Hinn Ch. 43-46

"Very well. Tauriz, to extend our combat capabilities, I wish Ousha has a fitting background, knowledge, skills, possessions, and references for her new job."

"Granted, Ray."

"Oh, that is nice, thank you, Master. That will be very helpful."

"Granted, Ray. Is not the saying, 'Information is Power'?"

"It certainly can be, my dear."

"Very well. I will go to the apartment and return in about an hour, Dr. Helms. Thank you for making this so easy for me."

"We look forward to seeing you soon."

Chapter 45

After sending Ousha to her leased apartment via another wish, Tauriz and Ray walked out of their new home. A few people were in the shared living room, all nodding or waving greetings as they emerged from their room. Heading over to the kitchen, they found one of the Skepsi troopers working a large grill on the stove making eggs to request.

Ray and Tauriz ordered and thanked the trooper for the food before grabbing mugs of coffee and taking seats at the table. The others kept to their groups and conversations as they quietly enjoyed the hot meal.

As they finished off the last crumbs, they were joined at the table by the heads of the various groups - Annya, Jessica, Tomaz, and Jennifer. "Good morning, Ray, Tauriz," Jennifer greeted them as everyone found a seat, "sleep well?"

"Quite, thank you. A little disorienting, but that's always the case with a new bedroom. How'd you folk all make out?"

"No complaints, really. Everyone's chipping in and making things as good as practical — the rest of the furniture due in later today. I expect everyone should be quite comfortable tonight. We do have some questions and suggestions, though."

"OK?"

"First off, we'd suggest that you find and hire some support staff. A cook or two, perhaps a maid, at a minimum."

"I can see the need. Do we have room for staff?"

"Do they need rooms here?"

"Hrmm. I'd prefer to have people close to hand if we could. We can use offsite, vetted personnel for vacations or emergencies. Same thing for onsite medical, come to think. Tomaz, did you folks have any ideas as to the right place to put the medical facility?"

"We'd thought taking over part of the machine floor, actually, Ray. Redoing the north side, away from the vehicle doors, to handle a small clinic with six or eight beds for a recovery area."

"Who'd we get to staff and run it? Any ideas?"

"Ideally, we'd need a trauma expert and a GP, plus a nurse or two."

Tauriz asked, "Why do you wish to have a doctor?"

"Too likely that someone will get hurt, eventually. Better to preplan and prepare than to try to react and recover when someone's bleeding," Tomaz replied.

"Ray and I can stop bleeding, close wounds, reattach limbs, or other medical tasks. As such, why do you wish to have a doctor?"

"Are you two always going to be available, or are there going to be times when you'll have higher priority tasks to handle, such as preventing other people from becoming injured?"

Tauriz concentrated for a second and created a golden coin about two inches across from nothing. "This will stop bleeding and seal open wounds on contact, extracting any foreign material as it does. I can create several of these in a few minutes if you deem them useful. I am also able to create other items that have different effects, such as locking broken limbs in place so no additional damage occurs, clearing the digestive and respiratory tract of all foreign materials, replenishing lost blood, or other possibilities.

"They are not what you consider normal, I understand, and there is benefit in using capabilities familiar to your teammates. However, the more people we bring into our growing organization, the greater the risks we face. Once these items and their kin become common to you, will we need additional medical personnel? Or would they become bored and an additional risk?"

Tomaz picked up the coin and looked it over, seeing nothing special about it other than being about a half-pound of gold that had appeared out of thin air. He pulled out a folding knife and opened it, scoring a long, shallow cut along the back of his left forearm. Putting the knife down, he picked up the coin and ran the face of it along the cut.

As he slid the coin over the wound, both the blood and the cut disappeared. Stopping halfway along, he lifted the gold away from his forearm. There was no blood on the coin or on his forearm where it had passed as the remaining wound continued its slow bleeding. He ran the edge of the coin along the wound from the other end, pushing it gently into the open wound, watching his blood disappear as the flesh closed up behind it as if it were a zipper.

"Impressive," he said, picking his knife back up and sliding the tip across the coin, watching the little blood on the tip disappear before folding it and putting it away. "There's not even any scarring."

