Technomagica 64. Dreamterview (Patreon)

“I want to bring Kliss into my dream,” I said.

“Why?” Delta squinted at me.

“Some of her soul technically belongs to me now,” I said. “I reckon that I can easily tether to her soul through Klint’s shards and pull her into this very cafe.”

Delta frowned.

“She’s mentally trapped in her Vow-bound state. By entering my dream, she might be able to regain some sense of freedom and self,” I said.

Delta frowned, deep in thought. “What if it makes things worse? What if she steals your..."

"My what?" I arched an eyebrow.

"I don't know, I haven't thought that far ahead, okay?" Delta said with a sour expression. “I thought this place would be our thing, okay?”

“Kliss deserves a chance to escape the confines of her Vow, even if it’s just for a little while, don’t you think?" I said. “My [Vow-Breaker] skill is still not strong enough to permanently disable her Vow, but I think that it can act as a shield of sorts for a dreaming soul of Kliss to be free inside the [NeuroVisa] generated dreamscape.”

"I guess," Delta sighed. “Still… I don’t trust her.”

“Well, she won’t be able to deceive me in this place,” I said. “In fact, we can interview her here, see how much she can be trusted.”

“Fineeee,” Delta exhaled, leaning back on her chair and crossing her arms.

—---------------

It took me a while to link [Tether 4] to Kliss and to set up the [Vow-Breaker] as a data barrier within the [NeuroVisa] acting akin to a firewall.

With the preparations complete, I initiated the connection, merging Kliss's soul with the dreamscape. In another moment, the sleeping Overseer materialised in the café with a yelp. She looked around in bewilderment, like a wild animal trapped in some new place.

“What? Where am I?” She demanded, her emerald eyes wide.

"You're in my dreamscape, Kliss," I explained, gesturing to the cozy café surroundings. "I wanted to bring you here, to speak to you without Frenny controlling your mind.”

The Overseer stared at me.

“Who are you?” She asked.

“I’m Slava,” I said.

“Slava…” the girl’s eyes flashed with sudden recognition. “You’re… older here and you look different.”

“This is how I looked when I was twenty back in the USSR,” I nodded. “This is a memory of mine, a cafe on Earth that I used to have lunch in as a student… err novitiate.”

Kliss stared past me at the cafe and then out of the large windows onto Moskva River and the sparkling fireworks suspended in the sky above Kremlin.

“This is the Empire of men without Gods?” She asked.

“Yep,” Delta said, her arms crossed.

“Wait… you’re Delta, right?” Kliss stared at my twin. “You’re older too!”

“Good guess,” Delta nodded.

“Errmm… there’s no Vows in this place? How?” Kliss turned back to me, feeling that nothing was binding her soul into specific actions and words.

“Yes,” I affirmed. “Your Vow is blocked from accessing this place since it exists entirely within my soul. I’m sorry… I couldn't do this sooner.”

The Overseer sighed as she slid down onto the nearest chair.

“You’re an idiot,” she uttered. “Friendship will know you’ve done this. She knows what I know, sees what I see. She will hurt me. Not that she hasn’t been hurting me already, keeping me imprisoned inside my own head, keeping me bound with that blasted divine thread of hers.”

“I’ll figure out how to permanently block your friendship Vow, promise,” I said. “I’m working on it.”

Her emerald eyes filled with pain ignited as she grimaced at me.

“I’m sorry,” I sighed.

“So, Kliss, how do you feel about us?” Delta proceeded with the interrogation.

“I hate you,” the Overseer snapped back. “I hate you both so much… you put something ancient into my soul, made some damned Alanian that lived a thousand years ago part of me!”

“Yeep,” Delta commented. “Exactly as I expected. So, why do you hate us? Giovashi is the one who put friendship on you. We didn’t do nothing. Save your hatred for the Ishira Arch-Priestess, Overseer.”

“You…” Kliss growled.

Delta arched a grey eyebrow. “Me? Don’t tempt me. I could land a thousand bees on your sleeping body.”

Kliss gulped, retreating away from my twin.

“I had to do it,” I exhaled. “Your soul was tearing apart because of the conflicting Vows and I had to patch it together with the remnants of the tools belonging to Klint Klondike Tricameron. These soul shards had the least personality in them. Your Vow isn’t attached to them at all, by the way.”

