Jessica’s Secret Loft

He felt the wings unfurl from his back and looked back seeing nothing he was a little shocked they could feel so real and then he looked up to see Jessica hovering above him.

She smiled feeling the spell take hold and said, "Follow me."

He took flight and found it to be an entirely new experience unlike anything he had ever felt before. She landed on a loft that you couldn't see from the ground below. "There are no cameras up her and even the system can't see this place," She explained quickly, "It knows it exists but can not see inside. The contract you signed will allow you to use knowledge that gain here but you will not be able to speak about it to anyone and if you try to, it will trigger a spell and you would spell yourself to forget all about this place. I have already placed an action triggered spell on you. Only my parents and my closest friends have ever been up here but the idiots forgot to not talk about anywhere else so they spelled themselves," She explained disappointment entering her voice talking about her family and friends, "Right now you and I are the only people in existence who know anything about what this place looks like. Kinda a cool prize isn't it?" Jessica smiled at him.

They spent the next couple of hours exploring her hidden workshop and he found many items that would indeed be dangerous in the hands of anyone other than Jessica. It was amazing to see the wondrous things her mind had come up with that she had chosen to keep hidden. He asked her, "Why did you build this place?" Jessica tilted her head in confusion. Looking around she just sighed.

"How many things have you seen that would have earned me another title?," She asked sincerely.

"Thousands from my best estimation," He said looking around.

"How many titles do I already have?" She asked him.

"The last time I checked you were well over a million more than a few hundred being unique," he replied.

"And when did I receive my first title?"

"The moment you were born and very quickly afterwards you earned another."

"How many titles does the average Karthing have?"

"About a thousand commen and usually at least 1 unique." As the words left his mouth, he began to truly understand. "Oh, I see now. You are outstanding in so many ways but everything you did as a child was somehow new to the world and it sets you apart."

"Exactly, here I am free to let my imagination run wild without having to glance down at my phone and see this title or that title. The truth is there are millions of things up here all of them entirely unique. None of which I am currently willing to share. Now there are a few more things I want you to see that I can talk you through a simpler version to adapt to the research you therozied earlier." She flew to another loft above the one they were on it too was not visible from below.

He learned so many things in a short amount of time. he had to slow her down a bit but he was holding his own with one of the greatest scientific minds he had ever encountered. Scratch that THE greatest scientific mind he had ever encountered. She had always stood out for her magic and she had invented some amazing tech but it blew him away to see that on a planet full of geniuses she had more than 10 times the skill and aptitude of the most accomplished among them. When she had finished showing him what she had planned to he asked her. "How can you do all of this but you haven't found a cure for the curse yet?"

Jessica sighed, " I have run dozens of simulations on thousands of scenarios and the only solution I have come up with so far is we need an emerald." She looked around at what suddenly felt like a useless junk. "Before the Blackout I had wanted to find one to confirm our ancestors theories on how and why Karth is here and why they were torn from their lives and placed here. I mean I am always out of place so I can't imagine starting off knowing your place in this universe and suddenly having a new one but I imagine it must have been jarring. I think if I can access the system behind the firewall I will find a way to bring back the dead to finally trigger the first respawn but I am a long way from finding an access point. I have the tech and the spells ready for when I do but they really did a good job scrubbing the records when the 7th Fae vanished. No video no audio no titles nothing," She said this last sentence through clenched teeth.

"You have put a lot of thought into this haven't you?" he asked her.

"Yes, I have also come up with a theory I want to run by you," she said a little hope in her voice.

"What is it?," He asked surprised by her yet again.

"Something that we don't know about is somehow draining off the planets magic. I think from the start and the drain is growing steadily. It doesn't make sense that it hasn't created a plant to cure the curse. When you study history closely you see patterns in the way of the system. When people were talking about needing insulin how long did it take before someone "found" the plant that heals the pancreas? Less than a week right? After the first case of altimers was diagnosed two days later we "found" the Fire Plant. Disease after disease a diagnosis is followed by a cure. We needed a reliable and renewable source of milk and meat, bam milkworms were found. We did find other ways of using these things not listed by the quickidents but that isn't the point now is it?"

A dawn of realization at how right she actually was washed over him. No one had made the connection because no one had thought to look. They had been new to this world and a lot of things had happened all at once. Everyone else had thought all of these things had evolved on the planet before their arrival but honestly it was all a little too neat. I mean Karth is named Karth because someone commented that this new planet was kinda like an artificial Earth and a nearby kid had dubbed it K.A.rth. The man thought to himself. The name stuck but they stopped using the acronym long ago.

"What do you think the drain is?," he asked.

"I don't have enough data to posit a theory one that," Jessica said clearly frustrated.

"The magic increased our lifespans by more than double their expectancy. It enhanced our minds and our bodies. The whole planet seems to be designed to make our lives happy, healthy and safe. Then why the monsters and dungeons?," he asked.

"I go back and forth on that one. It is either an outside influence or it thought that was what the people wanted since so many of them were into video games and syfy and shit," Jessica replied, "Whoo, it feels good to say this stuff out loud."

