Shadows of the Night

        My eyes squinted shut as I was assaulted by both the soft embrace of warm sheets and a familiar musty scent upon the pillow my head rested upon. Inhaling it reminded me that I should probably wash it, but if the cover could withstand being unwashed for three months, then it would be fine for awhile more.

           I turned to my side, pulling the sheets with me. It felt nice to sleep in on a Saturday for once, rather than getting up bright and early to get all the goofing off I wanted to do.

           The hum of the air conditioner lightly thrummed through the air, its stream of white noise helping to mitigate the sounds of both pedestrian and vehicular traffic from being more than another layer against the white. It was soothing, and it almost made up for the fact that I’d have to get up soon and forgo the realm of dreams where shadows bowed to my whim and I could hop around on slivers of darkness.

***Caligo***

           //ERROR: System Contamination [incompatible crystalline compound]

           //Check to make sure any new hardware or software has been properly installed (y/n)

           >y

           //MEMORY TESTING…

           //MEMORY TESTING…

           //Corrupted Files Detected: Outdated Hardware: Partial Install: Deleting

           //Memory Testing:  19152512 5 1420 GRN

           //Cached Files Found: Reinstalling

           //…

           //…

           //…

           //Files Reinstalled

           //Reboot Initiated

           //…

           //…

           Systems Online: Goodnight World

           //System Scan: Emotivore Detected: Subject-Nightmare

           //Past History Status: corrupted, unmanageable

           //Containment Initiating

           //Captured: Isolating: Integrating energy w/ internal sys [beginning recharge]

***Rumor***

           I bolted upright, the echoes of a scream dying in my ears as I called the darkness to shield me in my panic, it came sluggishly, but I regained my senses enough to realize it must have been a nightmare, yet another reason why I was glad to no longer need sleep. No longer having to deal with the echoes of feelings where every last one of my conscious barriers was forcibly down. I was glad that no one was around to see me wipe at my eyes. It must have been a pretty harsh dream.

           Sighing I pulled myself up, any echoes of dream fluff long gone now, as I looked around the room. Well, I was on a bed, a great big circular one, with dark blue sheets, covers, and pillow slips that all blended in well together, the room it inhabited in was another story. All along the walls, which were black, with specks of white dotting along it, were heaps of paperwork, doodles and little bits of machine work that spilled over onto the floor and wastebaskets. But despite its chaotic appearance it held certain clarity to it. It was like looking at an unfinished dream as an artist as he flitted from one idea to the next as ideas poured out of him in fits and spurts of creativity only to find another breath of inspiration elsewhere. In fact, the room looked more like a workshop that someone had dumped a bed into.

           As I began to slide out of the bed, careful not to step and crush something, unsure of what was garbage and merely unfinished, that a bit of ashen colored skin caught my attention. I was naked. And that wasn’t going to fly. I looked over the room and tried to look for my inky cloak and boots, but they were nowhere to be found, unless I wanted to go through any of the piles along the walls and floor, but that didn’t seem likely I would find them there, or that I would be able to make myself paw through someone else’s belongs like that. I certainly wasn’t in a hospital this time, the utter lack of a sickeningly clean smell was enough of a hint. But I certainly wasn’t going to keep walking about exposed like I was.

           Giving call to the shadows hiding in and behind the piles of ideas and unfinished works I noticed that they came a bit slower than usual, but paid little enough mind, I wasn’t in my cloak and the lack of total darkness around me meant I wasn’t in peak condition in the twilight of a room where a heavy curtain blocked nearly all the sun's light.  The shadows played along my skin and were left insubstantial and I crept to the door.

           Once in the hall, having a thin carpet, like the kind you find in schools, filled the floor with the same dark blue as the bed, save a few holes and scorch marks here and there that revealed a cement floor beneath. The gentle machine humming had gotten louder, and I followed it, mostly due to the fact the hall had little more than another door across from it and the sound was coming from a nearby staircase, which I quickly descended.

           Once downstairs the sound of rustling papers and the stink of coffee assaulted my nose. I also noticed that things were much neater on the first floor, there was a living room, the carpet was made from a lighter blue and there was also a dark wood coffee table surrounded by two brown stuffed chairs and a couch. All of which were not being used. Moving farther along the wall by the stairs, I poked my head across a corner and found the source of the noise, and stink. It was Sprocket, sitting on a low wooden stool, widened to accommodate her quadrupedal form, sipping coffee on top of what was, probably, a white rock counter, but was covered with so many stains it looked like speckled grey.