“Don’t you want my brother to help you become Vow-free?” Delta tilted her head. “You do realise that without his help you’d already be dead? He could have used those soul-shards for something… better. You like being controlled by Vows?”

Kliss lowered her eyes. “I… I’ve been bound my entire life, since I was seven. The… Friendship Vow. She is far, far worse than the Overseer. I’ve been wishing that I was dead for weeks now.”

“I will free you,” I said.

“Will you?” Kliss asked. “All you’ve done is bind and break me more than I’ve ever been. The Empire will kill us, flatten Skyisle into nothing when they find out what you’ve done and what you’re planning!”

“I will stop them,” I insisted.

Kliss scowled at me. “By awakening cursed Necromancer tech that’s literally powered by souls? By allying yourself with aberrations?”

I sighed.

“What is your end goal?” Kliss demanded.

“To save Skyisle,” I said. “Can’t you tell that I’m being honest?”

“You could just be lying to me, using me,” Kliss stated plainly. “You know how to make spells above your level. You know far too much. Why are you making me repair the Alanian tower?”

“Because I want to protect and free everyone in Skyisle from their Vows,” I answered. "This village is my home."

“If you free people from Vows their souls will become consumed by Astral Phantoms,” Kliss pointed out.

“I’ll make sure souls won’t float away into the Astral Ocean,” I said. “I’ll figure out how to give people new bodies.”

“Sounds like Necromage talk,” she said.

“I’m not a necromancer,” I said. “The Alanian empire fell a thousand years ago. I am simply using the tools they left behind to make the world a better place.”

“You’re going to get everyone here killed,” Kliss insisted. “You can't possibly stop the Empire. The more you try to resist, the more ships they will send. The Empire has future-seer magi! They cannot fail. They will never see Ishikaria as a free nation. The children being raised by Imperial Instructors across Ishikaria are already joining the legions of Equality. You’re too late.”

I frowned.

"They will send other Ishikarians to kill you," Kliss said. "You're going to have to fight, murder your own people... that is if you even think of them as your people, necromancer."

"I can unbind their Vows," I said. “I can do impossible things. You said so yourself.”

"The priests of Equality can modify vows,” Kliss shrugged. “The Friendship Vow has been lying to you, misleading you... you are not as special as you think.”

"I can free Vow-bound people as I freed you," I replied.

"You didn't free me!" Kliss yelled. "How am I free?! If anything you trapped me further than I had ever been! This cursed Valley is finishing off my soul! My soul and my body are decaying!"

"I'll be able to heal you," I insisted. “I’m working on making people immortal.”

"You.. you are either a clueless, unaware fool or… a necromancer and I honestly don't know which is worse!!!"

"Kliss, are you with me or the Empire of Equality?" I asked.

"I hate the Empire…" Kliss growled. “They took away my ability to love, my childhood… they bound my soul.”

I waited for her to continue.

"But you… I don't know you at all!"

"Do you want to get to know me?" I asked. “Do you want to see the world where I was born? I can show it to you in my dreams.”

Kliss hissed something under her breath. Her fists opened and closed.

“Stop hissing at me and tell me - what do you want?” I asked her.

"I want to…" she glared at me with tear-filled eyes. She hesitated for a moment, the silence between us stretching. Finally, she let out a shaky breath and spoke.

"I want to be free," she said. “Free… from everything. I’m exhausted and my soul is barely holding together. I want to be free from the Empire, from being an Overseer of Skyisle. I want to go back to Cessna, see my mom and dad. I… haven’t heard of them at all for some reason.”

“If you leave we’ll have to deal with an entirely new Overseer,” Delta pointed out.

“If disable the Friendship Vow and I let you leave Skyisle, will you plot against us?” I asked.

“No,” Kliss replied. “I’ll… help you convince the next Overseer to be on your side.”

“Thank you,” I nodded. I felt through the connection to her soul that were was no deception in the Overseer’s words.

“So? How long can I stay in this dream of yours?” Kliss asked.

“As long as I don’t run out of mana,” I replied.

“Fair enough,” she said, eyeing the sparkling river. The sun was rising over the horizon, igniting the sky and painting the walls of Kremlin pink. “What is this city called?”

“Moscow, the capital of USSR,” I smiled, offering Kliss my hand. “Come on, I’ll show you everything I remember!”