Ainōryoku Sentai Nightmærangers #30 (Patreon)

The Statement Of Jaselle Alhambra, Part 7

The things on the table looked innocuous enough for the most part. They didn't have the handmade look of something that was… well, handmade, but rather the dinged look of a manufactured object that had seen use. Many of the things had parts that had that bright pink—or as it magenta?—look of something made from Kuya Kim's body. There was a knife with a blade that looked like it was made of pink glass that resembled Jas' own volcanic glass strongly enough she suspected that's what it was, a square of pink stone that had a touchscreen taking up half of the surface, a lightbulb apparently wired to a piece of pink rock, what looked like an ordinary flashlight that had been dented, a long piece of wood with an switch on it that seemed to have previously square but had had the edges clumsily scraped off, a bag that seemed to be made from sandpaper—pink sandpaper—, a small square tin with Christmas imagery and the logo of an expensive foreign chocolate bar…

"So, talk us through your little bender, please?" Ate Sanny said. The five of them, Kuya Kim's parents, and his siblings were seated around the sala, the things on the coffee table in the center. Kuya Kim's grandfather had gone to the corner to read today's newspaper, apparently not interested.

"It wasn't a bender. No alcohol was involved," Kuya Kim defended himself as Jas began to feel a subtle change in the urges coming from the fire. Curiosity was waning, slowly being replaced with a restlessness…

"No, you were just drunk with power," the taller woman said. "I think it's safe to say this is from you devouring the Gagambuhala. At the very least, from how your family reacted I doubt this has happened before." She glanced at the family in question, in case they proved her wrong and offered a dissenting opinion.

"No, this has never happened before," Kuya Kim's father said. "What is it? Is it dangerous? Will it happen again?"

"I have no idea," Ate Sanny said cheerfully. "As to whether it will happen again…" She shrugged. "That's up to him."

"What are these things, anyway?" Tammy said, reaching for the nearest thing on the table, the length of wood.

"Don't touch that!" Kuya Kim cried, and Tammy stiffened.

"What is it?" she asked as Kuya Kim carefully picked up the length of wood.

"It's… well, at some point, I might have tried to… make a sword," he said, the last three words coming out in a rush as if hoping people wouldn't understand them.

He had no such good fortune, because Jas understood him easily. "You made a sword?" she said.

"Yeah," he said.  "This is actually the second version. The first blade was a bit fragile, so I, uh… wrapped it around my curtain rod…"

"His room was really trashed when I came down through the ceiling," Ate Sanny said. "I think he dismantled his computer."

"Actually, that's still intact, it's in this," Kuya Kim said, tapping the pink square with the touchscreen. "I, uh, gutted my phone to use as a touchscreen to make a pocket PC…"

"Isn't that was a smartphone already is?" Jas said, confused. Inside, the restlessness was growing, and she felt patches of her back starting to get hot…

Kuya Kim sighed. "Yeah… but it seemed really cool to do at the time." He eyed the pink square. "I think I can get it back out…"

"But the sword? What about the sword?" Kuya Kim's brother Ryan said.

Kuya Kim glanced at his father, but took the length of wood and held it up. Gingerly, he flicked the switch on it. The piece of wood jerked in his hand as a long blade of pink volcanic glass wrapped around a metal tube emerged from one end and into the air.

Everyone stared at it.

"How did that fit in there?" Kuya Kim's mother said, sounding confused.

"That's so cool!" Tammy exclaimed.

"So awesome!" Ryan might have agreed, Jas wasn't sure.

Ate Sanny tilted her head. "Newton's laws?" she said.

"Yeah," Kuya Kim said. "All the parts still weigh the same, so I'm putting a five pound hunk of rock into a one pound piece of wood, which makes it jerk when the blade goes in and out. The trick was to find a way to manipulate the volume the blade is stored in with a switch. So I… uh… I grew a crystal that changed the volume of a space when I ran an electric current through it."

"Really?" Jas exclaimed. That… was impossible, right? But she supposed it wasn't that impossible after all.

The fire within her didn't share her academic interest. Sighing internally, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small butterscotch candy and discretely tore the wrapper open. The plastic wrapping went into her pocket for later disposal while she put the candy in her mouth and started to suck on it, mindful of her grandmothers admissions not to bite on it, lest her teeth break painfully and start falling out of her mouth.

