260 - Top Down

In hindsight, it was actually quite obvious what Naem was trying to tell her. Lexie had even considered it on her own briefly before, in Ta-Ron-No's office.

But it just seemed nearly impossible in practice. 

So far, Lexie had the rough schematics for living cards, but she was looking for a loophole that would allow those cards to be used on Earth by humans. She'd figured she could use the converter that the Fae used to allow for that system.

Or she could figure out how the alchemist disrupted the mana atmosphere in the Shatters, so that she could duplicate it less destructively.

But those options were her thinking small, considering what would be most available to her. She was considering loopholes designed to exploit the current system that she and every other human were trapped in, and essentially convert the magic she now had into the magic she once knew.

But what if she looked at the problem from the top down rather than from bottom up?

Starting from the top, the major hindrance was the Oath that governed Earth, something that had been installed since before Lexie was even born. The Oath that controlled how magic operated in this world, but did not seem to govern alchemy or engineering. It was also an oath that was too complex to be broken by a simple oathbreaker. If she attempted to collapse it, she wouldn't even know where to start.

But maybe she didn’t need to break it after all. 

Maybe she only needed to create a new system of magic that was unaffected by the Oath. That could coexist with the current way of magic, and that other people could gravitate to if they wanted to. 

She didn’t have to cheat the system or break it.

She just created a new, parallel system, a new access point to the magical realm.  

So why hadn't she considered this a serious option before?

Well, because it seemed very impossible.

Apart from the problems she was already facing using magic with her body, she couldn't even begin to imagine all the things that would go into architecting a new system. New rules. New methods.

There was no clear path from chaos to controlled magic.

It sounded terribly complicated.

Nevertheless, someone had done it. The Alchemist.

Alchemy worked differently from magic, and though she'd never checked, it likely drew from a different source than external mana that the rest of the world drew from.

That was how the Alchemist could use it perfectly fine, even in extremely mana-poisoned environments. The Alchemist, for all intents and purposes, was a human. So was Aiden.

Yet both of them were using magic in a different way than other humans did, and they were using powerful magic, magic that couldn't be limited by the system even if it tried.

So maybe that was what Lexie needed.

Magic that existed outside of the system, and the rules it had governing human and Eldritch. She needed to tap into the other source of magic, the chaos from the dungeons that she would use. Or perhaps her own peculiar human magic that the Mountain had exposed to her, the new type of chaos she'd spawned.

To figure it out, though, she needed to work with humans.

That would more acutely show her the limitations of the magic she was trying to instill, and help her establish the rules for it. 

This was the risky part. The magic Lexie was introducing could alter the human bodies in some way. After all, when the Fae had brought their system to Earth, it had altered the way humans worked, down to their very DNA, allowing the concept of pathways and allowing some of them access to the magical realm, but on their terms. Alchemy also probably altered the body, though to a lesser degree. It worked outside of the pathways and worked by a different system that Aiden could probably tell her more about when he got back. Yet it was possible it also had dangerous side effects, especially given what happened to Tate.

Lexie hoped card magic wouldn't have the same level of danger, especially since it offered some degree of separation, but it might still impact the user in unprecedented ways.

Maybe that was necessary.

Maybe making living cards was not just about trying to change the magic to fit the human, but also about changing the human to fit the magic.

Giving them a new access to the magical realm.

Holy shit.

This was no longer making Eldritch magic human. This was combining Eldritch chaos with human bodies to create something...different.

Previous Lexie, of course, couldn't have done it, simply because she wouldn't even know where to start.

But current Lexie had a few ideas.

However, she also had a whole host of problems, especially given the human testing component.

It made her sound far too similar to the Alchemist for comfort.

“Lexie… you’ve been thinking for a while now. I don’t mind, but I don’t want you to get cut off when the minutes run out. Is there something you wanted to ask me?”

"Oh…er no.” She actually wanted to talk to her dad about what she just figured out, but didn't want the Fae eavesdropping. “I just wanted to tell you that Xena came for a sleepover and Ambassador Raz-Ro-Nan is a giant bonehead."

Her father paused. "Lexie, I think this channel might be monitored."

"Good. Then maybe he heard me."

Her father chuckled. "I miss you."

"I miss you too. We’ll talk more when you get back."

“Okay. Stay safe. Love you, honeybee.”

“I love you too.” Lexie hung up and then sat back, her mind racing with her thoughts. She wondered if she was on the right track here. She had to be right?

Naem had gone through some trouble to drop that hint for her without saying it outright.

Was Naem right? Was that the only way to get what she wanted? Or was it simply the way to get what he wanted from her?

Well, consider her other options.

Even if she stuck to her original plan of finding the Fae converter, there was no guarantee that it would work for Eldritch conversions without the same limitations the Fae had already placed on it. There was also no guarantee she could disrupt the oath in places without having to use harmful mana bombs. Naem's proposal was the most straightforward, even if it was wrought with a lot more gravel.

