu almost fell asleep from the comfort of the bed once again.
"This bed...is way too comfortable. How did you make it like this?"
Ela sighed in disappointment.
"I like getting surprise out of people who I expect not to know better but after I explained it to you already, that kind of reaction is a little disappointing. Get up, it's time to get you back to Japan, unless you want to have dinner here."
Kazu pondered. She hadn't eaten anything Ela had made before. She was a little nervous that Ela would just magically create the food and be expected to eat it like normal. She was still curious though. Koeru mimicked the curiosity and as such it won over.
"I'm curious what kind of cooking you would do for dinner, Ela-san."
She smiled.
"Actually, it's been a long while since I cooked anything outside of virtual reality and I had a real passion for it. Making good food and finding new tastes through experimentation with spices made me really happy back when I was your age. I think I have some ingredients in storage..."
Ela stood up and walked to the end of the hall, down a few stairs and shuffling and thumping sounds made Kazu even more curious. What kind of storage was it? Wouldn't most ingredients age?
She saw that the storage was like one of those mirrors, but there was something different about it. She shook her head in disbelief but decided to ask anyways.
"Wasn't that...one of those pocket dimension things you mentioned before?"
She nodded.
"I made a few for this house. I didn't want to actually wreck the ground here because it was always meant to be the base of the prime Ygg and I didn't want to risk the roots. If I had made physical rooms instead of pocket doors, then this place would be big as a village. And this room being dimensional storage means I can stop time for it. Going back in time is impossible, but stopping time for a small space or in technology is entirely possible. Slowing it as well, or speeding it up. It's not ideal though because it takes a lot of preparation and a ridiculous amount of energy to alter time flow. I only did this because I had no other real option."
Kazu nodded in surprise.
"So you have ingredients you prepped a long time ago in there, that haven't aged a day..."
Ela nodded, pulled out some tomatoes, onions and several other ingredients including meat and she put it all into a big wooden bowl. She walked past Kazu and up to the kitchen on the ground floor. She set the bowl down and quickly got to work. Kazu was used to a fairly decent pace at prep work. She couldn't believe how fast Ela moved though when she was prepping everything. Everything was prepped in seconds of her touching the knife. It was unbelievable. Beyond chef levels of expertise.
After about fifteen minutes of cooking, she presented a sight that left Kazu speechless. It was gourmet, a veritable feast. She plated up several portions and set out a table in the main room of the ground floor, bringing out the appetizers to the table first. It looked like art, something that shouldn't be eaten. Kazu was well versed with making food, but she couldn't fathom being that skilled.
"Well, don't let it sit."
Kazu sat down in front of one of the dishes and she felt nervous just picking up the fork. She took a deep breath and went for it after whispering her thanks for the food. The first bite of the food might have sent her into a sort of paradise. She'd never tasted food so rich in flavour, something that made her want to never stop eating it. It was so smooth it went down without feeling she needed to chew at all. She ended up cleaning the plate and realizing it was done. She wanted more. Ela smirked.
"I'm surprised you ate it so fast. You managed to retain your composure and ate politely as well. You're very well mannered. I'm glad I didn't lose my touch though."
Kazu blinked at Ela.
"I'll get us the next dish. Don't worry, when you finish eating you'll be sated no matter how hungry you were feeling before we started."
Light poured into the room through windows and paper doors. The natural setting of moonlight pouring in was ethereal. Ela was such a sight to behold Kazu wouldn't be surprised if she called herself a spirit or something even more special.
"Are...you a deity...or something?"
Ela chuckled.
"I'm more used to my mother being called that than myself, but I suppose I'm not far off from her abilities. I've had a few mothers, but I'm talking about my first. She's basically...let's put it this way, she's stopped suns from entering the state called supernova, erased black holes, and she's saved hundreds of worlds through directing just the right people. She had me doing that last named job as a mercenary during this life for a while, but the human body isn't able to handle such strain for long. I ended up not being able to handle it, my body nearly died, and the crippled state I wound up in was enough to send her on to her next life. She left me alone even though it was the first life we shared together in trillions of years. She lost her first life at seventy-six, which was young there even by human standards. The fact is however, that she's someone extremely special."
