"""Happy birthday!""" said Mum, Dad and Cluma, in a feat of impressive coordination.
Even more impressive was Darren, who said nothing, but wrote it in mid-air instead in big, flaming letters.
"Thanks," I said, eyeing up the cake Cluma had brought, cooked fresh by Clana.
My staring was interrupted by Cluma grabbing me from behind. "You're distracted," she declared. "And not just by cake. You didn't even dodge!"
"I... have a lot on my mind. Sorry."
"I thought you decided we had two years before any sort of monster invasion happened. There's plenty of time to prepare."
"Yes..." I agreed, unable to say that wasn't what I was distracted by. I'd left six people to slowly lose their minds to decrease a risk to our world. I hadn't eliminated the risk, and it was only a risk to start with. I could make arguments for it, obviously; if I couldn't I wouldn't have left without doing anything. And besides, I thought it unlikely that anything would have happened even if I had uploaded my opinions to the weird soul magic crystal. Without a consciousness behind it, how could anything implement my thoughts accurately? It would be just as likely to misinterpret me and make things worse. More likely, it was just there to record things for Erryn.
So many ways I could justify it, and none of them helped.
I'd left a tooth behind, so I could return without Krana's help, but that made things worse rather than better. I knew that at any point I could go there, touch the crystal and let it read my mind. It would all be over in a couple of minutes.
At some point, I was going to need to face those six again. I was putting it off as long as possible.
"Hey! Peter!"
"Huh?" I asked stupidly, brought out of my introspection by a glaring Cluma, hands on hips and rigid tail sticking out behind her.
My own was hanging limply...
"Okay, this is stupid. What's wrong with you? You're so out of it that Lucy has been trying to hand you a slice of cake for almost a minute, and you haven't even noticed."
I blinked and turned to Mum, who was indeed holding out a slice of cake.
"Thanks."
"Sheesh. You're more depressed than me after I came back from the Emerald Nest. You helped me then, so it's time for me to help you."
"Please don't change into that weird bodysuit."
"I wasn't planning to. If you're capable of ignoring cake, you're capable of ignoring that too."
I wasn't completely convinced of her logic, although it was Clana's cake, so there may have been something to it.
"What are you planning, then?"
She didn't answer, but grabbed my wrist, marched me over to the dining cable, and pushed me onto a chair. Then she sat down opposite. "I'm planning to listen. What's on your mind?"
Great. I'd acquired a councillor who literally couldn't listen to my problems. I'd have thought that sort of thing would leave me less positively inclined towards the Law, but the fact was that if everyone was Lawified, I wouldn't be having this problem.
Would I need to include myself as part of everyone? That was a scary thought. No way could I be as sanguine about it as the twins... Which in turn made me sympathise with Harry, and made me even less inclined to visit him again.
"Well?" she demanded. "Sharing your worries really will help. Don't just keep them all bottled up."
"Cluma is right, dear," said Mum. "You're not yourself today, and if you tell us what's wrong, maybe we can help."
Okay... How much could I explain without them getting memory-wiped?
"The people of Earth don't want to be affected by the System. I've done what I can, but newborns are still affected. They want me to rid Earth of it completely, but trying to force my way into the ark risks damaging the System on this world."
"Why don't they want it?" asked Mum. "Isn't it convenient? And it's not like they have to buy skills. They could just ignore it."
Yup. In a Lawified world, that was a perfectly reasonable answer. No-one would misuse System skills, so there would be nothing to worry about.
"They do have very good reasons for not wanting it, and I agree with them. It wasn't built for Earth, and its introduction would be catastrophic."
"What reasons?"
"Sorry, but I can't explain them."
"What? Why not?" snapped Cluma. "Are you going to tell me I can't understand, too, like those other Earth people keep saying? I'm not stupid!"
"Calm down, dear," said Mum. "I'm sure there's a reason for it."
"There is. Like... You know Darren's [Natural Mage] trait? It says it lifts System restrictions on magic? Then doesn't it stand to reason there could be other System restrictions?"
"Yes? But I don't see why you can't just explain!" complained Cluma.
"So there's some restriction that would harm Earth, but you can't tell us what it is? It shouldn't be impossible to explain; you've already told us plenty about Earth."