The fire immediately became distracted, the patches of heat on her back fading to normal as it burned with glee. Jas made sure to suck slowly and carefully. This was her second candy of the day. Any more and she'd end up with diabetes…

"Yeah, if you run a current through it, it stops bendingspace, and the sword stored inside the handle comes out," Kuya Kim explained.

"So… you created a material that, when you run electricity through it, alters the volume of an area?" Tammy said slowly as a smile spread across her face. "Could you… do it the other way around too? Like, it expands an area if you run a current through it?"

"Oh, I can," Kuya Kim said. "I actually did that for the first version, but I figured it would be better to make it fail-safe in case it runs out of batteries, so I made it collapse the expanded volume when you run a current instead."

"So, you've created an artificial substance that, when subjected to an electric current, has the effect of raising or lowering the volume of an area," Ate Sanny said with a growing smile. "A 'volume effect', if you will…"

Kuya Kim frowned. "That's a reference to something. I don't know what, but I'm sure it's a reference to something."

"It is," Ryan said, snickering.

Kuya Kim merely nodded in satisfaction. "Well, I'm getting better at being able to tell, so that's something…"

"What does the rest do, babe?" Ate Katherine said, examining the Christmas-themed box.

"Oh, that's my third attempt at compact storage for our clothes when we go out heroing," he explained. "I know, I know, the mass still doesn't change so you still can't carry it, but I figure it'll be useful for when we have to change without a car to stash things in."

"Actually, this is will actually work pretty well," Ate Sanny said thoughtfully, her legs crossed immodestly. "It's definitely smaller than the briefcase. Easier to carry, even if it is heavier by volume. I can just have a separate drone carry it. Doesn't need to be airborne, after all."

Kuya Kim's father reached out, and Kuya Kim hesitantly handed him the sword. "Hmm…" Kuya Kim's father said, examining the handle. "This could use some work. If you sand this, use a planer to get all the sides even, it would look much better."

"I shaped it by hand," Kuya Kim said.

"What, with a knife?"

"No, literally by hand," Kuya Kim said, his hand turning pink—sorry, magenta—and semi-transparent, with glittering facets and sharp edges. "I scraped the wood into that shape."

His father frowned at him disapprovingly. "Why didn't you use the right tools for the job?"

Kuya Kim shrugged. "It was the middle of the night and I was in a hurry."

His father sighed heavily in disappointment. "Well, I'm sure with a little work, this could look better."

"Dad, it's fine! It doesn't need to look better, it works as is!"

"You said the box is your third attempt, what's the second one?" Ate Sanny asked.

Kuya Kim pointed at the bag that looked like it was made of pink sandpaper. "Well, this is the second version after the briefcase, where I tried to make a shopping bag bigger on the inside. It worked but… well, after you put something in, it's hard to get it out because the space inside is really big, and the dimensions keep changing because the shape of the bag does."

"And what's this?" Tammy asked, holding up the thing that looked like a dented metal pocket flashlight.

"It's a flashlight," Kuya Kim said.

Tammy looked disappointed. "Oh. I thought it would be something special."

"It's powered by a rock that converts that converts heat into electricity. The lightbulb is the prototype."

"Seriously, babe?"  Ate Katherine said, reaching for the flashlight. "How are you doing it? Seabeck effect? Or is it just piezoelectricity?"

"I… haven't exactly been able to do tests…"

"I have to wonder if that material is one that actually occurs in nature and hasn't been discovered yet or something that only exists because you made it, like your volume effect material," Ate Sanny mused.

"So, can you make a big chunk of it that can power a house, then put it in a small container so it's compact?" Tammy asked.

"Can you?" Kuya Kim's mother asked eagerly. "It would really help with our electric bill…"

"I don't know yet, I'll have to see," Kuya Km said, looking a bit overwhelmed.

"Well, since this particular crisis is over, I better get going," Ate Sanny said, getting up. "I'll contact you all through the usual methods once I've got a good target for us next. I think this monster situation might be worse than I thought."

"Worse than half a dozen monsters running around the city?" Tammy said, also getting up. Willy silently followed her cousin's example, picking up her cousin's backpack and holding it patiently.

Ate Sanny nodded. "Yes. Those are the ones we know have been making the rounds on the internet, but what about the ones that aren't reported because no one's seen them because they're in the sewers, or in the waterways, or in the mountains, or people have been eaten before they can report it?"

"Oh…" Tammy said. "That's a horrifying but disturbingly plausible thought."

