Aiko stood alone in the unnerving silence of the holding pens. The Rift-Spawn remained huddled, their collective gaze slowly focusing on her as she was the only point of interest left in the room.
Pocketing the rugged smartphone Elara had given her, she decided to follow through with Elaraâs suggestion: âPick one and try to prove her wrong,â partially because she had always been interested in getting a pet.
It felt slightly bizarre though. Choosing a monster as a pet, or a familiar, as she should probably be calling it. Elara had dragged her into the deep end of this monstrous world, and maybe this was her way of teaching Aiko how to swim?
She started walking, her footsteps echoing with unnatural intensity in the cavernous quiet. Her violet eyes, glowing faintly beneath her hood, examined each cage and its occupant.
The first one that caught her attention held one of the largest Rift-Spawn she could see. A massive, boar-shaped creature with tusks like obsidian protruding from its mouth, and a smooth shell-like head that made it look like it was wearing a helmet.
Elara considered them for a moment before deciding no. Picking the biggest, strongest one she could find felt like a bit of a cop-out. Elara would definitely poke fun at her for a lack of imagination.
She then saw a monster she recognized from the fights. A Three-Horned Bruiser, smaller than the one that had fought, but still intimidating to look at. It sat still in the middle of its cage, watching her with its beady little eyes through its three horns.
There was also a cluster of hand-sized moth-like creatures floating idly in a cage. Each pulsing softly with violet light, their feathery antennae twitching. She wondered if they counted as one familiar each or would the whole swarm count as one. Did she have a limit on how many familiars she could take? Elara didnât seem to have a limit, given the number of monsters in these cages alone.
She also noticed none of them seemed to interact with each other. Or do anything in general. Seemingly quite content to stand still and stare, like security cameras made out of flesh. Looking at them now, she could see why Elara thought of them as tools, as they were acting more like animatronics than actual animals.
As if to argue against this line of thought, a small squeak came from one of the smaller cages squeezed between two larger ones; the front wasnât lined with the usual metal bars, but with a steel mesh at the front like one would find on a chain-link fence. Inside, she saw nestled on a bed of shredded paper a ferret-shaped creature curled up in a ball.
It looked mammalian, with a coat of short, dense fur that was an earthy shade of brown. It had no ears, or eyes for that matter, but a circular mouth lined with razor-sharp teeth in place of a proper head. Four stubby limbs protruded from its sides, each ending in a set of three talons like the claw in a claw machine.
It turned its mouth at her and vibrated its teeth at her, producing a sound that was eerily similar to a catâs purring.
"Hey there," Aiko murmured softly, crouching down to the cage's mesh front. The creature perked up, uncurling itself and waddling closer, stopping just on the other side of the mesh. Despite the maw of razor-sharp teeth, Aiko extended a finger through, poking at it gently through the grid.
The creature sniffed her finger, its breath cool against her skin. Then, to her astonishment, it turned sideways and rubbed its furry cheek against her finger, nuzzling it gently.
Aikoâs breath caught in her throat. Cute. It was genuinely, disarmingly cute. There was no way Elara could have seen this thing as a mere tool.
Though part of her wondered if it was acting like this because she was the one who wanted it too, regarding her minor desire to get a pet, she had always thought about getting a cat, and the creature was displaying a plethora of cat-like behaviors for a fat, furry, ferret-worm.
Maybe when Elara was in control it acted like all the others, completely still and emotionless. Only acting when it was told.
Either way, it seemed her choice had been made for her.
"Okay," Aiko whispered, a smile tugging at her lips despite everything. "Iâll pick you. If you are willing to become my familiar, of course." She straightened up, looking around for some keys or a latch. Unsure of how to open the cage to let the creature out.
The monster answered that question for her by pushing its cage door open and waddling out.
"Are⦠all the cages unlocked?" Aiko asked carefully, suddenly feeling a lot less safe in the holding-pen area. She supposed that if Elara had full control over the Rift-Spawn there was not really a need to fear the monsters escaping, but to not even lock the doors to serve as a token resistance felt really irresponsible.
And completely in character for Elara.
Deciding not to linger on that train of thought for any longer than she had to. She scooped up her new familiar and held it up in front of her face, rotating it around to get a proper look at it in the dim light.
