Hinn Ch. 47-50

The contrast between the two styles of magical crafting was like the difference between a Picasso and a Pollack, or perhaps more appropriately between a Neolithic cave painting and a VR landscape.

Ray was also given the manner in which these runes worked. The memory of the long effort of working with runecrafters to get the design correct came bundled with the recollection of the design itself, along with a strong imperative to recreate the work. Hide the core, never share that central pattern with anyone but the most trusted of Hinn, but the surroundings -- their creation would spark the birth of a new power in the mystical world. Humans wielding samum.

Sharing the images and the memories with Tauriz and Ousha, he felt Ousha's joy explode. She insisted Ray create one of the rings immediately. It must be Ray, her thoughts explained, for only he was purely Hinn and not genie -- he was not bound to another's will, but solely to Hinn itself. She didn't care that Ray had been born human, nor that he was an Oracle, nor even that others might consider him Jinn. She was unable to do the work due to her binding by the Great Hinn, and Tauriz was unable to do so due to being genie. She was so insistent Ray was taken aback and mentally dug his heels in.

Ousha briefly showed him a shockingly humbling vision. The whole of Hinn, all the memories, thoughts, creativity, hopes, dreams and fears of all Hinn throughout their long history. She highlighted the problems - the cracks in Hinn, the self-contradictions, the weaknesses, the chaos that was inherent there, always present just under the surface threatening to change and corrupt. Only a connection such as that core pattern could prevent them from eventually destroying Hinn. Only such a connection could ..... Ousha stopped herself. There was more, but she either wouldn't or couldn't share more.

"Excuse me, folks, Tauriz and I need to step away again -- something else just came up. You three have been extremely helpful, I appreciate your assistance, and hopefully we'll have time to talk more, but we have to get something else done first."

A little mystified, Hina and the two troopers nodded as Ray and Tauriz walked out of the room and into the elevator. Ousha trotted up, catching the door before it closed completely, and the three rode up to the third floor together in silence.

Chapter 49

Walking into Ray & Tauriz' bedroom, the ladies sat on the edge of the bed as Ray pulled out the desk chair to face them. "So. To answer your questions..."

Ousha interrupted him. "I think you need me to answer your questions more, Ray. Unfortunately, I cannot do so directly. Instead, I can show you to the part of Hinn that will best answer those questions." With that, she offered a memory from deep within Hinn.

Looking over at Tauriz, he received a nod from her. She trusted Ousha, apparently. Nodding back, Ray recalled the information.

He -- now a female Hinn -- was standing in a small mossy field surrounded by a forest of giant ferns, watching over the shoulder of two male and two female Hinn kneeling facing each other. A scattering of other Hinn guarded the field, kept from hearing the discussion with simple wards of samum. Without knowing how he was so certain, he knew each of the kneeling Hinn faced one of the cardinal directions -- sunwards, nightwards, to the cold, and to the heat. Effortlessly he translated that as facing to the east, west, south, and north, respectively.

There was an unnatural gray rock small enough to easily carry in one hand. Its smooth shape was shaped as the bottom of a sphere, smoothly curved below and completely flat on top. It floated, centered between the four kneeling Hinn, held in a complicated weave of samum. A bright and shining pattern flowed across its face, seemingly folding its edges into its core over and over again under all their watchful eyes. Some timeless period later, he realized the pattern was changing less and less with each breath. Its amazing complexity showed the same basic pattern embedded within and layered over itself more times than he could count.

Later, as the full moon rose completely off the horizon and the sun settled into its bed for the night, the pattern made one last subtle change, and the four crafters visibly relaxed. "The work is complete," one of the women stated, to the nods of the other three.

"Finally, we shall be able to fix the great work of our forebears," the other woman stated in tones of rich satisfaction.

"But the question of whose truth shall persist remains unanswered," the smaller male complained.

"Then we will jointly create the caretakers, and all of us will assure they shall be independent, unable to turn away truth, ever recollecting all that happens, and never to be under the thumb of any power of the world," replied the first woman.