Her words were filled with admiration and respect. Kazu could only imagine what kind of person Ela's mother was. Would she be difficult to approach? Was she like a god? Ela said some absolutely nonsensical things her mother was apparently capable of like it was nothing. And she couldn't think of a single lie Ela had told her. She even made the Ygg that surrounded the shrine they were in along with several others earlier in the day. If Ela's mother was capable of more, those unimaginable feats seemed more possible.
"Are you able to do any of those things?"
Ela returned with the second dishes for the both of them at the moment Kazu finished saying that and she sighed.
"I...can do just as much except save worlds. I'm a failure at that alone. She's had a lot more living experience as she lived morelives, so I suppose it's to be expected that she would better be able to manipulate people's actions just right so they're not too out of character and everything moves on smoothly in her desired direction. I wasn't enough with my inventions twenty years ago on this world, and she took the failure as a sign to push the body we were both born to, to its limits and moved on. I'm the weak leftovers, and she left this world in its sorry state to me. She has since let me know she has faith I could fix this world by force. She's back on our original home world now, but she's been watching me once in a while. She's been waiting to see for the last fifteen years what I would do and I'd been taking my time. She's not in much of a hurry. She thought I would wait until I died, and I basically was at the end of my life."
Kazu became curious about something while Ela went on about herself, and her second serving disappeared while Ela talked.
"You've talked plenty about your original mother, but what about your family from the life you were living here?"
Kazu's words had little effect on Ela, she just answered normally.
"My family of this world...well my only sibling is a chef. My mother is retired and my father as well, but my father is a busy-body. He often helps at his old job since our family home is only a short walk from the workplace. I don't really have much connection with other family, but I do have plenty living relatives. I have a younger cousin who visited me frequently over the last few years, but the last several months have been lonely until I started working with you and the Japanese government."
Kazu was more and more curious. Ela hadn't gone back and spent time with her current family even with the ability to do so as far as she knew.
"When is the last time you've talked to your current family?"
Ela looked up in surprise from her dinner.
"I think it's been...about a month. I spoke to my mother, told her that I might be unable to answer messages and the like for a while. Since I was in medical care because of the state of my previous body, I was always in contact with her. Almost every single day. We only talked over the phone or in text messages though. It's been over a year since she was able to visit me in person."
Shii sat down next to Ela what seemed out of nowhere and huffed.
"You had me the entire time. Don't forget that I was never actually an AI, just capable of going in there."
Ela rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment.
"Sorry, and I took so long to give you a proper body too. I'm a failure as a mother as well as a daughter..."
Kazu and Shii glared at Ela from hearing that statement.
"You're not a failure as either! You're amazing at both! Try and remember any good times you had with all the parents you've had, with your original parents!"
Kazu's words hit some negative points and good points.
"While that might not make you completely happier, you should hear that you've been a wonderful mother. I exist because you were assaulted at a young age, but you never let it get to you when you realized what I was. You took responsibility, raised me as your child, you taught me so much and you took care of me even when you were going through some of your most troubling times. I've been able to grow up so well because of you. Yes Kazu, I'm her biological daughter. I'm proud to be her very first. When her body wasn't even capable, she still managed to have a child."
Kazu was still surprised to hear it, but she remembered Ela being the one to enlighten her to the path of transition. Ela helped her find a path to happiness nobody else could have given her. What was Shii until she got a body then? A spirit?
"About what I was, yes a spirit is about the closest thing you could call me. I'm still not entirely sure what I am, only what caused my existence. We tried figuring out and her original mother never told us, only saying that I was the first of my kind."
"How old are you again, Shii-chan?"
Kazu's question was innocent, just wondering how different the age was between Shii and Ela. Physical age aside, Ela had thirty five official years on Earth. She had many more virtual years on Earth, and she had infinitely more literal years alive. The age difference between their souls...was too much for Kazu to even think about.
"I'm twenty seven, not counting burst technology time. That might be alarming considering the condition my mom would have been in for my birth, and it's a touchy subject for her. I feel awkward answering it for her, but we've both been working through that trauma together. It may still feel fresh for her considering other details we're aware of...please just consider that she's a good parent to me, and that's all that matters."