On the other hand, what she was talking about on a wide scale might be calling to an end of the Fae hegemony of Earth. The Fae were probably allowed with things like Alchemy to exist, because of how difficult it was to adapt to everyone, and because the Alchemist never actually figured out how to make it widespread.

Even to date, there had been only a handful of Alchemists, and none of them were particularly powerful. So, Alchemy had not been a threat to the Fae.

However, what Lexie was proposing, a system shift, was a threat. It could spread as far and wide as she wanted, and she could even collaborate with card companies to mass-produce the cards.

Anyone, young and old, mundane or otherwise, could use it. It would draw from a different source, and the Fae would not be able to control how much people used.

That was almost like waging direct war on the Fae, which would be an insane thing to do…

For anyone who wasn’t Lexie. 

Sure, it was still insane. But it wouldn't be as insane, given all the things Lexie was. A potential King of the Eldritch. A potential Guardian. The veritable icon of a small but mighty fanclub that would probably readily submit to her experimentation.

But she couldn't ask them that. It was supremely unethical.

Human experimentation was one of the things that got the Alchemist locked up, and in every single superhero movie she’d ever watched, the people who did it were always the Villains. No sane person experimented on other humans. Well, except for pharmaceutical companies.

The idea of being like those soul-suckers left her even more unsettled.

But she didn't have a choice. That was even how the Fae system was set up in the first place. Didn't the Fae conduct mass experimentation, with things like elemental magic and card magic, some of them leading to death?

Didn't the first Mage try and fail to create the concept of human magic before eventually setting it up with the Fae?

Lexie wished she could go back in time to that moment and see exactly how everything had been arranged and the components of the system. A lot of those early files had been destroyed, and even the developers and other scholars may not be privy to the real information.

There were people she could ask, though. Elvira, for one, who she still might need to talk to about card mechanics–although not as much if Lexie was making a new type of card.

She could also talk to Cecilia, who probably knew a developer if she wasn't one herself.

But there was one person who seemed like they would be even more helpful than those two, one person who just might have a firsthand account of everything. Who might give her all the answers she needed.

Lexie immediately called Stella. 

"Hello?" Stella's sleep voice alerted Lexie that she wasn't calling at a decent time, even accounting for the different time zones.

“Hi Stella. Sorry to wake you."

“Hi Lexie." She yawned. “What’s going on?”

"Oh, nothing. Just wanted to know if you’d killed Vulcan yet.”

That gave Stella a coughing fit, which finally got the sleep out of her voice.

"Er, no." Stella sounded like the question made her uncomfortable. “We’re still not done with our investigation.”

“You said the trial would be short.”

“Yes, but it’s only been a couple of days, Lexie. Let’s be patient. He's in a pocket prison, fitted with a Tilling band. He won’t be able to use magic.”

That’s what they said about the Alchemist.

And the Archmage.

But sure, the guy who could see the future couldn't possibly break his bands.

Lexie was anxious. She was tempted to kill him herself because with every second he was alive, he still posed a threat to her, and most especially to Dewie. She wanted to just take him out, investigation or no investigation. But she couldn't access the pocket dimension without her father's approval.

Maybe the Mountain could help.

Or maybe Yasycht.

“Dad said you had the access key to the pocket dimension,” she said.

“Yes, but I’m not giving it to you so you can kill the guy yourself.”

“Well, obviously,” Lexie said. “I wasn't asking to kill him. I wanted to talk to the Alchemist.”

Stella was silent for a few beats. “Excuse me?”

“What? Is that inappropriate?”

“Extremely inappropriate."

“I swear I only have a few questions for him.”

“Absolutely not. You are a child, Lexie, and he is a mad mastermind. Why do you think I would let you talk to him?"

“Because I helped catch him. And I want to know a few things before he dies. Please, it’s important to the fate of the world.”

"Have you asked your father? Does he know about this?"

Lexie was silent.

"I'm guessing that's a no." She released a breath. “Lexie, I’m not denying you’re very strong and clearly very capable of taking care of yourself. You’ve done a lot to help us out. But I think at this point, you should just focus on having a nice, healthy childhood and let the adults do the rest.”

Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen.

Lexie didn’t know why everyone insisted on still seeing her as a kid even after everything she’d achieved and how many times she’d saved their asses. She’d broken into the Emperor’s extremely well-protected penitentiary and stolen state secrets. She’d singlehandedly stopped a battle between rival armies.

Not to mention, she was officially thirteen years old. Not a kid at all.

Lexie should have known Stella might react like this. Her godmother was just as protective as her father. She might have been better off calling Jerry. He didn't seem to like her much, but he might agree to cut a deal with her. 

Except that she didn’t know his number.

She knew where he was, though. She wondered if he’d officially taken over Vacek’s office yet.

“Is Jerry the new president of the association?” Lexie asked. 

“He’s the acting president,” Stella responded. “They’re still having discussions about who should be the new president. Why?”

