[The Skylark/The Harrier]

  [The Docks] [Holdport] [Somerset]

  [UK] [Universe Sierra-Hotel-1]

  [Katie McCabe, 1st Person]

  My secondary workspace of an Atelier, instead of my primary workspace of an Atelier, was in The Boat of The Skylark or The HDS Harrier depending on what name you used for her. Of either the ordinary boat of The Skylark or the Holdport Defence Ship of The Harrier. Well, the Secondary Workspaces of an Atelier Complex rather than my Primary Workspaces of an Atelier Complex were in The Skylark/HDS Harrier.

  Atelier being the term stolen from French for a Magical Workshop, the word also stolen as the English word for the workshop of an artist in the fine or decorative arts. Like a lot of the words we stole from the French Language, but in this case, it’s stolen for a specific naming of a magical concept and such. Saying Magical Workshop, or Magical Workspace, then shorting it down to Workshop or Workspace can be confusing.

  Atelier however is immediately explainable to someone who knows about The Deception, or possibly someone who knows the Memes from Star Wars: The Old Republic. The memes around, ‘You were Deceived,’ as a concept are very much a thingamajig in the Supernatural Community.

  It is a bit of knowledge known to anyone and everyone who's on the M-Web parts of The Forums like Sky Fortress or such. For anyone browsing The Supernatural parts of the internet, and in places infecting The Natural parts of the internet too.

  To get on topic. For what was the Skylark/HDS Harrier? I owned her through a few cases of shell companies and such, like how the name I owned the boat was under the name of Helen Hen. As a planned deliberate wink, unlike the other aliases I was planning for other craft I was going to build. A Fishing Boat with parts of the insides modified to be my workspace. With a few ... let’s say extras. She was enchanted with a subtle Awareness Shroud on it to have people not question it.

  Of what I was calling the type of Ship/Boat of such a craft of a Harrier class Patrol Boat. Of her twenty metres long, four metres in breadth, and such size. With plans to make more, including it only being the beginning of what I was going to get into as acting as a Hero in this New Heroic Age.

  A Harrier class Patrol Boat was made of wood imbued with the enchantment of Electromettle, and the metal of electricity given magical form. If you’re wondering where the energy comes from to make the matter, the electricity shapes it and the Electromettle forging draws on The Elemental Realm of Energy. To explain how the E=MC2 is squared instead of just making material out of just raw electricity.

  To get back on topic? Electromettle is a metal fifty times stronger than high grade steel, before the metal is Energising like when doing Hull Energising, and ten times more magical than gold? With the Electromettle generators and such it was made to generate and repair the hull when it was seemingly just a wooden boat.

  A stop gap till I figured out how to make Electromettle and Exo-Steel Phase Alloy combined with Electromettle and Exo-Steel Fusion Alloy to make Dual Electro-Exo-Steel. Once I figured out how to make it and imbued into the wood to create more to repair the ship.

  To make a material of what would be two hundred times stronger than high grade steel, if you don’t Energise it, and forty times more magical than gold. To be a metal and material able to be made via magic easier than Argyros. For what will be the planned Shipyards and Yard Ships to be able to build ships out of said fabricated materials. Unless I came up with a different metal and magic to build such ships out of.

  Just figuring out how to create steel and turn it into Exo-Steel was part of the R&D process. And making it so it would work with standard Energising based off Knight Practitioner Reinforcement of their armour. To strengthen the armour over their already boosted physical abilities.

  To get back on topic, we’d come to the part of the docks, as my Rings of Gyges had generated an Awareness Shroud over me and Jaggedy Annie. The enchantment on the ring made us unimportant and unnoticeable to anyone trying to track us. Rather than just a more traditional invisibility enchantment for it. As an Awareness Shroud is magic and not some game ruled thing for balance? It imprints on what are drawings, photos, recordings, and so on.

  It isn’t some effect of what only affects biological minds, like how telepathy can communicate with everyone and everything who has some kind of mind. So, an AI is not immune to telepathy or an Awareness Shroud, people. Don’t be a bio chauvinist, please.

  Also, don’t write settings where a telepath is suddenly undone by an AI existing, it doesn’t work in such a way. A mind is a mind, (just not a Mind), and it can be read with telepathy. It doesn’t need Tech-Powers of Techno Shamanry to do it. (Technopathy doesn’t have Tele in it to indicate the power working from a distance, I can’t figure out what should be the actual word for it. Tech-Powers is a compromise I’m willing to make, if the actual technical term on Earth Sierra-Hotel-1 is Techno Shamanry.)