Ate Sanny nodded. "So I'll have to start researching if there's been an increase in missing persons lately, which is going to be hard because I have no idea what I'm doing and no place to start. It's not like I know anyone in the police I can ask…"

"Actually, I might be able to help there," Kuya Kim's father said. "I have a few mistah in the PNP I could ask about that."

"Oh, you mean Uncle Nelson?" Ryan said.

"Yes," Kuya Kim's father said. "I'll tell him I'm concerned these might be from monster attack, and if there are any in our area. Kim can tell you once he gets his computer out."

"That would be appreciated, thank you," Ate Sanny said politely. "I'm sure Kim can get the details to us."

Jas stood quietly, not speaking since she had the candy in her mouth, and it would be rude to talk. Still, it would be equally rude to be silent, so she awkwardly maneuvered the now-half-sized candy into her cheek. "Thank you for having us over," she said, trying to enunciate properly. "I hope you feel better, Kuya Kim. I'll pray for you."

"Thanks," Kuya Kim said.

"Can I borrow the storage can? I want to practice carrying it around," Ate Sanny said.

Kuya Kim glanced at the box, then shrugged and picked it up, handing it to her. "Sure, give it a try. It might be a little too deep, but that's probably not a problem for you, right?"

"Not for me," Ate Sanny confirmed, "but some of us might have difficulties getting their clothes back out without help. Excuse me, I need to go get changed."

Jas watched as Ate Sanny stepped out to take off the clothes she'd borrowed.

"She's coming back as a monster, isn't she?" Ate Katherine said.

"Probably," Tammy said as Jas nodded. "Kuya Kim, maybe you can escort her out using your warp things so she's not obviously leaving from your house?"

"On it, boss," Kuya Kim said

––––––––––––––––––

Jas was able to return to her uncle's house early enough that her uncle had not yet returned. She immediately put away her books, grabbed the broom and dustpan from the kitchen, and started sweeping. It wasn't a chore she needed to do, but she felt guilty simply living in his house without contributing anything, so she made sure to sweep the first floor and the non-bedroom areas of the second floor. After a few days, his uncle told Daphne, his live-in housekeeper that he had sinful relations with, to just let Jas help around the house. She suspected this was because the house was noticeably cleaner ever since Jas had stated helping. Ate Daphne clearly wasn't very thorough at cleaning by herself.

That done, Jas went to her room to go over today's lessons, as it wasn't the weekend, so she didn't have time to clean the windows. She'd done what homework she could over lunch, and did the rest now as she waited for the call to dinner. In the back of her mind, she could feel the fire on the border of resigned boredom and confusion as she thoroughly reread through notes and material, making new notes, double checking the homework she'd done over lunch, and doing a lot of writing. Whenever her hand ached from holding her little stub of a pencil, she turned it to volcanic rock and back again to make the pain go away and turn back into fresh muscle.

It used to be she was interrupted by the fire filling her with impatience, with trying to turn into plasma and lava, but now she had a glass of sweet soft drink at her side. There was always at least three bottles in her uncle's enormous refrigerator, and now she took advantage of it, taking a sip when the fire became more than she could suppress or ignore. It seemed to be working, though she had two down two glasses of water for every sip, lest the sugar start melting her teeth as her grandmother had warned her…

When dinner was called, she dutifully stood up to wash her hands, and then went down to join her uncle and the women he lived in sin with. There was Lila, 'Auntie Ronda', Judy who worked at some law firm or other, and Daphne, who like Jas was from the provinces—though a different province—and who was supposed to look after the house during the day when everyone was away. Tonight, in addition to the house's usual residents, they was also Lila's friend Jessica who sometimes visited and always stayed overnight, a mestiza looking woman Jas had met before though her exact relationship to her uncle slipped her mind right then, and some woman Jas had never met before, but was introduced as 'Sarah, a model', which Jas just nodded politely at. It was very unlikely she was a very good role model, if she was consorting with Jas's uncle like this, but it would be rude to point it out.

Dinner was lively, with her uncle's fallen women exchanging stories about their day, gossip they had heard and, in Lila's case, a girl she had found attractive and was trying to seduce. Thankfully she had kept the mention brief, though Jas was resigned to possibly seeing another schoolmate, or possibly even a classmate, joining this depraved table.

When her uncle asked her how school had been, Jas dutifully gave a summary of her classes, which served as something of a personal check of her comprehension of the day's lessons. Her uncle, for her part, listened politely enough, and asked if she needed anything.