Endless years of debate appeared in Hinn, taking a fraction of a second to fully discuss the whole of the question. Ray was astounded at how these Hinn worked, never having dreamed of such rich discussion being possible in such a short period of time. After the debate concluded, the smaller male grumbled, but nodded in synch with the others.

The first woman asked the others, "So, who shall have this access?"

"The more who have it, the more likely there will be conflict within Hinn. Too few, and it may become lost," mused the larger male.

"The guardians, and we, its creators," suggested the second woman. After a moment of trading glances as more decades of memory appeared in Hinn discussing the question, the other three nodded.

"How many guardians will we make?"

"Three. One less than our numbers, so we may override them if we must."

"Then we shall only ever allow four of us this control?" Again, discussion occurred within Hinn before nods ran around the small circle.

My point-of-view spoke up with a rich alto voice. "You shall be the Great Hinn, and the other three the Guardians of Hinn. We must protect the Guardians, never sharing their existence beyond those few of our kind who must know of them." Four nods ran around the small grouping.

The first woman spoke "We Great Hinn will be granted this pattern. Without this pattern, we will no longer be Great Hinn. We will bind each copy of this pattern to the owner. Once bound, only the owner may willingly pass it to another Hinn that has proven to be trustworthy. We will conceal this moment, the creation of the pattern and our agreements within Hinn. Only those present now, those bearing the pattern in the future, and the guardians we shall make will be shown the way to access it. We will ensure the pattern unravels itself if any other than free Hinn claim it. We will insert the pattern within the Guardians where they may use it, but never release it or even become consciously aware of it. Finally, we will make the core of these guardians inviolate. They may obey others in matters not touching upon Hinn, but may never be required to adjust Hinn when commanded by another." After a moment, the other three nodded, and the memory ended.

Ousha reached out to both of them through Hinn, communicating soundlessly. "And that is why you must make this ring you showed me, Ray. You must become the newest of the Great Hinn. Hinn needs your help, and I cannot fix the problem -- corruption was entered into Hinn and must be excised, but I cannot remove memories, no matter how foul or harmful."

Responding in kind, Ray 'said,' "Without going into detail about the memories, can you describe the problems they cause?"

"The Great Hinn will know, and Hinn itself will protect and guide them in their task. I cannot do what needs to be done, only the Great Hinn have that ability."

"You are unable to even describe the problem other than corruption?" Tauriz asked.

"Correct. I can only say these corrupting recollections have led to the destruction of several Hinn that stumbled across them. These memories, these thoughts alter those that perceive them and lead to severely self-destructive behaviors, sometimes including destruction of others near the affected Hinn. I, like the Great Hinn, am protected from these alterations by the nature of our connection to Hinn, but you would not be, Tauriz. Thus, I cannot describe them more in case you recollect them and suffer for it."

Ray blinked. "What a scary thought! And Hinn is the perfect vector for such an attack, isn't it?"

"It certainly makes defense harder once one becomes accustomed to handing Hinn as an implicit part of one's thought pattern," Ousha contributed.

Ray turned to Tauriz and said, "My dear, I wish we both were able to safely filter information we gather from within Hinn, protecting ourselves from such corrupting information -- information that would cause extremely detrimental alterations to ourselves -- while remaining aware that something dangerous was filtered out."

Ousha blinked in turn, "Impressive, Ray -- that might make a significant difference."

"It's not like I want to test it, but something might be better than nothing."

"Thank you, Ray."

"Of course, my dear. We're in this together for the long haul now. Back to the big question -- should I create this ring and become a new Great Hinn?"

Tauriz turned and looked at Ousha as she asked, "What requirements are there on the Great Hinn other than having a copy of the pattern as within Ray's design?"

"In order of importance -- first, protect the Guardians. Second, maintain the secrets. Finally, defend Hinn, both the bodies and the memories. Those are all the obligations on the Great Hinn."

"Defending Hinn is a noble goal, but almost all surviving Hinn are genie now. Will Ray immediately have to recover all the Hinn genie? Or any Hinn genie he becomes aware of? Becomes suspicious may exist?"