Aiko chuckled softly, gently rubbing her fingers against its soft fur. "Alright, little guy. Weâre partners now. We'll figure out this âfamiliarâ business togethâ¦"
The purring stopped. The creature was tensing up in her grip. Before Aiko could register the change, its entire torso seemed to split open vertically down the middle. Where soft brown fur had been, a gaping maw lined with rows of tiny, needle-sharp teeth was revealed. From the depths of this horrifying secondary stomach-mouth, a long, prehensile, slightly damp tongue shot out.
Aiko froze, her blood turning to ice. Monster. It's a monster. Elara was rightâ¦
The tongue didn't attack. It didn't whip or sting. It gently, almost delicately, licked the tip of Aiko's nose.
Aiko blinked. The grotesque mouth remained open, the tongue retracting slightly, poised like a curious snake. The creature continued purring at her as if nothing had happened. She could feel no malice from it, only⦠inquisitiveness? Was licking people with the tongue from its second horrifying mouth its way of showing affection?
A hysterical bubble of laughter rose in Aikoâs throat. It was absurd. Disgusting. Terrifying. And yet⦠the gentle nuzzle, the purr, the careful lick⦠the creature wasn't trying to be horrifying. This was just⦠its anatomy. Its way of interacting.
"You," Aiko breathed, her initial shock melting into a weird, accepting amusement. She gently poked the fur on its head, carefully avoiding the open maw. "You are the ugliest thing I have ever seen. And unbearably adorable? I will take that as a yes to becoming my familiar." She reached up and gently pushed the edges of the stomach-mouth together. The fur seamlessly knit back over it, leaving only the cute, furry exterior. It purred again, nuzzling her cheek. "Right, maybe keep the inside-mouth closed, yeah? Rather not think about how you probably have more teeth than I have bones. Now⦠what to call you�" She pondered for a moment. "Ratworm? Too on the nose. Button? Too cheesy. Hmm⦠How about⦠Mochi? You're kinda squishy-looking. Mostly."
The creature, Mochi, gave a soft chirp that might have been an agreement.
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Feeling emboldened but utterly unsure of what to do with her new familiar, Aiko decided she could use some fresh air. The claustrophobic, monster-filled basement where all the cages were apparently unlocked was starting to become too much. "Alright, Mochi. Tuck in. We're going topside." She zipped up the front of her hoodie. Mochi seemed to understand, burrowing itself into the front of her hoodie, wedging itself comfortably in her chest.
Aiko retraced her steps to the elevator, punching in the code on the keypad, which she memorized from watching Elara do it. Inside, she scanned the buttons, guessing that 'G' was for Ground. She pressed it, and the elevator ascended. The doors chimed once and slid open, revealing a concrete corridor that led to an emergency exit with sunlight shining through it.
She adjusted her sunglasses, ensuring they covered her unnaturally violet eyes, and tugged the hood lower to shadow her stark white hair and pale skin. Then walked as casually as she could up to the door and pushed it open.
Peering out, she blinked in the late afternoon sunlight. A sprawling parking lot stretched before her, dotted with a few late-model, rugged-looking cars and a handful of people; stadium staff, maybe, or attendees lingering after the earlier fights, none of which paid her more than a passing glance.
She started walking, aiming for the perimeter fence and the scrubland beyond. She needed space, and whilst she walked, she took a moment to enjoy the crisp afternoon air. Reveling in the joys of oxygen that didn't taste of blood and decay. Reaching the edge of the paved lot, she leaned against a chain-link fence, looking out at the sparse vegetation and distant, weathered hills.
She closed her eyes, taking slow, deep breaths as she attempted a bit of meditation. Focus. In⦠Out⦠A coping mechanism she picked up from her office drone days as a way to combat spreadsheet-induced panic attacks. It felt oddly effective even now, the familiar rhythm serving as a comfort even though she was no longer human.
But her mind wouldn't settle. A nagging sensation, like a persistent itch she couldn't scratch, prickled at the edge of her awareness. It wasn't internal stress. It felt⦠external. Directional. A faint, discordant thrumming in the fabric of the world itself, pulling her attention towards the city center.
Aiko opened her eyes, frowning. What was that? It was subtle, easily dismissed as nerves, but it felt distinctly foreign to her body. Like the background hum of the Verge, but leaking into the real world. And it was getting⦠stronger? Or was she just focusing on it more?
She decided she would investigate. Turning to face the source of the weird sensation, a thought crossed her mind.
Iâm a Rift-Touched now. A monster with superhuman physical abilities, and I havenât really tested what this body can do. Not properly.