           Becoming more acutely aware of my nudity in the presence of a lady, I politely cleared my throat, causing Sprocket to jump out of her seat and send the scalding liquid into my face once she saw my shadow encrusted face.

           “AHHH, PAIN!” I said, bending over and wiping burning coffee from my face to my now burning hands as the shadows unraveled from my face and down my chest.

           “Oh crap, I’m sorry, you surprised me and I thought-” she said reaching over to get a washcloth and began to rub at my face, clearing away the rest of the liquid before I heard her gasp and take a few steps back.

“What’s wrong?” I said as I opened my eyes and immediately placed my hands over my exposed crotch, quite luckily still covered in darkness. I was quite glad that there were heavy curtains over the windows and that they were drawn tight leaving only a few stray sunbeams and a few hanging lamps to hold the darkness at bay over on the kitchen counter

“Your face, it was blistering. I saw the skin begin to redden and bubble.” She said, thankfully starring at my face, and was beginning to raise a hoof to it, “And now it’s completely gone.” she said as she now touched my face, her eyes wide. I was just glad for the chance to weave some of the darkness from my pores to thicken the shadows around my lower half, still insubstantial, but at least it was presentable.

“Umm, yeah, I have a good regenerative ability when I’m in low levels of light.” I absently said, reaching up a hand to bring the red hoof away from my face. “But, and I hate to be a bother, but could you please tell me where I am and where my clothes are, I feel a little naked without them.”

At this Sprocket lost what I could only hope was simply a healthy scientific gleam of inquiry in her eye and took a step back and looked down a little and said, “Yeah, those things went up in flames when you…” she trailed off, her eyes beginning to water, “I know I should have done more tests, but the preliminary results were just so promising that I had the crystal charged but it just lost its power so quick I didn’t even have time to notice it when it simply turned off and I got surrounded by those thugs and I couldn’t,”  she broke off, as she continued to hold back tears as she tried to catch her breath and seemingly allowing only one to fall, “do anything, but I wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction of seeing me looking weak at the very least and then you showed up like a thing out of Tartarus and then you filled the gem with an outburst of power and it made my spot welder go haywire and burst you all into flame and I thought you were dead but you still choked onto life even though you were covered in cracked red and black flesh and I brought you back to my experimental healing chamber because it was closer than the hospital and I wasn’t sure you’d make it otherwise and,” she fully stopped she looked like she was ready to burst, but all she did was whisper, “ I’m sorry” she said, finally taking a breath before  a look of consternation overtook her. As she lowered her head to her chest she closed her eyes, the sudden heave of her emotions having caught up with her as she silently released her tears, unwilling to make another sound.

The one silver lining to my negative self-loathing tendencies, I’m unable to stand seeing anyone else in pain. I stood there a few moments trying to move past my own shock at seeing someone just break down in front of me, but I took two steps forward and kneeled down beside her as I wrapped my arm around her silently, unable to think of anything to say myself as she leaned into me. She was much warmer that I was.

A few moments went by, my mind still trying to figure out something to say when a little bit of what was once trivial fantasy knowledge about elemental attacks, “I should thank you too, damage from sources of light are the hardest for me to heal from, Thank you for treating me.”

That seemed to have made her feel a little better as she finally gave a loud, mucous laden sniff of her nose as she wiped away a few more tears, “You're welcome” she said with a tenuous smile.

I just sat there; glad she was now at least looking better, when it hit me, “experimental healing chamber?” I said, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh, yeah” she said, rubbing her hoof through her wild mane, “it’s a mesophase mixture which uses-”

“What’s a mesophase?”

“What, oh, sorry, it means liquid crystal, and no not molten, just very fine grade. The point behind them is that not only do they move, but they will settle down in a lattice so the translational symmetry goes in one direction.” She paused, looking at my wooden face, “It means that it will always settle into a specific pattern despite any changes that are made to disturb it. They were constructed because crystals themselves can only be charged with so much energy before they detonate, meaning there is only certain strength of spell they can hold, but if they are in a nematic phase then they are able to simulate the kinetic release, but still maintain a charge.”

Seeing my reaction to be unchanged she started again. “In neigh-man’s terms it means I can supercharge the crystal and thus make certain processes go faster, like a basic healing spell, though once I get the process right more directed spells would be able to be used to speed recovery times or beyond, such a brain or muscle augmentation.”