"The goals are carved in the bedrock of the world, Tauriz. They are immutable through all time once the title is earned. The steps any specific Great Hinn chose to take are up to each Great Hinn individually. The two checks on their behavior both require other Great Hinn to act. Two Great Hinn in concert can stop a third from some specific action, and three in concert can remove the pattern from a fourth. Beyond that, there are no other restrictions on those who become Great Hinn. In all the Hinn's history, only once has a Great Hinn been cast out by three, and the number of cancellations that were performed may be counted on one being's extremities."

"I think it makes sense to go ahead and create the ring and the pattern, becoming Great Hinn."

"Then I will. I'll ask you both to keep watch and handle anything that comes up -- my understanding is that this is not a short or simple process."

"You will not be disturbed, Ray. Even if this building burns down, we can and will keep you safe."

"Thank you, ladies. Let's get this over with, then."

With that, Ray pulled up a pair of bubbles around himself, an outer bubble that works to prevent all indications of what happens within it, and an inner one chock full of all the energy he can spare, both samum and rwh working in conjunction to overload any that attempt to perceive it. Within the bubbles, alone in his office chair, Ray began to follow the memory some future version of himself had sent.

Chapter 50

Tauriz saw the matte-black bubble flow down and around Ray in his chair. "I think I should go make sure the plans for tomorrow night are growing as he needs them to. Can you stay here with him?"

"Of course, Mistress. I can chat with Betty by text, among other things, while I wait."

"Thank you, Ousha."

"Thank you. I still do not have a clear memory of how I ended up where you found me, but I am nothing but relieved to find that that horrific period is past."

"No one deserves what you went through, Ousha. I am just relieved you do not recall it clearly."

"It is difficult for me to agree, given my sworn reason to exist, but I quite understand your point of view, Mistress."

Smiling, Tauriz left the room as Ousha flopped back on the bed and pulled her cell phone out. Casting a few wards out to add to her exceptional senses, she started texting Betty to see what she could do to improve the planning and procuring for the upcoming trip.

Tauriz closed and locked the door behind herself before walking back to the elevator, passing through the gym where a couple of Skepsi troops were exercising. As she reached for the button, it arrived on the top floor and Tomaz came out. "Oh! There you are -- are you and Ray available again? We'd like some input on how legal we should be on this trip."

"Ray is still occupied, but I shall be more than happy to add my two cents to the mix," she said as she smiled at him.

"Wonderful! We have a number of options, from mildly illegal modified shotguns to call-out-the-National-Guard antitank weaponry, high explosives or chemical weapons. I would suggest a small number of highly illegal weapons kept in locked cases, out of sight unless needed, and a number of less obviously illegal personal weapons such as those aforementioned shotguns."

"What would you use the different options for?"

"The shotguns would be modified to switch between semiautomatic and fully automatic fire. In conjunction with additional weaponsmithing we've already accomplished that lets us swap out what would normally be fixed tube magazines -- something that isn't normally done due to the weight of most tube mags -- and highly illegal flechette rounds, the assault team can provide a high volume of fatal area denial to anything that can bleed. Adding preloaded magazines with sabot slugs, we can also provide pretty impressive single-target damage out to a hundred and fifty meters if required.

"The other options become more dangerous for our foes and thus more survivable for our people. Class four hard armor lets our people survive most legal firearms briefly without cover and can even dampen out some melee or unarmed attacks at a human level, but can't be hidden and looks like something out of a movie. Heavy machine guns hit much harder than the flechettes and perform much the same role but only requires two people rather than the whole team. High explosives allow us to shape the battlefield quickly in response to changing conditions, as well as providing nasty surprises to our foes if we plan correctly. Antitank weapons allow us to shape the battlefield in much the same way as high explosives but allow us to do so remotely, plus gives us about as good single-target damage as we could expect at our team size. Chemical weapons -- neurotoxins, in this case -- allow us to kill large numbers quickly and deny large areas to our foes, but break all sorts of laws and can cause massive additional casualties to anyone who enters those areas, up to months later in some cases."

"Chemical weapons such as you mean are too far, in my opinion and my understanding of Ray's. Once Ray completes his current work, we'll provide something like tear gas grenades that will be unpleasant for most humans or Hinn but probably fatal for Jann. Gas masks would prevent almost all of the negative effects, though, and they would not persist in dangerous concentrations for long.