  There’s nothing magically different from a human brain thinking something and one of the very new AIs of Actual Intelligences on this weird Earth I find myself on. Biology, Metal, other stranger materials, and stranger concepts?

  They still have souls and magic for it to work, for them to function and operate off. Like all of existence, every part of creation has its own little individual soul. They just have to be living souls and not non-living souls to be able to think. For a souled existence to be able to go Geth and ask, ‘Does this unit have a soul?’ it can be telepathically read.

  While doing the same for LIs of Limited Intelligences, as said things also work on Animals, all the way down to the most basic Computer Systems and Operating systems. From what are the LIs like the various Large Language Models and other LIs going all the way down to chatbots or The Clippy Demon. And, yes, Clippy itself isn’t an actual Demon. It’s The Paperclip Demons who are the actual Demons inspired by him. However, the Memes about Clippy on The M-Web cannot be denied!

  Anyway! I came to a stop where the boat was docked and at anchor, I whistled for it to make the wards react to me in the way they were programmed to, and a gangway came down. Instead of clicking my fingers or clapping as a noise or gesture I didn’t need to make it do so, to have it be a non-necessary action I would use as a mask. And I thought at the enchanted boat for it to do what I wanted it to as it was programmed, and it would happen.

  I gestured to it as Jaggedy Annie looked at me to tell her, “Follow me onto my Little Boat, come aboard and I can show you more than you could even have thought of,” I chucked as I couldn’t help making a reference to what was The Farscape Series 3 opening bit, “But then you'll never know ... The wonders I've seen ...” I laughed a little more, “Or at least the wonders you’ll see for other people!”

  She gave me a little glare, before Tara took in a breath when she moved past it, and she asked, “What time is it?”

  I couldn’t help laughing again, and in answer say, “Time. Time is Song, Time is Music,” she blinked. “It has patterns, rhythms, lyrics with choruses which repeat, and as a Numerologist I need to know the Music of Time as a Numerologist to predict what The Song of Time will do next.”

  She glared at me, and I shrugged, as I instead went, “It’s late, and you’re pretending you’re sleeping on someone else's Sofa. Do you really want to go back to your University Dorm tonight and have to deal with your roommate and such? Or do you want to catch a bit of sleep in one of the spare rooms I have aboard The Skylark?”

  There was a nod, before she stopped, she mentally paused, and she burst out, “Oh, holy shit! The vampires know my secret identity, and—!”

  I interrupted, “—No they don’t, the Deception covers heroic secret identities, like how you saw the Vampire earlier be unable to say your real name and hero name. At least what The New Deception is doing rather than the Old Deception. Like how people who cannot be trusted with the secret of magic to not work against magic forget about magic? People who can’t be trusted with a Hero’s actual identity will forget it, if the otherside will do it for the Villains too.”

  There was another mental pause from my cousin, and she flatly blurted out, “What.”

  I rolled my shoulders, to answer, “How else do you expect secret identities to work? Heroes, champions of various gods, are protected in this scenario. And if you think the gods haven’t been planning for this, for what is the more useless than usual prophecy of The Age of Champions Prophecy, is a fact,” I paused. “Though yes, certain criminals of various Villains? If they become a divine champion of someone or an infernal champion of some Lower Power? They’ll be protected by The Deception too.”

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  I added, “Say one of the demons in The Ars Goetia. Like the Demon who stole one of the names of Janus, of the Dark Power who calls himself Bifrons? The Two Faced Nature of Bifrons would allow for a villain to have two different identities as an aspect of them. Ignoring the fact the actual Janus hates Bifrons doing so and stealing one of his names. The various other demons would give different abilities, if they can and will also back someone else up on The Deception without it being a speciality of theirs. Bifrons, he just has an advantage,” I shrugged.

  I talked some more, “The Demons in The Ars Goetia are actually Hell gods of Demon gods, and their number of Legions noted are their elite legions of their special forces. Or what was the former number of elite legions of The Specs Ops Legions for those Infernal gods and there are now more for each of them, without getting into all of their legions. Of what were the actual number of conventional legions for them within local space, yet alone what there is now the size of their conventional legions within the local Multiverse. Or what is now the number of their Specs Ops Legions.”