"What powers it?" Annya wanted to know.

"Normally, an item like this would draw on its creator, but the Hinn learned many things over their long existence, including how to store power within such items. It is significantly more costly in the short term and causes the item to have a limited life span, but it prevents unexpected drains on the creator in the future in the middle of times of crisis. This item contains enough energy to seal several tens of meters of open wounds, depending on the depth and complexity of the wounds. The energy cost is perhaps a hundred times as large as creating the effect on demand, so this coin's tens of meters of wounds could have instead powered an immediate closure of thousands of meters."

"How could someone determine the charge on one of these items, and are they rechargeable?"

"The charge is obvious to Tauriz or myself," Ray answered. "We'll have to check with others that use jawhar to determine if others can."

Tauriz continued, "Usually one would remove and recreate one of these items rather than recharging or otherwise altering an existing item. Added quirks, flaws, and inefficiencies were common when they were altered."

"How much of a risk would someone be carrying one or more of these devices?"

"Risk? How do you mean, Tomaz?"

"Are they easily detectable? Can they be misused? Could the energy you've put in there short out somehow?"

Tauriz nodded and answered, "I see. They are quite visible to Ray or I when in use, but not particularly noticeable if not in contact with a living being. Again, we shall have to discuss with other jawhar users to determine their perceptions. I am unsure how closing an open wound could be misused. It will not seal flesh to flesh unless there is a wound, nor will it seal a wound still containing an object - it removes such items as the wound heals. Two different open injuries brought into contact will be sealed separately, not merging the flesh unnaturally.

"As to the energy within this type of item - it is highly stable in this formulation. If a jawhar user observes the item when it is active, they might be able to alter it to perform other actions, but this is not much different from what they could achieve by themselves in line of sight."

"Does it have to be made of gold?" Jennifer wanted to know.

"No, but gold has many useful features for such items. It is reasonably durable, heavy enough to be easy to track, and it takes enchantments and empowerments like these better than most other materials. Some gems are also good for these workings, but most living or once-living materials are quite poor at this, greatly increasing the cost to store rwh for future use and often adding uncertainty to the precision of their results."

"Does it have to be a coin? Could it be in other shapes? And could it be inside some other material?"

"Coins were used due to their shapes' efficiencies, as were rings and orbs. Most other items that had other shapes - wands or weapons, for instance - usually had the working empowered in a round section of precious metal or gem. Most of those other shapes only took gold or gems where the working was, and other materials were commonly used elsewhere in the construction."

"Is your sheathe an item like this?"

"I have investigated my sheathe in great detail over many long years. It has no signs of such effects. There clearly must be more there than I can perceive, or those I have worked with over the years."

Jessica noted, "The more we learn about your abilities, the more the scope opens. Is there a primer or other work documenting the strengths and limits of your abilities? The better we understand them, the better we can support you."

"There is not at this time. Historically, Hinn were as secretive in their abilities as the other mortals, but you are quite correct that things are different in this relationship. I will work to create an overview for you folks, but request that we all work at updating it as mutual comprehension grows."

"We'd be glad to assist with that, I'm sure," Jessica spoke up. The other three nodded their agreement.

Ray thought of traitors to Tauriz, wondering how this information could bite them in the future. Tauriz indicated Ousha would be well suited to maintaining this information. She also noted that the NDAs everyone had signed could become the basis for removing the signers' ability to release the information to others not bound by an accepted NDA. Ray, relieved, requested that Tauriz create those workings.

"Good," Ray said. "So you know, we'll be interviewing a new team member later today who comes highly recommended, much as how we found you, Jessica. She'll stay here working to coordinate between everyone, and I think we'll add this to her job as well."

Jessica asked, "How did you find me anyways, Ray? It's not like I advertise."

"A carefully worded wish determined the best available resource we could trust with this, and another brought us to your attention."

Jessica nodded thoughtfully without commenting, so Ray continued the conversation. "So, what are people working on today?"