Back in her old life, Aiko hadn't been athletic. The most strenuous thing she did was rush for an elevator as its occupants frantically tried to close it before she got there. Now⦠now she felt coiled, powerful, humming with unused energy. Her body felt like an excited child, desperate to show her what it could do.
"Alright, Mochi," she whispered, adjusting her hood. "Hold on tight. Field test." She took a deep breath, bent her knees slightly, and pushed off.
The world blurred.
Concrete rushed beneath her feet, not in steps, but in a continuous, powerful glide. Wind ripped at her hoodie, whistling in her ears. The fence, the scrubland, became streaks of colour. She instinctively leaned forward, finding an aerodynamic stance sheâd never learned.
Speed. Incredible, exhilarating speed put a massive smile on her face. She hit the access road bordering the parking lot, then the main arterial road leading towards the city. Cars became obstacles she effortlessly weaved around, their occupants mere blurs behind glass. A thrill shot through her; pure, unadulterated freedom. She glanced at the speedometer of a passing delivery van: forty miles per hour, and she was pacing it easily.
Grinning wildly, she saw an opening on the near-empty motorway entrance ramp. With a burst of acceleration that made Mochi squeak in surprise from her hood, she merged onto the highway itself. Now she was overtaking cars, and the rush of wind past her face was addictive. She passed a family sedan; the kids in the back seat pointed, their faces showing surprise, and then⦠excitement? They were yelling so loudly that she could actually make out a couple of the words, one of which being âLuminaryâ.
"Of course, if you hear hoofbeats, think of horses, not zebras," Aiko mumbled to herself with a smile.
The dad glanced over briefly, recoiling a little when he saw that there really was a person running beside his car. He gave a small, polite wave and Aiko, emboldened by her new Luminary identity, waved back.
As she raced towards the city center, the nagging sensation intensified. It was no longer subtle. It was a palpable pressure against her senses, a discordant vibration in the air itself, growing stronger with every mile. It felt wrong, invasive, like a tear in reality. The direction of the feeling was unmistakable now; it had to be dead ahead.
Leaving the motorway behind as traffic thickened near the urban core, Aiko saw her chance. A low-rise warehouse offered a perfect launchpad. She didn't break stride; she hit the wall feet-first, pushed off with impossible strength, grabbed a ledge, and hauled herself up.
Feeling emboldened by her run, she continued running across the rooftops, and upon reaching the edge leapt to the other side. Soaring over gaps she wouldnât have dared even look over before.
She landed with grace on the rooftop on the other side and kept running forward. The city unfolded beneath her as she swung through the branches of the concrete jungle.
Then she felt the air shift.
She skidded to a halt, taking a moment to catch her breath. Noticing that the air was thicker now, a touch colder. The light had taken on a sickly, bruised-purple hue, and the familiar scent of exhaust and city grime was overlaid by the smell of metal and decay.
It smelled eerily similar to the air in the Verge. She could tell she had arrived at whatever had been giving her that weird feeling.
Standing on a rooftop overlooking the scene. She could see a jagged violet tear hanging in the air like a vertical wound in the sky. It shimmered with unstable energy, tendrils of purple-black mist bleeding from its edges. Around it, the cityscape warped. Buildings shimmered as if seen through heat haze, patches of pavement glistened with unnatural iridescent slime, and twisted, alien-looking vegetation sprouted from cracks in the asphalt.
Rift-Disaster. The term slipped into her mind with the memory she associated with the term. A calm, authoritative voice of a public service announcement: "Citizens, a Rift has opened at â¦â¦ in â¦â¦. If you are nearby, please seek immediate shelter indoors. Luminaries will be on the scene shortly. After the Rift has closed, we ask that the public avoid the area until clean-up of any Verge residue is completed."
She heard sounds of a battle happening directly under the Rift. Flashes of colorful light mixed with the roars of a Rift-Monster. Most likely, a Luminary team engaged in battle with whatever monster had caused the Rift.
Aikoâs mind drifted back to this morningâs events and to the phone call from Vanceâs client. Their wife had been killed in a Rift-Disaster, perhaps one just like this. She recalled the gruesome way the demise had been recounted to her. Eaten, torn apart.
That exact story could be replaying itself down there, with a different set of characters in a twisted play that continued to ruin actual lives.
A fierce determination ignited within her, cutting through the initial shock and awe. Old Aiko would have been powerless to help, but now?
