บท 9: 8. Contamination and Warping
Serena woke up slowly, feeling all her aches once more. She slowly opened her eyes and found herself not in some sort of dungeon or horror film set, but a rather ordinary looking spare room with a single bed, a desk and small window. She felt it was quite the let down.
To go through all the trouble of drugging someone so dramatically, in public no less, just to put them up in the spare bedroom hardly seems worth the effort. They could have simply asked me, instead of kidnapping me. Serena thought to herself in a huff. Look, I'm not even tied up, and my backpack is sitting on the desk unopened. Really, what was the point?
She walked to the door, and found there was a lock on it - but it was ordinary, and locked from her side of the door. She tried pulling it, and with a loud creak it swung easily open.
"Oh, you're finally awake? Good, good! Come along now, quickly, leader wants to finish your conversation!" A lovely voice said, and Serena turned to find the lady from before, no longer wearing a sundress, but simple shirt and jeans.
She turned and led the way through the unexpectedly long hall, down 3 sets of stairs and into an office the size of an old fashioned dinning room.
"Awake now, eh? Time to finish our discussion then. Take a seat." A new arrogant leader said casually, and Serena picked a seat silently. "I don't think we've properly introduced ourselves. My name is Aiden, and I'm the leader of our group. We are the Magical Catalyst Research League, or rather MCRL for short. We investigate and research different events resulting from Magic Catalysts and Contamination."
"Did you just say 'Magic'?" Serena asked doubtfully. In spite of all the strange things that happened recently, a part of her was loathe to accept this. "You kidnapped me to talk about something that doesn't exist?"
"Kid, is this really how you want this conversation to go? It's not our job to prove magic exists. We just research it when and where it appears and try to minimise it's more harmful effects." Aiden chuckled mockingly.
"Okay, you're a bunch of crazy people who believe in mumbo-jumbo. Why does that mean you think you can run around kidnapping anyone you please?" Serena asked with a snort.
"Well, kid, you were in close proximity to a magical event, and it's more than likely you've been Contaminated. Magic Contamination is a lot like radiation poisoning, and if it's handled badly you are going to die." Aiden said calmly, and for a long moment Serena couldn't understand what he meant.
She was shell shocked. "Die? I could die? I barely survived fighting the fish monster, and now you say I'm going to die? From some invisible CONTAMINATION?!" Serena half screamed in rage.
"Please lower your voice - we're not the only people here, and if you disturb everyone without just cause you'll ruin any chance of the others helping you."
"What? You tell someone they are dying, and then want them to calm down?!? The hell is wrong with you people? Why do I even believe you? I must be mad!!" Serena gripped her head tightly, almost hyperventilating.
"Kid, we brought you here to help you survive - otherwise we would have just left you where we found you." Aiden commented slowly. "Look, we can discuss your immanent death later - first I'd like to finish explaining our group's objectives. Can you focus?"
"I, I think so. Can you hurry up so I can, I don't know, DO something." Serena said brokenly.
"Very well, I'll make it short. Our world is currently in the grip of an ever escalating Magical Apocalypse, and unless a method to reliably survive Contamination and Warping is discovered, practically all life on our planet is going to die."
"Well, shit - you really like kicking people when they're down. So, I get the Contamination bit, but what is Warping?" Serena asked softly, hardly daring to process everything Aiden was saying.
"Warping is the process that follows Contamination. Magic is a very strange thing - it is almost a combination of substance and a universal force. Sometimes when I observe it, I can't help but think it's alive, and just one tiny step away from being self-aware. Terrifying, right? So, different worlds have different levels of magic, forming different pressure zones. The creatures born in their natural magic zone don't notice it around them - why would they? It's like Gravity - always there, but most people never really notice it. And our world is a natural low-pressure zone. So, when creatures cross through cracks in reality from there to here, the difference in pressure causes them to radiate magic until they equalise with the environment. And from the sounds of it, you got extremely close with such a creature. When that happened, you absorbed a large amount of magic. And now, your body has been Contaminated with magic, and just like radiation sickness, you can expect some changes. And that process of change is called Warping." Aiden said carefully, and Serena felt a sense of impending doom.
"That's a hell of a long speech to not say anything. Just tell me, please - what is going to happen to me?" Serena asked, trying to hold on to her nerve. Everything he was saying was crazy, but the past few days have been crazy. Sometimes crazy is all you get in life, and you just have to live with it.
"Well, truthfully, we don't know exactly. Warping is weird, and it doesn't follow any pattern. A colleague of mine tested it on a pair of twin cats, and one grew wings with feathers, while the other grew scales and gills. To put it simply, Magic is going to twist your body in ways we can't predict, and there's nothing we can do about it."
"Then, should I just kill myself now, before it all sets in?" Serena asked apprehensively. It sounded like her future was going to be dreadful, but she wasn't quite ready to give up on life.
"NO! Whatever you think, suicide is not the right answer here!! In fact, it might just make everything worse!" Aiden slammed his hand on the table, looking agitated for the first time.
"How do you mean?"
"I had a friend who was a neurosurgeon - he got Warped, and it destroyed his hands, so he couldn't work anymore. He hanged himself from grief before the warping finished, and we didn't find his body till 3 days later. The most horrible part was that he broke his neck, and physically died, but his head became Zombified. He was fully present and aware as his body rotted away, and there was nothing we could do to help him, because he was already dead. It drove him insane. Please, don't kill yourself. No matter how horrible Warping is when you're alive, it can be so much worse." Aiden said, holding back tears. The lady gently held his shoulder, a similar grief in her eyes. Serena could hardly believe it, but everything lately was unbelievable.
"So, what do I do now?" Serena asked softly. After a long moment, Aiden gathered himself and looked her in the eye.
"We'll offer whatever ever help we can, but Warping is going to change you in ways no one understands fully. Until the process ends, and we figure out if you can re-integrate into the world, you can stay with us. You absorbed a lot of magic, so it could take months, or even years. Just focus on surviving. That's all you can do." Aiden said gently, and Serena knew the interview was over.
She left the pair in that room, to find somewhere to clear her head.
No matter how scary Warping was, a second thought was knocking about with equal severity - Magical Apocalypse.
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