“Almost sounds like you’re trying to live forever.” I said, jokingly. Sprocket’s eyes and mouth, however, were busy expanding and generally looking like she could be knocked over by a leaf. “Uh, you okay?”

Shaking her head, “Uh, yeah, I’m fine. And again, I’m sorry about your clothes.”

“Well, while I won’t admit, that I don’t miss them, being a gift, the real problem is that it was lined with all the money I had. And, well, back home clothes are a mode of decency. I mean, I can make do with this” I said pointing to the shadows along my legs while standing up, “but I really need to find a job so I start getting the necessities like food, shelter and clothing taken care of. Do you know where I can start looking for one?”

           I couldn’t quite place the look she gave me next, but it looked like a mixture of memories from the train mixed with what happened in the alley, “What? I can’t let you go off alone. No way man, you’re staying here.” She said, forcefully, her eyebrows furrowing.

           “Umm, okay” I said, feeling a little off from the sudden jack-knifing of emotions, not that I was one to judge since I normally just tried to stuff mine down into a deep dark hole in the ground.

           “And I know a guy who can help you out with the clothes, but I have to ask, I know the thing you were wearing was a gift, but why label such an extravagance a necessity?”

           “Well, maybe they aren’t for someone like you, but from where I come from they function much like your fur, they protect the body from a vast majority of minor irritants, as well as protecting our softer bottomed feet from hazard, but mostly it’s to errm, keep our genitals from showing. They don’t collapse into our body like you guys here.” I took her a little while, but I knew Sprocket got the right idea when her mouth formed a silent ‘o’.

           “Ah, well, we’ll just take care of that sooner then.”

           We both just sat there a few moments in silence, save for a light ticking from a clock by the front door. My stomach growled, and that seemed to spur the action on again.

           “Oh man, you must be pretty hungry. Good thing you weren’t in that thing more than the night. Here, I’ll make some toast.”

           “Thanks.” I said moving up to the counter, and still trying to not freak out over my own nudity now that the emotional moment had passed. I wasn’t going to stand it much longer, so I just put a little more effort into it and hardened the shadow into a segmented pair of pants. It was, enlightening, the poor lighting wouldn't have made a difference, but deep in the paranoias of my mind I still wished to blame it on something, but, the darkness wouldn't solidify. A few seconds was all it took for it to register, but it didn't hit with the impact I'd thought it might. I miss my cloak. Okay, so down one super power already, next time I'll just have to take better care of my mystical armor. Bloody expensive lesson to learn, but lesson learned. “So what exactly do we do now?”

           “Well, since it’s a little bit past one in the afternoon, I figured we could finish breakfast and then just head out to Velvet’s and see if he can help you with you predicament, though you seem to be doing well enough.”

           “True, but it takes a constant bit of effort to maintain them. Unicorns don’t have their horns lit all the time do they?”

           “No I suppose not. Sorry if I’m not quite all there with how you work your magic, but it’s just a little strange to see someone do it without a horn, let alone not glow in any way. Hey, do you think you can see if you might be able to charge a crystal with that stuff,” she said, pointing to some of the excess shadows wisping atop my head, “it would be a great way for you to help earn your keep here” she finished, sliding a plate of toast, with honey drizzled on it.

           “I wouldn’t mind trying. But I’m not sure how well I’d be able to do it.” I said, crunching into the dried bread. As I did I continued to wonder on just how much power the cloak had given me and weighing it against the fact that I was clearly much weaker now due to its loss.

           “Well, enough time for that later. You finish that up, while I grab another cup of coffee, and we’ll head out.”

***

           Velvet Lining took his measuring tape in both wings, his feathers bending like wispy fingers as he took my measurements in Sprockets living room. It had become astoundingly apparent that we weren’t going to make it to his shop when Sprocket and I had attempted to leave the front door. I’d put my constructs in sunlight before, and while it was a definite few grades above holding them anywhere else, it was still at least manageable, as long as I had been wearing my cloak, which up until now I had never been without, but it was safe to say I hadn’t appreciate the cloak fully until now. As soon as the first sunbeam kissed my exposed feet and chest, it was like a faucet had been turned off and all of drying away my power. I could still feel hints of shadows calling out to me, but it was incredibly muted… that and I mooned Sprocket, much to my embarrassment. She at least had a good laugh from the experience as I slid to the left of the door, my powers returning as I sat back down away from the sun, lowering a shaky ball of darkness over me to hide my reddening face and lower half, and unwilling to see if anyone on the street had seen me. Luckily, Velvet made house calls, and was somewhat of a friend to Sprocket.