And that was why I didn't want to talk about it! Now Cluma was getting frustrated, and even Mum was agreeing with her, albeit more politely. I could just tell them about the Law, safe in the knowledge it would all be wiped out again, but I didn't want to exploit it like that!
"One restriction prevents you learning about the restrictions."
"In that case, you wouldn't know it either," pointed out Mum.
"Like Darren, I have a rank five trait. Rank five traits tend to lift System restrictions."
"Okay, then if not you, what about the Earth scientists? You reattached them!"
"Yes, and that's why they're so unhappy. It is affecting them, and it's just time delayed."
Cluma's eyes opened wide. "What? Really?"
"Yes, really. On the one hand, they need the System to survive here. On the other, it's taking something from them, and that scares them."
"And you aren't affected because of a rank five trait? What would you think if you weren't?"
Huh? I was half expecting going into that much detail to trigger a mind wipe. Maybe it helped that I was describing it as part of the System, rather than a discreet bit of mind control? I could run some experiments and find where the exact line between acceptable and unacceptable lay, but as ever, the thought of deliberately triggering mind wipes was incredibly discomforting.
"I'd agree with them."
"Then you should help them!"
"But I can't think of any way to help them that doesn't put this world at risk. I can't even think of a way that I'm sure will help them."
"You're overthinking things," stated Dad firmly. "You can only do so much. If you can help, help. If you can't, don't feel guilty over it."
A nice simple answer from Dad, as expected. If only the real world was so clear-cut.
"Hmm... You want to help, so now you're obsessing over whether to risk it, or whether there's a better option, or if you should just give in?"
"Yes, that's pretty much it."
"How long? You said it's time delayed, so how long do they have?"
"A couple of years? It's impossible to tell for sure."
"Then it's obvious, isn't it? Remember your idea, but for now, keep looking for a better solution. If you start running out of time, consider ways of making your current solution better. I'm not letting you stress about it for two years."
What other ideas could there possibly be? We couldn't do anything on our own. We needed what was left behind by Erryn.
... Or Erryn herself. Jason had said she was recovering. How quickly was she healing? Would she be ready within two years? A fourth entrant for our current three-way race.
Would it be fair to strip her of the human life she'd made for herself and try to reinstall her as the earth mother? Could we reinstall her? Krana had never told me what that core was for, but I could make some pretty good guesses. She obviously had plans for the future. But to ask her to deal with soul magic the moment she'd finished healing her wounds from using soul magic would be just plain unfair...
"You're sighing again," pointed out Cluma.
"Sorry. You're right. There's nothing at all I can do right now, and I know that logically, but... it's hard to be logical."
"Then eat cake. There is no problem in the world too big to not be helped by Mum's cake. And then we can go home, and I'll give you a massage for a change."
I gave her a check with [Analysis], but she hadn't bought [Basic Etiquette]. The comment still teased a smile out of me, though, so I dug my fork into the cake and finally took a bite.
As expected, it was divine.
Cluma may have been overselling the power of cake, despite not at all having a sweet tooth herself, but it did help take my mind off things, and I managed to get into a more relaxing chat. At least until the topic of Darren and Krana came up, which was a stress of a different sort. Thankfully, it was not one that was in any way my responsibility, and the thought of Krana being bashful over melting the landscape was still humorous.
And so, cake consumed, we returned to Dawnhold.
"Shall we resume delving, then?" I asked. My [Inventory] now contained a dangerous quantity of decay grenades, and I'd had some good skill upgrades from [Temporal Mage], even if I'd lost my rank one time spells. I was looking forward to trying out my new arsenal.
"Yes. Tomorrow. For now, clothes off."
I peered at Cluma.
"Massage, remember?"
I continued peering.
"Fine. You can leave your underwear on. Sheesh."
I thought I was doing fairly well. In barely a season, I'd gone from refusing to use the words 'mating season' or 'heat' in a sentence to the pair of us sharing a bed, where we engaged in such scandalous activities as hand-holding and cuddling. At the rate I was going, by next mating season I'd be ready for anything.
I wasn't ready for Cluma's idea of a massage, though.
"Ouch!" I exclaimed as she kneaded my back with System-augmented strength.
"Sorry! Umm... It's a bit late to be asking, but what am I supposed to do?"