  I gestured to the boat, to say, “Now, come on board. There are a few things to do, and with your healing factor you don’t need sleep, you will however enjoy it to clear your head for Sunday Morning tomorrow. So, you can get back to prepping for your classes on Monday.”

  There was an exhale, and she walked over. I went ahead and we stepped onto my boat. I clicked my fingers when we were both aboard and the Gangway moved back into the boat. Of a few fishing nets and lobster pots as a disguise on the deck, I gestured to a door leading down into the ship.

  A dark red door, on a dark red painted hold, leading into the dark green painted hull of the ship and the dark brown painted floorboards of the ship. The companionway of said door, also led into the bridge of the boat disguised as a fishing boat. I waggled my fingers, to say, “Follow me now, please. Come along, Annie,” then I strode to the door.

  Its spells recognised me, unlocking parts of its lock. A flick of telekinesis unlocked the three deadbolts on the other side, my telekinesis being allowed by the intention spells, I went not for a key on the door. But for more telekinesis to turn the lock, as said enchantments recognised my magic like they were meant to do so.

  The door swung open, I gestured inwards, to announce, “Come inside The Skylark, my friend.”

  There was a moment of silence, you could almost hear the raised eyebrow behind what was her face mask. The one my psychic senses gave me a feeling of her making such an eyebrow raise of what she was doing behind the mask. And she had to check, “The Skylark?”

  I told her, “It’s The Skylark in her civilian and disguise form when pretending to be a fishing boat, while in the form what will fly into battle, she shall be The Harrier. As I’m planning on founding a Hero group called The Holdport Harriers,” there was a blink. “And yes, fly. Magic is going to magic as it should and does!”

  She looked at me, sighed, as she complained, “If you want it to sound like a football team,” And for people not from The UK and don’t understand Football is meant to be played with your feet, I will compromise by adding the explanation of it being soccer for you, “it can work as a name,” and she wrongly opinioned. “The Holdport Harriers would be a better name than The Holdport Hermits,” named after Hermit Crabs, “with the internet memes of a hermit crab using rubbish for shells for them. And would be a better name too than our Rugby Team of The Holdport Hunters. And it eclipses the name of Holdport Cricket Club by miles.”

  I looked at her, to note, “Do you have a better name to suggest? Are you going to get together with Eliza Exeter,” a Flying Brick of a Stereotype covering the whole South West of England, “Or Taunton Locomotive,” a speedster who operates out of Taunton, “And come up with a better name?” she stopped, and I nodded, “Thought so.”

  I gestured at the door, I walked in, and she followed me. The door closed behind us, relocking itself. We walked across a room the size of the deckhouse as part of The Boat, to another door, I opened it, and I strode into a room of a great hall style set up.

  The size of about a sports hall at Tara’s old secondary school of Wyrm Community School. Or the one at my old secondary school of Holdport Academy of Magic, Or HAM, or Holdport Academy of Mystery as it pretends to be for the Naturals.

  Mystery Schools are a concept in existence for the world, like how Mystery Cults are also as well. And even in this alternate history where The Old Gods are still around, ones who most people don’t really put much consideration into when thinking about them. Almost as if there was a Deception and these people have been Deceived.

  For example, Weston-juxta-Mare has what is the Birnbeck Academy of Magic for the general magicals of not only North Somerset. It was also for various people in The South West. Of how Birnbeck Pier became a Magic School after the end of World War Two when it stopped being HMS Birnbeck.

  Birnbeck Island is now massively bigger on the inside due to being the location of BAM, rather than say a Bristol Academy of Magic which could have been called BAM instead. To have extensive grounds, including the dorms for people who board there instead of living elsewhere.

  Instead of living in Weston as some do and have specifically moved there to do so, or magically commuting from somewhere in The South West. Said magical school was modelled off the Holdport Academy of Magic located on Sheep Holm.

  Not based The Sorcerous School of Heart-Horn in The Outer Hebrides, what was the only Sorcerous School within the UK. Nor The Mage School of Hammerstone within The Scilly Isles as one of the Mage Schools of The UK and the best one on test results. No, it was modelled on Sheep Holm. At the same time to have a hidden part of the island deliberately .

  But the great hall was modelled after my old school. The tables and chairs were not out, currently anchored to a bit of Pocket Space of the room, the large and empty deep brown wooden structure having crash mats to the side of it. For it to be a sparring and practice chamber for what it was in the long and big rectangular room.

  Jaggedy Annie had frozen at the door of it, as she breathed out, “No way.”