           “Okay now raise your arms” Velvet said, flapping his wings to reach them and straightening them out just the way he wanted.

           “Umm, do you know how long it will take to get this all done?” I quickly said, as Velvet measured around my arms, giving me a look for moving slightly.

           He sighed, “Well, since you just need them to be functional, a single pair of pants, shirt, and undergarments, I can probably get them to you by the end of the day, as well as a second pair in case anything happens to the first. Oh, and thank again for the business call sweetie.” He called over to Sprocket who had been watching from the kitchen, fiddling with the crystal cutting box she had shown me on the train, putting the excess gems she had gotten through different sets of cuts while she watched me be poked and prodded by her plum colored friend.

         “You’re welcome” she said with a smile that turned a bit devious as she looked at my slight discomfort. I’m not exactly one for having my personal space invaded like this. It’s one of the reason’s I normally stay away from suit shops, well, that, and I normally don’t carry the money for that sort of thing.

         “And, do you think the shoe thing will present a problem?” I said, wincing as Velvet pulled his tape tight around my forearm.

           “I’ll give it a try, it shouldn’t be too difficult, and it’s just matching the curve of the underside after all. Still, I just find it so strange that such an area wouldn’t have more durability, I mean, even diamond dogs have their paws. Oh, not to be rude of course, heh.”

           “Don’t worry, I always thought it was weird too. But that’s life, I suppose.”

           “I suppose it is,” he said, returning to the ground, and packing away his supplies. “Still, particular clothing design will be such an interesting challenge that I almost don’t want to charge for them.”

           “And how much will this cost Velvet?” Sprocket called out from behind the counter.

           “Well, since this is an entirely custom job, even if your friend here insists upon it being as simple and functional as possible, it will probably run you around two-hundred bits in all.”

           Sprocket whistled and said, “Well, good thing I just got back from my trip. Well, thanks Velvet, now come over and give me a hug before you go.”

           Once he had left I turned to Sprocket, “I appreciate this, but I don’t want you to do this if it will be too big a burden.”

           “Ah, hush man. You worry too much. And that was just a little inside joke we use. His prices are very reasonable, and on top of that he gives me a discount for some of the upgrades I made for his shop. We just joke around that his prices are high, it’s pretty chump change, especially since I came back with these.” She said, waving one of the newly cut crystal, this one in the shape of a tear drop, with facets along the curve to catch all directions of light.

           “Well, thank you again. I really appreciate this.”

           “Hey, no problem man. But since you’re feeling so grateful, let’s see if we can get you to charge a few of my crystals for me.”

           As I followed her down the metal steps, to what I assumed was her lab, I couldn’t help but stare at the plethora of cables, of all colored coating, which ran down the sides of the stairs and even some of the ceiling above.

           “What are all these for?”

           “Oh, well, most of them just connect to stuff around the house, a few of them are directly powered, but most of them are basically just power ducts in case one of my tests breaches their parameters.” She said as she turned her head to my pointing.

           The stairs kept on going further, but we stopped at the first basement floor. It was an impressive room to say the least, it had lines of cable running to a control panel, which stood behind a thick, clear, wall with cables running to a large empty pod, that read Mesophase Healing Chamber in bold white letters on its smooth grey side, which was spaced in-between plating of equally clear walling, but I guess one would need to see the inside to keep track of things.

           Sprocket walked past the whole thing without even a second glance, and instead moved right up to a small panel with a black strip held out at eye level. Leaning her face into it, I heard a small keening buzz and then a hissing of air as the wall segmented away revealing a rack of crystals of every color I could nearly imagine in-between each section of the rainbow. Each one was set into a small metal rack, some glowed, and others stood there, dull, but what they all had in common was their shape, a beveled edged square cut. Picking up an icy-blue one, she handed the dull, compared to the literal inner glow of some of the others, gem to me.

           “Now, before you start, mind if I plug you in and see what readings I can get. I mean, it’s not every day I get a unique guy like you to use magic. If I could just figure out how you do it… I’m not even sure what it could mean!” she said, undeterred by her lack of knowledge.

           I was about to acquiesce when.

           ‘No! The female wishes to delve into the secrets of our power. She will only use it to cause us harm.’

           ‘Jesus’ I almost said out loud, ‘dude, are you sure? It’s just science.’

