Chapter 45- Testing a Gene-Morph

  Citadel- Secondary Medical Wing, Third Floor- 6th day of the month of Niffle of the 6983 GR (Evening)

  Nath’aniel-

  The doors opened to reveal a smaller more private, treatment room. The only occupant was a white-skinned, white-haired Copycat, dressed in Citadel-issued robes. The mage ignored that she hadn't tied or tightened the item closed, so he could see her red cy underwear, exposed stomach, and a lot of cleavage.

  He was a touch surprised by her interest, when she asked. “How are they doing?”

  Nath’aniel answered her as he crossed the room. “One of the soldiers can only be saved by me binding him as Servant, which I will not do. Three of them will require varying amounts of my medical solutions to treat, one needing a lot and two needing only some, but will survive. And the st soldier only required healing spells once we got him in a fresh tank of water.’

  "Both the hybrid Prince and the gorgon handmaiden are borderline, on their need to be bound. I have applied the required medical solutions to them and will know in a couple of hours whether I will need to bind them to save them, again, I am not sure if I will if it comes to that."

  The mage then pced a box beside her, before reaching into his robes and removing a leather glove, before trying to put it on.

  “Why not, won’t you get stronger by having more Servants?” Copycat asked him with a smirk on her face.

  “I do not like them.” He answered her ftly, once he finished putting on the glove, he added. “It’s nothing against them personally, but the color of their faces and skin remind me of the people I imagined killed my friends and retives … If not for their political ties, I honestly would have left them to their own problems. Now can we get started?”

  “Sure… you finally cave, and are going to impregnate me?” She asked him with a wink.

  “I did not cave, but am taking steps so when we do impregnate you I will know it is safe from the few tests that we need to run. I am going to both expin some things to you right now, and then run one of them’

  "So first, you will have to live long periods of time as a mage, so I am going to expin some things to you." He waited for Copycat to nod, before continuing. "As a mage, your body will require mystical energy to survive, no different from the current calories you get from eating. Despite everyone's belief that we are like pnts and are photosynthetic, we are not, we breathe this energy in.'

  “That means if you get low, and trust me you will know if you are, breathe through your mouth to replenish your supply. Also, when you first change into one of us, you will most likely feel a burning sensation as your body starts to absorb the energy, do not panic and stop, push through and complete the transformation, if you stop the energy will still be there and you will set yourself on fire.”

  He then paused because he didn’t want to overly bury her in knowledge all at once.

  The gene-morph nodded and repeated some of the information back to him. “Breath to get energy, and push through when transforming… Wait if the energy will still be in me, how will I change back? Because no offense I don’t want to be one of you for the rest of my life.”

  The mage did not point out to her that by becoming a mage her lifespan would be basically infinite. Instead he then with a the gloved hand retrieved a new power cell from inside of his robes. “With this.” He then tossed it to her without a care. Unlike the other power cells, this one started out bckish-grey when empty, instead of clear.

  She initially tried to back away, but seated on the bed like she was, had nowhere to go and the cube nded on her p. “Wait? What, hey I thought these were dangerous to us, and that’s why only you and the fire dy can handle them.”

  Nath'aniel nodded in agreement with her statement, but then expined. "First that one is empty, second that one is different. I reversed the build for that one, it absorbs on touch instead of releasing, thus my need for a glove.” He waved the gloved hand at her. “And yes, the regur ones would be normally dangerous for you Tribesmen of the Land, but that's because the energy stored in them is dangerous to your kind."

  “So I use this to drain the energy in me, and then I can turn back.” The gene-morphed guessed.

  The mage nodded at her understanding, but also added. “And to get through the pregnancy, unless you want to start practicing some of our breathing exercises.” When she tilted her head in confusion he expined. "We mages generally breathe in more energy than we need, and for a lot of it we just store it, simir to fat, but as with all things, there is a limit to how much we can store. You will be fine for the first couple of months, but at some point, you will need to 'lower the stock' shall we say."

  “What happens if I don’t?” Copycat asked.

  And he honestly answered her when he said. “You will explode.” She then stared at him, fear all over her face, so he tried to calm her by saying. “This is why we didn’t just try and ‘knock you up’, once you agreed. There are steps to this that we must take, devices I must make, to ensure your safety and the child’s.”

  The gene-morph nodded several times after hearing that slowly at first but faster as she understood, yet she still looked scared, when she asked. “Is that everything for now?”

  "No, and I will warn you this will not be easy. As the test we need put you through will test your mental fortitude." Nath'aniel told her. He then started talking off the glove, as he expined. "I need to know if I need to alter the sample. So that the person you copy will already have their eyes polished."

  She tilted her head again, and asked. “Come again?”

  He taped the side of his head before expining. "We do not start with Mage Sight, we get it around puberty. As such our minds are young and most of us are able to adapt to the change. Your mind is both not young and very developed. However, both Magneto and Mystique have spoken about how you often gain some of the natural defenses of the person you're copying. So you may have a sort of mental cushion from coping one of us."

  “So I take it, this ‘polishing’ is some sort of procedure to nerf a mage’s vision.” She guessed.

  "Correct," Nath'aniel confirmed, as he moved over to the box that he had carried in with him, and after tapping the runes to unlock it, he lifted the lid part way and added. "Despite our hopes, some of our young still could not handle Mage Sight, so instead of letting them harm or end themselves, we developed a way to scar their eyes. Limiting their sight to more normal levels.” Then he opened the lid the rest of the way. He had to take a deep breath at the sight of the long braid inside the box. Before he offered her the sample he muttered. “Magneto insisted that we use a female sample for this test, although I think him being superstitious, as your fertility shouldn’t be affected by your powers. But who am I to argue with simple logic.”