"I've got a number of calls today," Jessica answered. "We're putting in the groundwork for acceptance of non-human mortals, including full rights and responsibilities. We're also looking into how to reconcile genie with American and Taiwanese law. There's other busywork in covering the two of you appropriately, such as insurance and the like, but those first two are eating the majority of my time right now."

"We're putting in systems still," Annya spoke up. "We've got bare-bones capabilities up. Now we're expanding and adding as we go. We'll have dedicated and mutually defended ties to Mac, Skepsi, Boch, and Jennifer's systems later today. Harry's been most helpful, and the Boch plans to refurbish this facility were nearly oracular - there's very little we've need to do physically except install machines and tie into the existing infrastructure wiring. That's been a huge time and cost savings. Finally, we're expecting a call or the like from Emily this midafternoon, once she gets out of her meeting. I expect we'll have more tasking at that point."

Jennifer took her turn. "We'll have the last of the initial furniture in by sundown and hopefully a construction plan for at least the second basement later today, working with Tomaz and some of his folks back at his corporate. We've got initial material either on hand or to be delivered today. Once that's all in, we should be stocked for most crises up to a month, barring medical. I suggest we sit down with Tomaz and one or two of his medics sometime today to further discuss medical plans. Also, I'd like to sit in with Jessica on the financial plans."

Tomaz and Jessica nodded their agreement.

Tomaz continued, "I agree with Jennifer - we need to get the medical settled. Thanks to her folks, we've got enough on hand for a small number of skirmishes already, and enough for a serious battle to the scope of our personnel's capabilities expected as she mentioned. We've got a ready team set up on the machine floor and a second one bunked out in the first basement ready to replace them at the end of their shift. We've got sentries out, including an incomplete but reasonable initial sensor perimeter. We'll be expanding and hardening that with Annya today. I expect that will be at least half done by sundown, quite possibly complete. In going over Boch's work, we've found only a few things to change physically - they've done a great job turning this into a hardpoint."

Nodding, Ray said, "It sounds like we're indebted to Boch for their work. Please pass our thanks on again up your chain, Jennifer. Now then. We'll be adding a second elevator tonight just south of each of the two we've got now, completely independent systems except for power. The fire escape will move south as well. County records will indicate this has been the case for a while, and all approvals will be in the books. Let your folks know so they don't worry they're going crazy or anything, and that the space is empty.

"Tomaz, what else needs fixing for physical security?"

"The ground floor windows are all Special-grade bullet-resistant laminated glass, with Type IV grade on the upper floors. This means that the ground floor can take multiple 7.62mm rounds before failing and the upper floors won't fail under a single 7.62 round. This is great, along with the bonded Kevlar weave layers pasted to the inside of the brickwork, it'd take a heavy machine gun or more to do a job on this place.

"The problem is that bullet-resistant glass is UV-sensitive and degrades over time. Some of the glass on the third floor is outdated and needs to be replaced, which is a painful process - that stuff is heavy. Other parts will be outdated soon. This isn't to say they wouldn't stop the bullet, just that they're more likely to fail."

Sending a wish to Tauriz via Hinn, Ray told Tomaz, "The glass is fixed, all upgraded to Special. It looks just like commercially available stuff, so there'll be no surprises, but all of it'll need to be replaced at the same time. Let Tauriz or I know when it needs replacement. I don't want to make it UV proof without thinking about the ramifications."

"Will do, Ray - that's awesome. The only other issue I'm aware of currently is power generation. We're vulnerable to the lines being tampered with, no generator has been installed."

One more wish with caveats to update the history of the building passed from Ray to Tauriz. "That's fixed too, Tomaz. There's now a pair of generators each large enough for the building's needs installed on the roof. The housing is quite a bit thicker than normal, as it layers metal and Kevlar weave. They each have enough fuel on hand for two days, and there's room to expand that. I'd like to do that through normal contracting.

Harry walked up to the table, "Ray? You've got a visitor, apparently? A Ms. Ousha Nair?"

"Thanks, Harry - and you should be in these headsheds, too. We generally have them most mornings, and we'll keep you on the invite list for others. Nothing serious, just a quick touch-base on everyone's days and problem solving as needed."