Usually, Jas would reply in the negative, but this time she paused to consider. "Actually, Uncle Carlos," she asked tentatively. "There is one thing. Do you know anyone in the police?"

Her uncle's eyes widened in alarm. "What happened? Are you in trouble? Did something happen on your way home?" His voice was surprisingly intent.

Jas was taken aback by his vehemence. "No, nothing happened, Uncle Carlos. It's just that I was talking with some friends of mine, about the monsters showing up lately, and one of them wondered if there had been an increase of missing persons. She thought it might be a sign of unreported monsters attacking people, who end up simply disappearing."

Her uncle stared at her. "And… you're asking if I know anyone in the police because you want to know?"

"Shouldn't we be concerned about it?" Jas said. "What if there's a monster nearby? People know about the one in Pasay, and that still hasn't been caught or stopped. What if there are others?"

The table had fallen into an uncomfortable silence, although perhaps that was just the other women not participating as they looked at their phones.

"Don't you think that people would notice if monsters are going around eating people, Jaselle?" Lila said. "I mean, there are CCTV cameras everywhere now, and monsters are huge. Wouldn't they show up?"

"I don't know," Auntie Ronda said, "they still haven't caught Laking Kamay in Manila Bay, even though they know where it tends to be. It wouldn't surprise me if there are monsters out there we don't know about." Laking Kamay—Big Hand—was the name that was slowly being used for the monster that kept hunting along the Baywalk area.

"Hmm…" Uncle Carlos mused. "Well, I know some people. They might not be allowed to give me the exact numbers, but I can certainly ask if there's an increase…" He nodded. "Well, it couldn't hurt to ask. I'll call my buddies, see if they know anything. Actually, I should ask them to come over, it's been a while since we've had some drinks." He began to smile, then seemed to catch sight of Jas. "Just drinks though, of course, just a few friends getting together, haha!"

They'd done something sinful, hadn't they? Jas wondered if she should offer to be away when Uncle Carlo's friends come over. Still, it would be rude to say anything. She would simply have to pray for her uncle's soul, and that of his friends, sinful and blackened as they might be…

"Thank you uncle," Jas said. "I hope it's nothing, but with all that's been happening lately…"

"You worry too much, Jas," Lila said, making a dismissive gesture. "Maybe things like that happens, but it probably doesn't happen anywhere around here. There's not enough space for a monster to hide."

"They still haven't caught the one in Pasay, though…" Lila's friend Jessica said quietly.

Auntie Ronda forced a smile on her face. "Well, enough of this talk over dinner. We should probably have a new rule. In addition to no politics, no talk about monsters, either. It's not like we can do anything about either."

Jas felt the flame within her, but accepted the subtle rebuke for what it was.

She lapsed back into silence as Judy began talking about client who had come to her law firm that day. Jas didn't really understand, but it seemed like the client had asked for something unreasonable…?

Still, she waited patiently for everyone to finish eating and helped get the plates to the kitchen—Daphne stepping in to wash the dishes, as if feeling self-conscious that Jas would try to do it herself… again—and put the unfinished food into containers to put in the refrigerator. By the time she finished, her uncle and his loose women had congregated to the sala to watch some American film about a cabin in the woods, and Jas was able to slip upstairs to go back to her work, a new cup of cold soft drink in hand to placate the fire and a jug of water to protect her teeth with. She sat at her desk and got back to work.

The flame burned within her as she worked long into the night, occasionally stopping to go to her bathroom, get undressed, and change her body to lava and plasma before changing back, her body strangely refreshed once more. When it was almost midnight, she stopped her third review of the day's material and began to put everything away in preparation for tomorrow's classes, putting everything back in her schoolbag so she would only need to grab it on her wait out tomorrow, putting in a fresh, unsharpened pencil to replace the one she'd used up that day.

She was just about to shut down her folding computer—she didn’t understand why it was called a laptop, it was far too hot to put on her lap comfortably unless she changed—when a new message suddenly came over the messaging app she used to communicate with the others.

Yellow: "Found new information, proposing new priority target. We might have to meet tomorrow or the next day to discuss it. Do not reply, you all need to go to sleep."

She watched bemusedly as both Green and Pink replied.

Shaking her head, Jas at least complied as she shut down her folding computer, turned off the lights and lay down to sleep.

As Jaselle closed her eyes, the fire burned inside her, warm and strangely placid, and she slipped into a dream of burning deep within the earth, surrounded by pressure on all sides…