"If you do find the respawn are you sure you should activate it?," he pondered.

"Well, since the beginning we have kept our population growth low in case it ever happened and we built the empty Cities of Hope for a place for them to live if it ever did. So, hell yeah, I wanna meet Jesse and the triple J's who came before me! It would mean stopping making new babies but people who want children could be pretty happy with P.A.I.L. babies. They grow up slower and even go through rebellious teen cycles. I don't have the choice if I ever want kids I am gonna have to go with one. I mean M.A.V.I.S. is turning out to be a bigger handful than I thought but I started her programing off as a young adult because I was still a bit young to be a mother when I launched her. I couldn't put the genie back in the bottle, so now we have this weird dynamic where I am kind of her mother and kind of her programmer."

"Have they figured out why your family has been having issues with that?," He asked cautiously, not wanting to be intrusive but also curious as any Karthing would be.

"No, the working theory is that long exposure to the Fae has mutated our dna on a level we can't quantify. It is happening to a lesser extent in other Fae families but I have no way of confirming it without seeing the data set from a perspective other than my own," she said calmly.

"If everyone respawned, how much would our population grow?," He wondered out loud.

"Well since we have kept it mostly 1 new life for one lost, the humans would outnumber everyone else now but I believe at last count we had 77,405,250 dead," Jessica informed him, "Their bodies were also examined post Blackout and none have degraded but they all bear the same scar tissue as the rest of the population."

"That is a huge spike!," he said sputtering, "Are you still sure it is a good idea?"

"If I can gain access to the system to respawn everyone, than I would have stopped the drain and the system could help out with food until we get back in the swing of things," Jessica replied, adding, "This planet is huge and our total population would still be sustainable. We could have expanded into the billions and not even taking up enough space on the land masses to have an impact.." She smiled brightly at the thought of Karth having billions of people on her. Never gonna happen we learned from the mistakes of Earth, she thought, plus all of the dead already had their kids.

"So many have died from old age though," He replied not because he didn't believe Jessica had thought this through but because he wanted to know her answer.

"I know and if respawning is possible than I think we were never meant to die of old age," Jessica said, "If that is true than the system will have an answer for it."

"You are putting a lot of stock in a theory," he said nodding his approval as he scolded her.

"If I am wrong than I will change and adapt," she said, "That is what we Karthings do after all."

Both laughed a little and she smiled at him.

"Oh hellscape we have been at this for 6 hours!," He said looking at his watch.

"Actually, I can't disappear for that long we have only been here for about 3 mins. Sorry I forgot to tell you about the time warp spell."

"The hellscape can't you do?," He asked studying her face.

She thought about this and after a few minutes she replied, "Stop our planet from dying without the access I need."

"What do you mean dieing?," he asked shocked.

"If it had started letting the seasons run right after the Blackout like I told it to, repeatedly, we would have more time but as it stands," She stood up and tugged on her braids, "My best estimate is that Karth only has about a thousand cycles left. An elf born today would live to see the world end," Jessica said sadly. "One of the reasons I went on the bullshit quests for the Chairman was to look for clues to access point and in two cycles I haven't found anything."

"You are still holding back aren't you? You are dumbing things down so I can keep up," he asked as he saw her carefully choosing her words.

"It isn't dumbing things down to explain using a language someone else can understand. Think of it like my brain is speaking elvish and I need to explain something to you in English I would have to find the right way to phrase something in your tongue so you we could speak the same language. My dad gets most of what I say if I speak my own language but he is the only one I have found who comes close." Jessica sighed, "Being overpowered compared to a million people who are overpowered compared to the people of their home planets… it is just so lonely sometimes. Thank you for being a release valve for me today. Let's go back down and I will show you some stuff in my public workshop."

They flew back down to the main floor and she removed the wings spell. Everything he saw on her main floor was just as amazing as what she had hidden away. This astronaut had had a very big day.

The P.A.I.L. winner who was from a family on the STAR contenant had one as well as M.A.V.I.S. let her select an assignment to retrieve specific items for a family and take them to them. The winning P.A.I.L. had chosen the chosen the "fairy life expansion pack" untested version as their new software patch. It allowed the P.A.I.L. to be invisible and solid at the same time. M.A.V.I.S. was disappointed she wasn't going to be the first to try it but she did get to try a lot of things Jessica came up with first. This all took place at the time that Jessica had given the astronaut his tour. M.A.V.I.S. called Jessica as she was returning the astronaut to the heaven's. She told Jessica which add on the winner had chosen and Jessica installed it for her remotely. She wrote detailed instructions on how to use it and locked it in as a unique operation for the P.A.I.L.

"If you have any issues with it deactivate it and call me immediately," she told the happy as milkworm P.A.I.L.

