Strongest Incubus System

The man kept smiling.

Damon did not.

"Name."

No answer.

"This usually works better when the other person answers."

The man tilted his head slightly.

The plate in Aria’s hands vibrated.

TRANSFER: ACTIVE BEARER.

RECONSTITUTION: 89%.

Aurelia became serious.

"Don’t let it reach one hundred."

Damon glanced over.

"I had figured that much out."

The man stood.

Slowly.

His legs trembled.

His body still looked unable to support its own weight, but with every second new lines appeared beneath the skin.

Muscles closed.

Tendons reorganized.

One of the missing fingers began to emerge as a pale mass of incomplete flesh.

Ester tightened the needles between her fingers.

"Reconstitution is finishing him here."

"Using the network?" Damon asked.

"No," Aurelia answered.

Everyone looked at her.

She was watching the man.

"Using Transfer."

Damon frowned.

"Explain."

"Reconstitution is in Sector Zero. Transfer is bringing every completed part here."

The plate pulsed.

RECONSTITUTION: 90%.

Damon looked at the man.

"Then cutting Transfer interrupts delivery."

"Yes."

"Excellent."

He moved forward.

Aurelia grabbed his arm.

"No."

Damon stopped.

"Another one?"

"Transfer doesn’t move only matter."

He looked at her.

"I know."

"No. You don’t."

The bearer raised one hand.

There was no energy.

No formation.

Even so, Damon felt something touch his sword.

A tug.

The blade vanished.

He went still.

The sword reappeared in the man’s hand.

Damon looked at his empty hand.

Then at him.

"That was rude."

The man examined the sword.

"Simple object."

Damon smiled without humor.

"He talks."

"Transferable."

The sword vanished again.

Reappeared on the floor behind Damon.

Ester threw a needle.

The man did not dodge.

The needle disappeared centimeters from his neck.

Reappeared embedded in the wall.

Xue Mei’s eyes widened.

"He swaps position."

Aurelia corrected her.

"Relationship."

Damon looked over.

"What’s the practical difference?"

"A lot."

The man extended one hand toward Damon.

"Position is only one of the things Transfer moves."

The open golden mark on Damon’s arm reacted.

He immediately stepped back.

"I didn’t like that."

Xue Lian noticed.

"He tried to transfer the mark."

"Where?"

The man answered.

"To me."

Silence.

Damon raised an eyebrow.

"You want Dominion."

"No."

Aurelia lost color.

"He wants the candidate condition."

Damon looked at her.

"What?"

"Transfer can move reference."

The man smiled again.

"Correct."

Damon closed his eyes for a moment.

"Of course."

The plate vibrated.

RECONSTITUTION: 91%.

Aria raised her head.

"It’s accelerating."

Vorn, leaning against the entrance, watched the man as though he had forgotten he was still injured.

"He’s using every transfer as calibration."

Damon looked at him.

"For the body?"

"For the function."

Vorn pointed at the man’s hand.

"Every time he moves something, Transfer tests how the reconstructed body responds."

Aurelia understood.

"Reconstitution receives the result."

Damon looked at the plate.

"Then fighting feeds both of them."

"Yes."

He exhaled.

"Today really isn’t my day."

The man opened his arms.

"Come."

Damon did not move.

"No."

Pause.

The man tilted his head.

"You refuse combat."

"I’m starting to learn."

Xue Lian smiled.

So did Aurelia.

The man lost part of his smile.

Then Transfer attacked.

Damon saw no energy at all.

He only felt the world change.

Ester disappeared from beside him.

Reappeared where the man had been.

The man appeared beside Damon.

Very close.

Damon turned on instinct.

Elbow strike.

The blow hit his face.

Once.

The man staggered.

Damon tried to follow.

Stopped.

Ester shouted.

"No!"

He understood.

The second blow never came.

Damon stepped back.

The man touched his own face.

Blood.

"Good decision."

"Thank you."

Aurelia looked at Ester.

"He transferred complete positions."

"Without a portal."

"Yes."

"Limit?"

"There has to be one."

Aria was already writing.

"Distance?"

"Maybe."

"Weight?"

"Probably."

"Resistance?"

Aurelia went silent.

Damon noticed.

"That’s the important question."

The man looked at him.

"Resistance exists."

"Excellent."

"It can be removed."

"Less excellent."

Xue Lian became serious.

"How?"

The man answered without hesitation.

"Consent."

Damon started laughing.

Everyone looked at him.

"Perfect."