The Luminaries were busy with the main monster, but she could deal with the stragglers. Help find people and bring them out of the danger zone. Saving lives would be a great way to try to soften how people saw Rift-Touched like her and Elara.
She felt Mochi squirm in her hood. Carefully, she coaxed the creature out, letting it perch on her forearm. Its large maw hung open wide, alert, and waiting for instructions.
"Okay, Mochi," Aiko said, her voice firm despite the tremor of adrenaline. "This is it. Our first real test. Our chance to do some good." She pointed towards the streets below. "There could be people down there. They might be hurt, trapped, or scared. But we can help them." She locked eyes with the creatureâs gullet. "However, letâs set some ground rules first. Rule number one: Do not hurt humans. Not ever. Not even if they're scared and lash out at you. Understood?"
Mochi stared intently, then gave a slow, deliberate nod of its furry head.
"Rule number two: Help people in danger. If you see someone who needs help, you help them. Or you get me to help them. Got it?"
Another solemn nod.
"And rule number three," Aiko continued, trying to think of anything she missed. She imagined what would happen if a Luminary came across Mochi, and her face slightly paled. "Be smart. Avoid danger. We're new at this. We pick our battles and run if we have to. Stay alive and get stronger so we can help more people in the future. Deal?"
Mochi chirped, a sound that seemed affirmative. Its gaze locked onto hers.
Aiko felt a surge of optimism. She took a deep breath of the tainted air, steeling herself. "Alright, partner! This is where it starts! We watch each other's backs! We save who we can! Ready?"
Mochi chirped again, louder this time, bouncing slightly on her arm.
"Then LET'S GO!"
Mochi immediately became a brown blur, launching itself off her arm with explosive force into the alleys below. It hit the opposite wall of the alley below and scrambled down it to the ground below, vanishing around a corner and into the urban maze below.
Aiko stood frozen, arm still outstretched, staring at the spot where her familiar had disappeared and then back at the spot where it had been perched moments ago.
"You have got to be kidding me."
The echo of Elaraâs earlier words crashed over her: 'Rift-Spawn often follow the will of the strongest monster nearby.'
A hot wave of frustration and embarrassment washed over her, quickly followed by a chilling realization. Of course. The big monster that caused this rift in the first place. It was probably some massive, ugly monster that was controlling all the other Rift-Spawn in the area. Its presence, its monstrous will, would be a siren call to lesser Rift-Spawn like Mochi. Her pep talk was meaningless noise compared to the primal command radiating from the epicenter. Mochi hadn't chosen to abandon her; it had been compelled. Drawn like iron to a magnet.
"Damn it," Aiko muttered, clenching her fists. The optimism curdled into a sour taste. She'd been naive. Hopeful. Elara had been brutally right about the fundamental nature of the Rift-Spawn being tools with no attachment. Her familiar was gone, likely drawn straight towards the greatest danger.
But the nagging pressure of the rift, the memory of the grieving man, the sight of the warped streets below, they were not gone. People were still in danger. The Luminaries were fighting the big monster near the rift itself, but the periphery could be crawling with lesser threats that had slipped through. Stragglers. Scavengers. Things that could hurt people hiding in shops, apartments, or cars.
Mochi might be lost to the big monster's call, but Aiko wasn't. She still had her strength, her speed, her Rift-Touched magic.
The brief annoyance hardened into resolve. Taking a final look towards the violet tear and the distant Luminary battle, Aiko dropped silently off the roof edge, landing in a crouch on the stained pavement below. Determined to make a difference even if she had to do it alone.
-
Mochi scampered through the streets of Boston, even though it didnât understand it was called Mochi or what Boston was. However, it did understand the orders that it had been given.
One, donât harm humans.
A simple rule. Mochi merely needed to practice inaction. It scampered past a terrified human who had locked themselves in a phone booth, sat curled up in the corner, and bawled their eyes out in fear.
Two, help people in danger.
A hound-shaped Rift-Spawn was gnawing at the edge of the phone booth, trying to chew its way through to harm the human.
Mochi lunged at the Rift-Spawn before it could react, tearing into its throat and killing it with its myriad of razor-sharp teeth. The human watched in horror at the carnage that was happening right in front of them, but since they were no longer in danger, Mochi moved to rule number three.
Stay alive, grow stronger.
It began tearing into the deceased Rift-Spawn, consuming its flesh and using it to fuel its own growth. Its body pulsed as it slowly began to mutate, growing stronger with every piece it consumed.
Mochi had a master, and it fully intended to serve her well.