  I laughed, and to said shock, I acknowledged it with an Eleventh Doctor quote, “Yes, it's a spaceship. Yes, it's bigger on the inside. Now, I don't have time to talk about it.”

  Her head whipped around to look at me, and she had to exclaim, “Spaceship!”

  I shrugged, to respond, “Not a Starship, strictly no FTL Drive yet. It’s STL, she can still putter around a star system like in Firefly. To go to the colonies elsewhere in The Solar System, those colonies whose existence still amazes me today.”

  I gestured across the room, as Jagged gave me what was a sharp look about said amazement. However, for said gesture not to the doors on the left and right sides of the boat, no to what was the door opposite the one we were at, for me to prompt, “Now, follow me across the hall.”

  She sucked in a breath, then did so as we walked across it. Another door opened, to lead into a room about the size of a large living room and a large kitchen. A combination of both, with a dining table in between the middle of them.

  Of deep blue carpet leading into what was a red tiled floor, of a red tiled kitchen with dark brown wooden cupboards. While the living room part had deep brown wooden walls. There was a three seat sofa and two arm chairs, all three of black mushroom leather.

  In the middle of the room was a glass table, a table with a touch screen built into it to allow for a non-voice interface for it, a touch screen table with Volumetric Projector built into it. For it to be able to project illusions from it, what a tactile shaped forcefield of a shield of an energy shield could give physical interaction. And if you didn’t want an illusion, there was a pair of Goggle Nicklebooks on said glass table.

  There was a Wallpaper Screen TV of a Paper Screen on the wall beside the door. With it able to take up the whole wall including the door when the door was closed like how a Wallpaper TV is meant to do so. To the left and right side of the end of the living room we’d enter, was each a spiral staircase leading up and down into the boat. While at the edge of the lounge part of the living room, prior to leading into the kitchen, was a door each. Both of those doors led into what was bathrooms.

  I strode to one of the armchairs and collapsed into it. I looked at Annie, as I gestured to the other chair and sofa, to offer, “Take a seat, I can make us a bit of food and drink in a bit,” she moved to the other armchair and sat in it.

  With an easy flourish I took my helmet off with casual ease and popped into Pocket Space, and I took my white facemask off from where it had been underneath my helmet. Said mask went into my Pocket Space too, to join my helmet. The enchanted blue lenses of the mask no longer covered my eyes even if I saw through them normally and not with a blue tint due to the enchantments..

  Tara froze, and she burst out, “Kate!” I grimaced at her calling me Kate and she kept going, “Katie McCabe?”

  I gave a head bob, even as my clothes rippled into being replaced by my pair of civilian clothes in my pocketspace. Of Black Jeans, dark purple t-shirt, and blue trainers, I relaxed into my chair, to respond, “Guilty as charged, Tara.”

  She froze and she had to shudder, as she spoke before she realised what she was saying, “God damn it! I was attracted to you!” I laughed, she glared at me and jabbed an index finger at me, for her to insist, “No, Kate! No, it is not funny! You’re my cousin! With both of our mothers being identical twins makes us genetically half siblings! You do not get to laugh about such things and—” she stopped and glared at me, “—You never told me about the existence of magic!”

  I met her glare with calmness, and I told her, “I was physically unable to tell you about magic, do you remember the vampire not being able to say your names, both heroic and civilian names? I tried multiple times as a kid, and was completely unable to do so. Also, do you remember what you and your side of the family thought was a long running joke of us claiming magic?” and I had to prompt, “Because Mum told Auntie Jo about magic and Auntie Jo forgot about it due to The Deception,” Auntie Jo being Joanna Evans, my aunt and Tara’s Mother.

  Tara froze, she made the right conclusion of, “Wait! Wait a Minute!” she stared at me in horror, “Auntie Andie,” Joandra Evans, who is my mother, “Has actual, real life magic at her disposal?!”

  I sighed, as I easily admitted, “Just because,” the sarcasm couldn’t help but erupt out of me, “Mother Dearest,” and I proceeded without sarcasm, “is not a Danger to the safety of fellow Supernaturals in The Community? Does not make her being a practising Witch any better,” I slumped a little. “Yeah, after realising how much of bitch she is, added to by some of her more questionable choices? I have issues with her having magic.”

  I clapped my hands and leaned forward, “But said problem is one for another day, Tara,” I looked her in the eyes with my dark brown ones. “We have quite a bit to talk about.”