Ester frowned.

"Why is that funny?"

"Because they spent centuries removing Refusal, and now even Transfer depends on some form of acceptance."

Aurelia looked at the man.

"He’s talking too much."

Damon lost his smile.

"Yes."

The man continued.

"Forced transfer has a high cost."

"What?"

"Integrity."

The plate vibrated.

RECONSTITUTION: 92%.

Damon looked at it.

"His."

Vorn answered.

"Or whatever is being transferred."

The man smiled.

"Both."

Xue Lian raised one hand.

A thin layer of ice appeared on the floor.

Not an attack.

A marker.

She drew a circle around each person’s feet.

Damon understood immediately.

"Fixed references."

"Yes."

The man looked at them.

Xue Lian finished.

"No one leaves their own circle without warning."

Ester nodded.

So did Aria.

Xue Mei stood beside her mother.

Damon looked at the bearer.

"Now if someone switches places, we’ll know."

The man disappeared.

Reappeared inside Vorn’s circle.

Vorn appeared in his.

Damon smiled.

"Thank you."

The bearer went still.

Vorn looked down.

Then at Damon.

"That was the plan?"

"Now we know he doesn’t need to touch."

"Brilliant."

"You’re learning."

Vorn looked like he wanted to answer.

Ester pointed at him.

"Save your blood."

The bearer raised one hand.

Everyone tensed.

Nothing happened.

Damon looked at the circles.

Everyone was still inside their own.

Then Aria lost her notebook.

It appeared in the man’s hand.

"Hey."

The man opened it.

Read a page.

Aria looked offended.

"That’s personal."

Damon looked at her.

"He just tried to steal my candidate condition and your problem is the notebook?"

"Yes."

"Fair."

The man tore out a page.

Aria took a step.

Damon held her shoulder.

"No."

She stopped.

The man smiled.

"Refusal learned."

Damon narrowed his eyes.

"He’s testing behavior."

Aurelia became serious.

"Transfer always needed to predict resistance."

"So he watches the reaction before moving something more important."

"Yes."

The plate vibrated.

RECONSTITUTION: 93%.

Damon looked at it.

"Enough."

Ester immediately answered.

"You’re not attacking."

"No."

She looked suspicious.

Damon pointed at Aria.

"Plate."

She handed it over.

He looked at Observation.

"You’re seeing this?"

YES.

"Is Transfer using the network?"

Pause.

PARTIALLY.

"Legitimate part?"

YES.

"Artificial part?"

YES.

Damon smiled.

Aurelia understood.

"You’re going to separate them."

"It was fun the last few times."

Vorn closed his eyes.

"Therapy."

Ester tightened his bandage.

"I warned you."

The man advanced.

Not toward Damon.

Toward the plate.

Damon released it immediately.

The plate fell.

The bearer hesitated.

Damon saw it.

"You expected me to keep holding it."

No answer.

"You needed opposition."

Aurelia’s eyes widened.

"Transfer requires two references."

Damon looked at her.

"Origin and destination."

"Yes."

"If no one claims the object..."

Xue Lian finished.

"The function loses priority conflict."

Damon smiled.

"Dominion."

The golden symbol on the floor responded.

PRESENT.

The man finally lost his smile.

Damon pointed at him.

"Transfer is trying to move something without consent and without functional necessity."

Silence.

Dominion analyzed.

CONFLICT DETECTED.

The bearer raised his hand.

The plate began sliding across the floor.

Damon did not touch it.

Neither did Aria.

No one did anything.

The object reached the man.

Dominion responded.

PRIORITY ABSENT.

His hand stopped.

Damon smiled.

"Interesting."

The man went still.

Damon realized his mistake.

"Sorry. That was your word."

Xue Lian almost laughed.

The plate vibrated on the floor.

Observation spoke.

ARTIFICIAL TRANSFER OVERLAID ON ORIGINAL FUNCTION.

Aurelia lost color.

"Observation can separate them."

Damon looked at it.

"Then explain."

The message appeared.

ORIGINAL FUNCTION: REDISTRIBUTE POSITION, ENERGY, OR LOAD BETWEEN ACCEPTED PATHS.

Another.

ARCHITECT ALTERATION: TRANSFER REFERENCE, FUNCTIONAL IDENTITY, AND WILL BETWEEN VESSELS.

Damon became very quiet.

"That second part sounds familiar."

Xue Lian nodded.

"It was used on me."

Aurelia looked at her.

Her mother’s memory.