"As far as the rest of it, I have no problem with any of it. First question I have is if we should bring Jessica's team in on it or not. Are there any legal ways to procure parts or all of these options?"

"There are, but they take a lot of money, time, and effort while also subjecting the owners to a whole lot of scrutiny from the federal government. Has Jessica said nothing about what her line in the sand is for legality?"

Reflexively pulling at Ray's recollections of Jessica in Hinn, Tauriz thoughtfully replied, "She has said she can't be involved in planning future crimes and would have to report them. I guess that means not involving her or her team on this."

"Then we probably should stop talking out here in public about it," Tomaz replied.

"Good point. The office is open, if there's more you need from me?"

"One other thing comes to mind. How well can you emulate Jann physical capabilities -- their strength, in particular?"

"I am stronger and faster than any Jann I had ever had a chance to compare myself with. Why? Would you like to see how that class four armor stands up to that level of strength?"

"Got it in one! We've got a set we use solely for close combat training, officially. It allows for full strength striking training, or so goes the justification on the paperwork. Having a suit available and people trained in getting it on quickly adds quite a few options to the team's choices, which is the real reason we've spent the money on it."

"If someone does not mind potential damage that I would heal, I would be glad to demonstrate. I myself would like to know about human body armor strengths, for that matter."

"If we keep the strikes to nonfatal areas such as limbs, I'll be glad to put it on and let you take some shots."

"That's fine. I should stop by the conference area and see if anyone else has questions, then we can meet down in the dojo?"

"I'll come with you, if you don't mind. I would like to hear more about others' plans as we get ready for this excursion, their choices may well affect my teams' tasking."

Tauriz nodded, "Valid point. Let's go." Poking the elevator button, they waited briefly before the door opened. Inside were Betty, Jennifer, and Annya, chatting quietly. "Ladies, were you looking for Ray or myself?"

"Yes, Tauriz, we had been. Is Ray available?"

"No, he is tied up for at least an hour, perhaps a couple, I am not sure for precisely how long. May I assist in his place?"

"That's fine for now, it'd help each of us with choosing between a couple options," said Betty. Jennifer and Annya nodded in agreement.

"Then we should head down to the basement level together. I need to help Tomaz with something briefly, and I will be glad to give you my understanding of what Ray needs as we go."

"I was hoping for more than just one strike, Tauriz," Tomaz interjected.

"I can give you my emulation of Jann capabilities while answering their questions."

"OK, great! Mind if I have a couple of my folks involved?"

"No problem. If you do not mind some micromanagement, I would suggest your close combat specialists going on the trip tomorrow might find it useful to know, and any relevant trainers might also."

"Those were the groups I was thinking of, plus a couple of our combat medics."

"That would be fine, Tomaz. Give them a call and we'll wait for them in the dojo if they're not there by the time we get there. Now then, ladies, who has the next question?"

"Betty's questions are more urgent than mine," said Jennifer.

"Mine are tied in with Jennifer's," added Annya.

"Fine by me. Betty? What options are you looking at?"

"Getting to Lake Placid, we can either drive, rent a plane and crew, or both. If we drive, we'll be able to bring anything Tomaz wants with us, but we'll likely not be able to get everything delivered before we'd have to leave. If we fly, we'll have to go through security and they'll get eyeballs and sensors on everything we bring with us, but we'll have more time to get things delivered and packed appropriately."

"What size plane would we use, and are there bigger ones available?"

"Lots of options if we spend enough. We could get one big enough we could bring vehicles if need be, but that'd be very expensive and likely would raise some questions."

"Tomaz, you will need vehicles at Placid for the second team, correct?"

"Yes, and we'd been planning on working with Betty to rent them from local resources. She's already got a primary and several backup options identified."

"Then we should not need to transport vehicles. I would like to use one larger plane that we can rent by the day for two days and options to extend if needed, and will need to be big enough so that the entire team can hot bunk comfortably while others work, ideally in an area out of the observation of the crew in case any of us needs to do something that might raise questions. For example, prepping explosives, enchantment, or anything of the sort."