  Then after a moment, he turned it towards her.

  Copycat looked at it before she reached out her hand for it, a moment ter her hair pulsed a different intermediate color, before another wave turned it to match the braid. Then her white skin started to gain color. Her white skin first became sickly pale, then a healthy pink, before finally settling on a slightly tanned completion of the hair’s owner.

  When her face started to shift and her eye color started to change. He told her. "Close your eyes." Then she started to winch and the change slowed, so he reminded her. "Push through." And as she released a breath that she was holding, the change was complete.

  Copycat was now a five-foot-ten tan woman, with flowing long brilliant red hair. The mage noted that even the military achievement ink markings were copied as well. He caught a glimpse of a series of the four-pointed stars that could be glimpsed along her colrbone, which would normally have been concealed by her armor or robes, and only shown in sparing matches or when she would have bathed with fellow soldiers. Additionally, her index fingers nails were painted red, to denote that she was a member of the Magi Military.

  Before he spoke Nath’aniel prepared some Vanahiem energy, in case he needed to put her under. "All right, let's get this test done with, shall we… When you are ready, open your eyes." When she opened her eyes, it really hit him that the woman in front of him now possessed the appearance of his mother. As her red copper glowing eyes stared at him like she used to.

  "Wow you weren't kidding, this is a lot to take in." the gene-morph muttered as she looked around her. Hearing his mother's voice again, made the mage gd that his people couldn't cry. Then she looked him in the eyes again and asked. "Does this mean that I can do magic like you now?"

  The mage had to distract himself with thoughts of his lovers to summon up a professional attitude before he could answer her. “The mystic arts are not a power that can be copied. It is a skill that must be trained and practiced.”

  Then he held up a finger, before directing the prepared mystical energy to it. Said finger started to glow a yellow and white light. Once he stabilized it he told her. “You should have seen what I did, try it yourself.”

  Copycat held up a finger, and tried to will the energy in her to do what he had just done.

  She got the energy in her to move, which actually surprised the mage that she could without prior training. The energy however, of doing what she wanted it to, instead floundered and got reabsorbed elsewhere in her body. As she tried again he expined. “Your powers are powerful, yes, but you only copy the body. And sadly that is not all we are. Stop and look at me.” She did, and Nath’aniel then pointed at something inside of him.

  Once she blinked he knew she saw it, so he identified it without her asking. “The mortal spirit. Or what you all call the soul. Like your body, it is made up of parts." His hand drifted a touch. "This part here, we call it the spark. And it is what allows us to manipute mystical energy. And sadly yours is not very developed or strong. Even if I were to agree to take you on as a disciple, you would probably never reach beyond the Novice level, and even then it would take you years."

  “Wait we can see souls?” the gene-morph asked completely surprised.

  Nath’aniel was able to forget for a moment whose form she was currently using when he answered her. “Of course, how do you think we see spirits or understand Curha? Look here, it's off to my left, so it should be simir for you, the snow-covered pne. See that this dancing blue thing about… that's a wind spirit. Not as sentient as an elemental, but still a living life form that only we can see normally."

  After a moment, she smiled and muttered, “So pretty.”

  “So long as you don’t touch it, as it will try to suck the heat out of you.” The mage warned her.

  Then she groaned and held her head. Copycat looked to be about to fall off of the raised bed. So Nath’aniel moved to catch her. One hand on the other side of her head, and his other holding her chest up so she wouldn’t fall.

  He asked her in a panic. “Are you ok, what happened?” ‘Idiot, this is her first time using Mage Sight.’ The mage had to remind himself. So instead of waiting for her answer, he started to guide her. “Listen to my voice. Focus on that. Focus on the here, focus on the now… Those things are far away and can’t hurt you... You are safe with me.”

  Copper red eyes stared into his, as she muttered. “Your hands feel good.”

  Hearing her, he realized that his left hand was holding her exposed uncovered breast. Her nipple hardened in his grasp. So he quickly released her, and pulled her robes closed for her, before stepping away. Then he cleared his throat, and announced. "Your friends appear to be right and you seem strong enough mentally to handle Mage Sight. This will ease things going forward." Then Nath'aniel moved back to the box containing his coming-of-age gift from his mother.

  He looked down at the severed braid for a time. Then he closed the box, and resealed it with mystic energy. As he turned to leave he reminded her. "You can use the cube to drain the mystical energy you've already absorbed and change back whenever you wish. With all of the healing spells I've cast, I am suddenly feeling a touch of fatigue. So I will retire for the evening… Good night."

  With the doors closed, the mage failed to hear the gene-morph ask. "Citadel, who's from am I copying right now?" She raised an eyebrow at the building's answer.

  “Apologies, hold still for a moment while I verify.”

  Confused, the mutant did as requested and didn't move while a green ring ran from the top of her head to the bottom of her butt, and then to her feet. She fought the urge to ask the question again. Then the light vanished and the Citadel's answer further confused her.

  “Identify confirmed, welcome to the Citadel General Adalora. It has been some time since you st visited us.”

  “Wait who am I?” Copycat asked in surprise.

  “You are Adalora, daughter of Ardanka, daughter of So’mell. You have complete command of all Magi Military forces. Was this a test general?”

  ‘I’m not only his mom, the one who he was most fertile with, but the Citadel can’t tell me apart from the real one.’ The gene-morph thought. Then she got a wicked grin, before she asked. "Are there quarters ready for me?" Her grin widened as she heard the building's answer.

  “Of course, your old quarters are as you left them on the fifth floor.”