Authority torn away.

Transferred to the child.

Damon looked at the man.

"You did that."

The bearer answered.

"Yes."

The room became cold.

Not because of magic.

Because of Xue Lian.

The first reflex of an authority that no longer belonged to her tried to emerge.

She closed her eyes.

Refused.

The cold died.

Damon noticed.

She did not need him for that fight.

"Xue Lian."

She opened her eyes.

"I know."

"Don’t give him what he wants."

"I know."

The man smiled again.

"You always resisted better than the others."

Xue Lian went completely still.

Damon took one step.

The circle beneath his feet cracked.

Ester looked at him.

"Damon."

"I’m not going to attack."

He stared at the bearer.

"But now we have an objective."

The man raised his hand.

"You cannot separate Transfer from me."

"Vorn said something similar."

Vorn looked offended.

"I said something technically more elaborate."

"Summary."

Damon looked at the plate.

"Observation."

PRESENT.

"Does the original part of Transfer recognize Refusal?"

Pause.

YES.

The bearer disappeared.

Damon felt the world pull.

He did not resist.

For an instant.

Transfer tried to swap his position with Xue Lian’s.

Damon spoke before it could finish.

"No."

The change failed.

Space snapped.

He remained where he was.

So did Xue Lian.

The man reappeared in the center.

His black eyes narrowed.

Damon smiled.

"That was good."

The plate answered.

TRANSFER REFUSED.

Aurelia began to understand.

"The Architects didn’t remove Refusal from the original function."

"Not completely," Damon replied. "They just built a layer that ignored it."

Xue Lian became serious.

"Then we remove the layer."

The man attacked again.

Ester was pulled.

"No!"

Failed.

Aria.

"No."

Failed.

Xue Mei.

"No."

Failed.

Vorn hesitated for half a second.

His body vanished.

Reappeared beside the man.

"Shit."

Damon looked over.

"You hesitated."

"I’m injured."

"Bad excuse."

The bearer grabbed Vorn by the throat.

Ester moved forward.

"Let him go!"

Damon raised one hand.

"No."

She stopped.

Vorn looked at Damon as though considering that betrayal.

Damon spoke calmly.

"Vorn."

"Yes?"

"Do you want to stay there?"

"No."

"Then say it."

Vorn closed his eyes.

"No."

The bearer’s grip weakened.

Not physically.

Functionally.

Vorn disappeared.

Reappeared inside his own circle.

Dropped to his knees.

Ester reached him immediately.

"It worked."

Damon looked at the man.

"Your problem is that everyone here just had an intensive lesson on consent."

Aurelia laughed despite her exhaustion.

The plate vibrated.

RECONSTITUTION: 94%.

The humor died.

Damon looked at Observation.

"How do we disconnect Reconstitution?"

TRANSFER MAINTAINS THE ROUTE.

"Then we close Transfer."

The bearer raised both hands.

For the first time, dozens of lines appeared.

White.

Black.

Gray.

Connecting him to space.

To the walls.

To the plate.

To everyone.

Aurelia lost color.

"Now he’s going to force it."

Damon nodded.

"Let him."

Ester turned.

"What?"

"If he uses the artificial layer at maximum scale..."

Xue Lian understood.

"It has to expose itself."

Damon smiled.

"Exactly."

The lines attacked.

Each searching for a reference.

Damon.

Xue Lian.

Ester.

Aria.

Xue Mei.

Vorn.

Aurelia.

They all felt the same command.

TRANSFER.

Damon closed his eyes.

He did not fight the energy.

Did not cut a line.

Only recognized it.

That was not a path.

Not redistribution.

It was possession.

A will trying to turn someone into origin or destination without choice.

He opened his eyes.

"No."

Xue Lian spoke with him.

"No."

Ester.

"No."

Aria.

"No."

Xue Mei.

"No."

Aurelia.

"No."

Even Vorn.

"No."

The artificial lines froze.

All of them.

The white network entered the room.

Not as an attack.

As comparison.

The plate shone.

ORIGINAL FUNCTION IDENTIFIED.

ARTIFICIAL OVERLAY IDENTIFIED.

The man’s eyes widened.

For the first time.

Damon smiled.

"Got you."

The network responded.

INITIATING SEPARATION.

Transfer screamed.

And the plate immediately jumped to:

RECONSTITUTION: 95%.

Aurelia went pale.

"He’ll finish first."

Damon looked at the man as the black lines began being torn from his body.

"Then we need to be faster."