“No reason. So he’s in Vacek’s office, right?”

"Why do you ask Lexie?”

“No reason. Okay, Stella, I’ll talk to you later, bye!” She hung up right as Xena padded down the stairs, rubbing her eyes.

“Who were you talking to?”

"Stella,” Lexie said. “How are you feeling?”

She shrugged. “Last night feels kind of surreal. I can’t believe I was actually in a dungeon and fighting Eldritch on behalf of another Eldritch who i s cousins with my best friend, who is also yet another Eldritch."

“Yeah.” She shook her head. “Were you scared?”

"‘Obviously, I was terrified, but I was more scared of you being eaten by a giant bug or being pummeled by something that looked like you on steroids.”

Lexie smiled. How sweet.

This couldn't have been the result that the ambassador hoped for by showing Xena that orb. He probably thought she would freak out on Lexie and then use her light powers on her. Or something like that. Lexie didn't actually know what his plan had been, only that it hadn't worked.

“What’s for breakfast?” Xena asked.

“Maybe leftover pizza. Uncle Max really isn't the making breakfast type."

“Ugh. Pizza is so not what I want.” She got up. “I might just go home. Luke slept over, and he might make something good for breakfast.”

“Are he and Emma gonna get married?” Lexie asked.

“I think so, as gross as it is to think about. ”

“Ha. You're soon-to-be stepdad’s our mayor. As if you werent enough of a nepobaby.”

“Says the girl who was casually having a morning conversation with the most famous woman in the world.”

“Fair enough.”

After Xena left, Lexie got some cereal and debated going to Jerry immediately.

She organized her game plan first. She also got a text from Doyl that read, Hey! I got a link that Duru uses to make a purchase. Don't ask how. Here it is. Only open it on a non-system phone.

That was fast.

Thanks, Doyle! Then, as she thought about it, she added, That other thing you asked for...I'll give you a response by tonight.

He sent her a thumbs-up in response.

“What are you looking at?” Tate asked as he sauntered down the stairs. 

“A link,” Lexie responded. “Hey, I want to run an idea by you really quick, and you can tell me from a scale of one to evil mastermind, how crazy it is.”

“Wait. Let me get my cereal first.” He went to the kitchen, and Lexie drummed her fingers as she waited. He returned with a bowl of cereal and some orange juice, sliding into the seat. “Okay, go.”

“I want to create a new system of magic. Like Alchemy, but something everyone can use.”

“Okay, but haven’t you always wanted that? Isn't that what you've been working on?"

“Yeah, but I think I just hit my first breakthrough. It's just that I think in order to do it…I need human subjects for experimentation.”

That made his eyes go wide. “Okay. That's a little... wow.”

“Yeah, I know how it sounds, but hypothetically, if I have full consent and do it safely, there should be no problem, right? It doesn't make me evil?"

He chewed slowly, looking down at his spoon. 

“The Alchemist had full consent to do what he did to me. If you promise desperate people power, they will do whatever it takes to attain it. They'll overlook any danger you warn them about, hoping and believing that it doesn't happen to them."

Lexie nodded. “So I have to find people who aren’t desperate?” How would she measure that?

“I don't think that's possible," Tate said. "Why not experiment on yourself?”

“I will, but it might not work as well because I’m not fully human. I want to make sure my cards are usable by the vast population of humans.

“Hmm.” That didn’t say anything, but Lexie could tell from his face that he was very conflicted by what she was telling him.

So was she.

“Anyway, it’s just an idea," she said. "I still have to craft the first part of the card, to draw life from the dungeon, extract it to exist outside of it. I'll probably get started on that today. And who knows, maybe I might not need the human experimentation after all."

Tate nodded, but he didn't look convinced.

"I'm not going to tell you not to do it," he told her. "Just to be really careful."

She nodded.

She also materialized her other phone, the one she used to contact Isaac, and opened the link, which led her to a chat box.

She started with a hello and waited for a response. Nothing for now. Maybe he wasn't awake either.

She gave it a few more minutes before she teleported to the Hero headquarters.

There were reporters camped outside, a few of whom noticed her arrival, but Lexie ignored their yelling her name as she floated higher to where Vacek's office was.

Empty.

She drifted next door to Jerry's office. He was sitting there alone, hand on his head. He looked really stressed out. Also, was he crying?

Yes, yes, he was.  

Well, this was awkward.

Was he mourning Vacek, or was it just tears of frustration?

Lexie wanted to give him a few minutes, but she didn't have time. She rapped on his window, and he jerked around.

She waved, and he scrambled for the window, pulling it open and eying her suspiciously.

"Lexie Sparrowfoot. What are you doing here?"

'I'm here to offer you a deal," she said, reeciting the speech she'd prepared in her head. "I'm sure you're swamped with work, and possibly things are going to hell now that Vacek's not here. Well, I can help with that. Give me your hardest mission, and I will complete it without fail. On one condition. I want to talk to the Alchemist."