When Jessica had finished returning the astronaut to the grav-station she wished him luck and changed her status back. She did a silent spell to respond to all the messages with questions she was willing to answer. She had received to many to be bothered to read them all she didn't want anyone to go unanswered but the increase in the past few days had become a bit much. Having cleared her inbox of messages that the spell could auto reply to she sighed happily. She saw a few messages she actually wanted to read. The dark elves winner had been chosen. They probably woke up to be in the storm she thought smiling. The boy had also messaged her directly. She messaged the dark elf winner asking if they wanted lunch tomorrow or dinner tonight. Then she read the message from the boy. As she read it, she realized it was in a version of the language in her head. He wanted to see her hidden place and wanted her to come see his. It was a basic form of the language she had to admit but it was so much closer than even her father had ever gotten. She responded positively and said they would do it tomorrow in her full langue and she waited for his reply. He had understood most of what she said! Jessica was in full battle mode now. She had found someone to take up the quest if she somehow failed. This was the true purpose of the "impromptu" contest. When she had nearly died over stupid milkworm dung she felt a fear in soul that she would somehow fail. She could not accept failure from herself. Everyone who loved her thought the pressure was a simple normal response to the pressure of being front and center. The whole truth was that she had known instinctively when the blade cut through Peter that there was more to this world than even she had ever dreamed. That was when she created the hidden space. She didn't use magic in public never casting a single spell but in that protected pocket of time she did, not for herself or for other people but for the planet itself. No one else knew how much she had been using magic in secret. She had plans in little pockets of her mind that had to be tested and she had to use magic without the systems knowledge to test theories that had formed about herself and about the world she called home. I will save you and if it kills me, I have found another. She knew something other than her family's connection to the Fae had grown her power on purpose since she had proven she could handle it at birth. She just couldn't imagine what or who it truly was. That was why she needed a place on Karth but not of Karth to work in. You can not save a world simply by wishing it so. She calculated she would need 50 emerald wishes to do it that way and only 2 had ever appeared and all the known dungeons had been defeated long ago.

Meanwhile the former Chairman had hidden behind the large stone wall at the back of the telepad on the SUN continente hiding further still behind a holo-projectored disguise.

Jessica did not return to SUN from the space station however as she headed directly to MOON to meet with the winner. The Chairman watching Jessica show punched the back of the telepad in a fit of rage.

Jessica had no knowledge of this and only the system and world police P.A.I.L. had any idea he was their. Neither of them knew what is doing there and were having trouble tracking his movements accurately.

Jessica appeared on the MOON telepad and was greeted by a throng of dark elves, "Whoa ho what is happening?" She cried out in surprise. Arholo and Peter greeted her stepping up to the telepad.

"We are taking them storm chasing there are few and Harmon is already off with another group," Peter informed her. She double checked the message the dark elf had sent he had written it in elvish and Jessica had made the mistake of only glancing at because she was excited about tomorrow. It had said tonight please water that falls from the sky and washes the world a new. She had only read as far as Tonight please. Never underestimate a dark elve's desires, she thought smiling.

She walked to where the winner had asked to meet and checked the dopplers directly. She picked out a truly epic storm happening near an island with a telepad that she knew would hit it soon. She directed the other there too. "It will hit in about 15 minutes so they should have time to set up any clan rituals," She called Harmon and told him to take his group there. She waited for him to confirm his groups arrival and when he told her everyone was clear of 20 meter radius of the pad. She explained a new spell to Peter and Arholo so they could get the large group there quickly. The got everyone that could fit on the pad on it and gathered everyone else near it. Jessica reached out with her magic and expanded the pads influence radius Peter and Arholo cast protective barriers around the large group. Nearly of the 310,000 dark elf blood population was in this group. She double checked with Harmon that he could see the light line she was projecting on the other side and that no one was in it. He confirmed and she triggered the spell sending them all to the island in one go.

Now Jessica was just trying to help a race that hadn't been able to practice their rituals properly in 5k cycles get to the party on time but of course the system granted her yet another unique title. Crap I forgot that no one has ever done a transport on this scale before. She thought ignoring the notification.

She had stayed behind to get the rest who hadn't wanted mass transport. Checking with Harmon for when the pad was clear she activated it and sent 5 smaller groups through double checking everyone had gotten there safely then ported herself. Of course the telepads had safeties and you wouldn't get hurt if you had to wait a second before you appeared but the feeling that came with that wait was not one she wanted ruining their joy filled moods. She called several food servers in the main cities to inform them of the public event taking place. She had the boys go get their pop up stores and employees. She pulled out quick set up holo tents and slapped them on the ground activating them and when Arholo had come back from his first trip he put the food he brought in one of them. He pulled out his own set of tents but before he activated them Jessica walk up and asked, "Can you change the setting on yours to bathrooms right quick?"

He nodded his agreement and dug the holes first. Changed his settings and slapped his sticks down. He did the second one wrong the first time and quickly fixed it. When he was done Jessica nodded her approval. Two bathrooms with 2 toilets and sinks appeared about 10 meters from where she had set up the tents. The dark fae where all setting up their rituals and Jessica had thought, Every since the Blackout Harmon has been taking the medical option. His sister, I made sure would be able to hibernate naturally, after threating to quit if the Chairman insisted on his stupid request but with her off the team I needed him. She decided to speak with him before it was time for the next one. She was going to make sure he got the rest that his kind actually needed.