           ‘No, I am sure. It will only cause you pain to do otherwise.’

           Sprocket only looked on curiously as I took a step back, and let the emotions of my inner conversation play across my face. Caligo was sounding a little funny, and while I didn’t personally think that Sprocket would do anything to hurt me, he hadn’t really run me wrong before and I certainly didn’t want to have him complain, the mere thought made me shudder.

         “Do you mind if we hold off on that, and see if I can do this first.” I said, as she did her best to give me a pair of puppy dog eyes as her hooves held onto a set of wires and clamps.

           When she saw the look wasn’t having an effect she simply ‘hmmphed’ and began to place the materials away. “Fine, if that’s the case I suppose I’ll just go check on the chamber reports again, and see what happened while you were in there that made it overload.”

***

           Thirty minutes of me trying to stuff shadows into the icy-blue crystal only left me with an innate sense of failure. Sprocket, having watched as shadows ebbed and flowed around me during the entire time asked me if I wanted to try it again later, but I politely refused. If had done it before, I should be able to do it again, but more importantly I had to prove to myself that I wasn’t completely worthless. That I was more than just what the cloak had let me easily do. I still wasn’t even sure all it had done, but it was clear that it had let me act on a level I shouldn’t have been able to reach as early as I had.

           She shrugged, then suggested that we should at least head up so she could get herself something to eat, she asked if I was hungry, but I said I was fine, but followed her up anyway, not feeling comfortable in her lab by myself. She went to the kitchen, and I sat down on the living room sofa.

           If the whole idea was that it held power, then I was basically recharging a battery. I never really thought about the finer points of it, and it made me begin to question the mechanics behind what I could already do, but it just came so naturally it was hard to think about it. Maybe it’s the same sort of thing like how Superman flies, like did he just think harder or what? I wasn’t sure, but I had an idea of someone who might.

           ‘Umm, Somnium, are you there?’ I asked, probing to the spot she held in my mind.

           No answer. Just a wall. And silence.

           ‘Somnium?’ I called again.

           ‘Somnium will not answer you.’ Caligo said, his presence displacing me from my search.

           ‘Oh, sorry. I don’t suppose you would have any tips for me to try and charge a crystal would you?’

           He remained silent for a few moments, then replied, ‘Focus on the darkness within yourself, and let it flow out of you and into the receptacle.’

           A little chilling, and annoyingly cryptic, but it had sparked an idea, well, more a quote from a manga I used to read. Closing my eyes I concentrated and held a mental image of my power as a great black sphere, and then I willed myself to dive into it and let it surround me. I felt my hands tingle as they gripped the crystal tighter. Blowing out a pent up breath I kept on concentrating. Feel the darkness Caligo said, let it flow, not grasp it. I relaxed my shoulders and continued to let myself sink into the image. I was completely engulfed. The sensation was odd, numbing, but not cold. I felt like I was back under my old cloak, but instead of hiding away I was radiating a soothing blanket of darkness, rather than hiding away behind it. I could feel something happen, and I tried to hold the flow away, but it was too much, and I became completely immersed. I felt something almost imperceptibly lessen from me, but it felt like it was coming back. Flowing around, and taking many forms just to return to its base, a circle.

           I opened my eyes, and I wasn’t quite sure I had. I blinked away the spots from my eyes. I had shut them pretty tight, apparently, but from the muted colors around me, I could tell that I had filled the room full of darkness, save the light from a nearby window trying to fill the room back with its warmth. Next, the sound came back, the sound from the street. Sprocket’s muffled whispers became shouts, and I had to clap my hands over my ears to deal with the stark increase in volume.

           “Rumor, what happened? The room went pitch for like fifteen minutes? What did you do?”

           As the last wisps of darkness settled away, evaporating into a sunbeam from a slatted set of window blinds, a small sparkling caught my eye between my feet. Picking up the gem, I smiled, and showed it to Sprocket.

           “So that’s why wizzards like to cast spells.” I whispered, coming off my darkened glow. I’d done it. I had proven I could still function without my cloak. I continued to smile as I gazed at the crystal, which abruptly stopped once Sprocket came over and hit me on the arm.

           “Don’t freak out on me out like that again.” She said sternly, as she stared into me.

           I simply nodded, too confused to know whether to feel bad for unintentionally scaring her or to feel awesome at my success.

           “Well good. Now let’s see if we can help you earn your stay and charge a few more for me,” She said, already heading to the lab stairway.