Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Page 753

These past two weeks, she’d really just wanted to be left alone, and for the most part, she’d been granted that. It was just too much. Everything. She wasn’t ready to think of herself as the responsible one, as the one who had to try to fill the unfillable chasms left by Mama and Papa and Cisco and even Gema. It was all wrong. All of it.

And then there was this training. It was the only thing she knew how to do, the only thing that seemed even remotely worth thinking about. And yet, her ability still terrified her. She hadn’t dared try to invoke it again, even though she knew that was the end goal here.

Training meant more than just meditating, however. It also required laborious study of anatomy and physiology. She’d always enjoyed biology, but she’d never studied it with this much rigor or sense of obligation.

Mutation was so strange. Unlike transfiguration and materialization, it didn’t rely on any particular elements. Rather, it stemmed from the formation and manipulation of biological molecules--proteins, in particular. Hers had manifested with keratin, according to Chergoa, which was apparently a common starting point for mutation users.

Some people call mutation “the anything power,” because in theory, you can use it to modify your body in any way you can imagine,’ the reaper had told her. ‘Now, that’s not QUITE true, but the sentiment is fairly accurate. For instance, with proper control, you could grow entirely new limbs--even wings, if you wanted. You could breathe fire. You could sharpen your senses, your reflexes, even make yourself more intelligent, potentially. Though, don’t try that last one, unless you’re extremely confident in your capabilities. Messing with your own brain is probably the most dangerous thing you can possibly do.

Emiliana was in no rush to mess with anything.

Oh, and when you think you’re ready, you should start practicing on your non-dominant hand. I know it sounds kinda terrible, but at least that way, if you make a mistake, the damage won’t be too bad.

11 comments:

  1. even though she knew that was end goal here. > was the end

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  2. One thing I've been wondering... Are there nerves and blood vessels in Emiliana's horns? If not, they could just cut or file them away until she learns to fix it. Looking normal seems so important to her. And it has been mentioned that plastic surgery can fix the changes until a regeneration restores the mutation. Emiliana has no desire to become a fighter, so regenerating her won't happen all that often. Of course, these aren't the most pressing concerns now, but making her feel better about herself still seems like a good thing.


    Typo:
    "the only thing that seem[ed] even remotely worth thinking about."

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  3. She has to be a fighter to protect her family she is the oldest left. It says that she has started off with keratin which is a protein commonly make up hair and finger nails also things like a rhino's horn which is basically what Emiliana has growing on her head so I would not think that they would have Blood vessels flowing in.

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  4. Mm, that would take a while, and she and Chergoa are more concerned with becoming combat-ready, I think. Also, her horns and claws would slowly regrow naturally, even without invoking the regeneration. It'd be analogous to cutting her hair or clipping her fingernails.

    Fixed the typo, thank you.

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  5. So will she have to trim her horn every so often so she doesn't end up with a flagpole growing out of her head, or does it just grow to a certain length like human hair and nails will? Well most of the time at any rate. Some people can grow them out near indefinitely I believe.

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  6. Nah, the horns and claws will maintain their length unless she uses her power to make them even longer.

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  7. I find that unlikely...I suspect she will seek much subtler ways to become stronger. Which could be quite awesome in time :D


    You know...looking almost entirely human but moving at insane speeds with strength and nearly impenetrable skin...

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  8. I'm on what I expect to be the last big revision - several refining runs to go I'm sure but no more such thorough re-writes. Took a while to get my character development to the level I wanted. Hopefully the lessons learnt will speed production of the sequel.

    That said, I could really, really use active beta readers, I got like nothing right now. I post the chapters on the following link (it's my own wordpress site), and also on that page is a link to the archived second revision version for comparison if you choose to go that far. The homepage of the site will also provide links to my current e-book, a collection of four long-ish short stories, free to download.

    http://www.thewordpile.com/?p=2172

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  9. Singer, is the novel available yet in any form? It sounds interesting.

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  10. Ah I knew Mutation would be the seriously scary ability of the six. I was really hoping Helen had gotten it, but I guess seeing how it manifested in Emy, Helen being in a very public position would have been a very bad thing.

    Seems Elroys are inclined to win the power lottery, though Emy would no doubt vehemently disagree

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