Kazu's expression sank into depression realizing that as a child, Ela had been assaulted. Shii existed because of it, but she couldn't imagine the trauma Ela might have because of such an experience. She wouldn't blame Ela if she decided the world wasn't worth her effort. But she still forged onward.
Ela sighed.
"I'll grab the rest of the dishes. You can have some too, Shii. Be sure to eat your portions in order. Yes I made some for you too."
Shii's eyes brightened up and glowed brightly in the moonlight. It was magical. Kazu was surprised at how lit the shrine was, considering everything. Then she remembered. It wasn't moonlight which was filling the house. It was light from the fount crystal. Of course magic would give an ethereal sense without much else for light. It was a magical early morning in Canada, while it was late afternoon in Japan.
"My first meal! I can't wait, mom!"
Ela calmed Shii down as she was setting the food in front of her, but she saw the food almost disappear as it was placed down. Shii's happy expression of absolute satisfaction melted away the concern that the food wasn't being savored properly. There was no way Shii wasn't tasting it with that much happiness on her face.
"You could slow down and savor it more you know. It tastes better the longer it stays in your mouth. I'm glad you're so happy from eating though. I was worried I made a mistake with your body. I hadn't made one with magic in a long time, after all."
Shii nodded.
"I couldn't help myself, I was just so eager to taste everything and not let its temperature fall out of optimal for taste. If anything, I think this body's sensation is too strong."
Ela sighed.
"I'm not sure I can tone that down. You might be able to tone it down, but I can't be sure since I'm not piloting. Anyways, I think we've kept Kazu here more than long enough for today. She could use some proper rest or just having less strain back in Japan. Please keep our Ygg's crystal balanced until I get back. Maybe we should visit your grandmother today since it's been so long."
Shii beamed at the thought of visiting her grandmother.
"Come back soon. Oh, and Kazu-chan, please spend lots of time with Yuuki-chan and Sugu-chan. Family is so important, after all."
Kazu nodded, an exhaustion clear on her face.
"I'll spend all the time I can with them. Thank you for taking care of me, both of you."
Ela conjured a window to just outside of the dojo beside her vehicle and she left with Kazu. She took a deep breath of the fresh early evening air and sighed in relief. It was pleasant to not inhale sharp, cold air when she breathed. The only thing she didn't like about Canada was the sharp, cold air.
"Thank you for dinner. I might not be thanking you soon though, since dinner time hasn't passed here yet."
Ela shrugged.
"What I fed you is gourmet, but it was tiny portions. That wasn't filling in the slightest and a little moving around is enough to settle your stomach. You would easily find room for more."
Kazu shook her head in disbelief.
"That sure seemed like a big meal, but was it because it was more fluid than solid? I hadn't realized while I was eating, but thinking back it was far too fast to get through."
Ela smirked.
"That's something that happens when you cook certain ingredients just right. It makes them so easy to consume they slide right through you. It's really good for a diet."
Kazu was surprised to hear that. She hadn't prepared food with the intent of a diet before, but then she hadn't had to think about losing weight. It would be helpful if ever someone in her family in the future gained weight and wanted to lose it.
A window was opened and on the other side, Kazu saw Ela's vehicle and the dojo beyond. She stepped through without hesitation and Ela followed through. Ela walked up to the door of her vehicle, and Kazu moved to the dojo door.
"I'll do a bit of exercise then so I'm not too full for dinner. What are you going to do?"
Ela nodded.
"Good on you. You deserve plenty rest now, but exercise can be part of rest. I'll be going to Rath so I can update Kikuoka on what happened in there today. Want to keep them in the know since they're part of the AI project."
Kazu nodded. Ela got into her vehicle and she flew off with ease.
"That was...a busy day."
Kazu stepped through the dojo and as soon as she closed the door, she fell unconscious. Koeru realized there was something immensely wrong. The shared vision was black on the screen, and she wasn't hearing anything immediately for the source. She tried taking control since Kazu simply slumped over in the control seat, but there was nothing she could do but hear as something finally came through.
"I have many plans for you...and you can't go back to your new conductor. I need you for my team after all. Even if it means I need to scramble your brains..."
Koeru was confused. She grabbed full control and reached with all her might toward Ela's mind and conveyed they were in trouble. She couldn't handle being in full control even a few seconds before passing out too.
