Editor's note: though not classified as Illustrated, this story contains images.
Author's note -- Please read from chapter 1 to best comprehend all that's going on here. It's a complicated tale, and sexy-times happen as the story calls for them. Given everything else that's going on for Ray and company, they don't happen all that frequently. That may or may not change- we'll have to wait and see!
All characters described as taking part in sexual activities are 18 or older.
Chapter 35
Shortly after that, Ray took over the show. "OK, folks -- For those who've had this discussion before, I apologize, but I feel a need to go over all this again. Jessica -- we're good with NDAs?"
Jessica gave Ray a big thumbs-up.
"Wonderful. Anyone here have any active links to anyone who hasn't signed an NDA yet? They'll get cut off shortly -- check with those who sat in the intro meeting for your company if you don't believe me. I'll give you five minutes."
Five minutes later, Ray spoke up from the front of the room again. "OK, so no links going out in thirty seconds, final warning! All right, that's thirty -- links are down." Ray brought up another Cone of Silence, including everyone who'd signed the NDAs plus Tauriz, himself, and Mac. "Welcome to the background brief.
"Short and dirty summary. Magic exists, genies exist, lots of weird creatures exist, and very few humans recognize this. Your leadership here has seen proof of this, but here's some more." Ray snapped his fingers and destroyed a small amount of air over his head. The vacuum imploded with a loud BANG. "Magic can create and destroy mass with obvious secondary effects, such as that small shockwave. These shockwaves and other effects can get MUCH larger. Such as," and here Ray summoned a twelve-foot long brass staff from the ring Tauriz's knife had shifted into, "solid brass staves," he changed it into a large two-handed mace made of brass, "maces, or most anything else one could imagine." He shifted the ring into a brass dinner fork, then returned the weapon to the ring shape on his left hand.
"Humans aren't the only sentient species on the face of the planet, and recorded history goes back before Pangaea split up. That's a long, long time ago for those of you who don't remember your earth science. Dinosaurs and humanoids were fighting kinds of scenarios.
"I don't know what the maximum range of human magic is, but we have shown we can reach at least geosynchronous orbit. We know of an event in the historical record where angelics -- another class of intelligent beings -- reached out almost to Jupiter. Yes, the asteroid belt used to be a planet, and they destroyed it. Then again, angelics are generally considered to be a level beyond most any mortal power.
"A quick taxonomy of the major mortal sentient species. In order of age, oldest species first: Hinn. Mostly dead, the survivors enslaved by the Jinn. Binn, Mostly dead if not enslaved by the Jinn. Timm, mostly dead if not enslaved by the Jinn. Rimm, mostly dead if not enslaved by the Jinn. Jann, currently fighting themselves and the Jinn. Then the Jinn. Finally, humanity. There's another species or perhaps genus of sentient species called the angelics. These angelics created each of the other species, but they are not purely mortal. They don't die unless great effort is expended, and are thus considered 'non-mortal.' There's a hypothetical "immortal" category, as well. True immortals cannot die.
"Each species, save humanity, is effectively 'built' around a different archetypal mystic force. The three we'll mostly be talking about are the Hinn, the Jann, and the Jinn for reasons that should soon become clear. The Hinn are built around what's known as samum, which translates as something like 'the scorching fire.' Samum is primarily a destructive force, but it can be used to create. Think of a forge or a kiln, along those lines.
"Jann are built around qalb al'qamar, roughly translated as 'heart of the moon.' They're ever-changing, but they're also relentless -- the moon is always changing but also always returns to full in its own time. We've been in contact with Jann recently, actually within about a hundred yards from here.
"Jinn are built around manij min mar, aka the "smokeless flame." This can be considered similar to the candlelight you carry that blinds you to the movement in the darkness around you. It has tremendous potential with deception, but not much direct destructive ability. A team of a dozen Jinn attacked us without provocation last night. One was allowed to leave with a message back to its leader.
"Humanity's lack of a fundamental force is both a blessing and a curse. This lack makes them all-rounders in the magical world. Others have areas of strength and weakness and have to take care not to fall into a weak area in a conflict. The weakness of humans is the lack of a specialty and also the inability to offset the costs of magic with a fundamental force. This latter bit means that human magic comes directly from human health. The more magic a human does, the weaker they get. Too much magic used and -- death. Ends up looking a lot like death from exposure, fatigue, or starvation, often all of them.
"So for your private information, Tauriz is genie, created from Hinn. Genie -- singular and plural both, same word - are creatures enslaved by others and forced into eternal servitude. Genie do not die natural deaths, making them non-mortal by the prior guideline. For reasons we don't know, someone shipped me what's known as her 'sheathe'. Genie are bound to a physical object or prison. This object is the basis of the myth of the genie's bottle -- it just doesn't have to be a bottle. In Tauriz' case, it's a small brass statue.
"It's called a sheathe because Hinn are not well designed for the primary purpose of most genie -- sex. Most -- something like eighty to ninety percent, perhaps more -- of all genie are created as sex slaves. Roughly three-quarters of the remainder are like Tauriz -- they're enslaved to be living weapons. The remaining segment is mostly composed of crafters, cleaners, porters, or other physical labor skill types, plus various oddities.
"Yes, Tauriz is enslaved. Technically I am her Master as I was the one who released her from her sheathe. One of my goals is to free her from this slavery. I don't think of her as my slave. She's my partner, my better half. My girlfriend, if you prefer.
"Due to many odd and unusual circumstances, I am now also Hinn, bound to samum. Causing this kind of transformation cannot be accomplished accidentally, it's a pretty impressive magical feat to make this work and not kill the transformed being. I am not genie, however. As far as we can tell, I'm the first Hinn who's not genie since well before the birth of humanity.
"We have been contacted by one other Hinn. This Hinn claims to have been altered somehow from being a genie. It also claims it's inside NSA headquarters to the best of our understanding. It's our goal to release this Hinn and to assist them. They are not willing participants in whatever has happened to them.
"Speaking of the NSA -- several of you saw and heard someone stopping by claiming to be a Deputy Undersecretary for National Exotic Defense. I can't help but notice the position sounds rather intriguingly vague. Question -- anyone know anything about that branch of the NSA, or a Jordan Shapiro who claimed to fill that position? Anyone?
No one seemed to have anything to say about it. "Anyone care to volunteer to ask contacts about said position and person?"
Wu Emily spoke up, "We can request the Taiwanese military attaché to ask some questions. Generally, that's a slower method but usually turns up good information. Won't help by one, however."
Holger Ingulfsen said, "If I can use my cell, I might be able to find some more out."
Breaking the cone for Holger alone, Ray nodded. "You're public, not private -- let me know when you wish to go private again."