"OK, I'll be here tomorrow then."

"Great. Jessica, can I get a copy of your NDA form please? If she's what we're expecting we'll be hiring Ms. Nair on this morning."

"Of course, Ray." Jessica pulled her folio up into her lap and rapidly fingered through it. "Here you go. Do you want me to keep them, or will you folks do so?"

"We'll keep them with you for now, Jessica. We may change that around some eventually, but that'll do for now."

Nodding, Jessica stood up. "OK then, I'm off to bend my ear for a couple meetings. We've taken up in what had been the sales office on the ground floor if you need us, Ray or anyone."

"If you're comfortable there, great. If you need something, check with Harry or Jennifer, or Tauriz or I if need be. Oh, and Harry? Don't freak out, but there will be dual elevators when you wake up tomorrow."

"I see Mr. Boch was right in his plan to pull this place together," was all Harry had to say as the morning meeting broke up.

"Conference room?" Ray asked Tauriz, who nodded.

Ray and Tauriz joined the leadership in the elevator going to the ground floor before greeting Ms. Nair and taking her into the conference room. Ousha signed the NDA and she was part of the team.

Chapter 46

"Dr. Helms, I've been able to begin your request. I am surprised, some of your fiction is at least as useful to handling samum as your science."

"It's a lot of very bright people in both cases, one of which is constrained to follow reality as they understand it, and another which isn't. As such, both have information and debates which are likely useful in handling something like samum."

"So I see. I also note your wish is still sending information into Hinn with little sign of it stopping. If you don't mind, I believe I can enhance that rate significantly, especially if your ally Mac were to be involved."

"There are interesting pitfalls in doing so, but I'm curious to learn what your thoughts are on the matter."

"Were I to be granted access to a large enough information feed, which is where I'd request Mac's assistance, I can use many copies of myself to bring the information to Hinn. It's part of how my sisters and I managed the ongoing life experience of thousands of times as many Hinn as we."

"OK, but mark it all as untrustworthy data until it's been corroborated. There'll be things in there like flat earth topology, alchemy, and eugenics that are, at least for humans, false. There may be some truths under the hood, but there'll be a lot of lies too. Make sense?"

"Definitely, Dr. Helms. That was one of my sisters' earliest finds, that even direct perception of a singular event from multiple eye witnesses can be incorrect, so everything is cross-referenced as it goes in, then again once it is organized."

"Humans have spent a lot of time recently working on those problems too. I'd suggest you read up on AI - that is, artificial intelligence. Specifically I'd suggest focusing how it can be manipulated. Those may help or confirm your practices."

"Interesting, thank you Dr. Helms."

"Please, Ousha, call me Ray."

"Is that appropriate?"

"The way I'm running this conglomeration, you calling me Dr. Helms will raise more eyebrows by far than you calling me Ray."

"Very well, Ray."

"You're going to be housed here, third floor. You'll work in the office across the hall. You'll be a secretary, admin assistant, whatever you want to call it, plus the scheduler for all the people here. I'd think your real job is learning human science and then educating Tauriz and I in the relevant aspects of what you learn. We'll also be asking you for more information as we need it. Does that sound about right?"

"A little bit more than that, if it is acceptable - I'd also suggest that I can be of use in guarding and defending this building while you're not present, so you'll always have somewhere to retreat to if needed. I'll also take some time practicing and refining the use of samum leveraging the human knowledge."

"Sounds like you'll be keeping busy - that's fine by me if it's not too much work. I want you to have time off as well, don't want you to burn out."

"With the ability to split and share between segments, that is never a difficulty, Ray. I would suggest that you should practice those abilities further enabling a better quality of life yourself. That is a little selfish of me, as that in turn makes my tasking easier."

"Cleverness is appreciated, Ousha, and I for one am not against making things easier for you. Let's see..." Ray split off a copy of himself and set it comparing and contrasting Hinn to the World Wide Web. Perhaps he could also find ways to leverage human ingenuity with his new gifts. Thinking about it further, he split off a second copy to look into samum, focusing on how it refills, how it grows. It was time he got serious about providing resources to his future selves.