That got the biggest smile of the day out of me. "Either buy [Basic Etiquette] or find someone else for me to demonstrate on."
I almost suggested she take lessons from not-Blobby, but her inability to produce hundreds of slimy tentacles meant not-Blobby's techniques weren't applicable.
"Oh! Obviously!" she exclaimed, leaving me wondering which of the two options she considered obvious. "Be right back!"
She ran out of the room, causing me a brief panic. She didn't need to move to buy [Basic Etiquette], so it must be option two, but I was still in my underwear!
[Mana Sight] showed she only went to her room, though, and she was back within seconds, clutching a hairbrush in one hand.
"After the first few strokes, this turns into the most relaxing thing ever!" she exclaimed.
I quickly tucked my tail under my legs.
"Honestly. You saw me the first time. It's all sensitive and overwhelming at first, but then it goes all restful."
The beastkin tail thing had always seemed weird to me, but then I considered the way humans were ticklish. It was basically the same thing. The response to being tickled made no sense at all. What sort of evolutionary advantage was it to let someone debilitate you in that way?
And Cluma that first time had turned into a purring puddle... She'd definitely been enjoying herself.
"Okay," I agreed nervously, spreading my legs a little and extending my tail out onto the bed.
Cluma ran the brush through it and, as expected, it felt like electric shocks were running up my back. I managed to do nothing more than twitch, but just as they were dying away, Cluma made a second stroke, causing a second burst of sparks to launch a party in my spine. But she was right; rather than becoming unbearable, the shocks merged together into a pleasant tingling that spread out over my whole body. Everything felt heavy, even more so than when I was using the metal versions of my limbs, and it extended to my torso, head and tail, too.
I realised with a start that I was paralysed. I couldn't move at all. I couldn't even speak. But somehow, it wasn't at all scary.
Cluma's condition when I did this to her suddenly made a lot more sense. I was probably drooling into my pillow, and I didn't even care.
The tail brushing abruptly ceased.
"No..." I grumbled on autopilot as some amount of muscle control returned.
"You... You just..." stammered Cluma.
"Huh?" I groaned, still only half conscious.
"You just purred!" she exclaimed.
"That's nice..." I mumbled as I drifted off to sleep.
@cathfach I Bought and Read the entire book Unbound Soul book 8 Devil, Loved it!
I agree with Henry even to a extent Maximilian. And I was happy they lost. Side note In your afterthoughts you compared a Violent Schizophenic being forced to take medication by his doctor to Erryn's Law and it's a good one however on a Federal Level a Doctor can not force you to take medication. He can confine you but not force you to take medication. He can sedate you but you can file against him and likely win unless he got family permission and he still not allowed to give you any other medication. So is a mental Prison worse than a physical prison? Yes, Prison bars trap the body but Drugs attack the soul. Henry Violated Cluma's rites and therefore Gave up his own. Henry was the only disappointment here. Wish he been more competent and Insisted on Death instead of the Law.
No the Law is Wrong because it gives no choice. Erryn knew that and it why it bothers her and Peter no getting around it.
Imagine You are in Jail have a Drug Problem are ruining your life. Now Imagine Someone Sell you as a s*x slave. Now that's Awful But what if the Human Trafficker had your best interest in mind? And Brainwashed you into likely even Loving your New life Never use drugs again..And you marry your new Husband and are truly happy. (that technology Exists)
So should we do that with Violent Criminals? Because that technology totally Exists. We be saving them Right?
And there the Problem with Erryn's Law .. If you do something and it feels Evil you just do not do it. Because no matter how you justify it If it feels Evil. It is Evil. In the end as Erryn grows she will sabotage herself because that's what none Sociopaths do who regret Self-sabotage and she got all the time in the world to question and regret. Someone as good as Erryn will just do it sooner.
Loved the Entire Book Made me deeply think Thank you.
While I haven't finished reading, I must regretfully inform you that you have made a fundamental error in your logic: a person most definitely can be forced to take medication via existing legal frameworks. Here in the UK the framework in question is the Mental Health Act 1983 which provides for involuntary admission to a specialist mental health facility and some degree of enforced care should someone be judged to be "mentally disordered" and a sufficient danger to themselves or others. Under the civil process this is exactly the intended method for handling a violent psychosis when the patient refused to medicate properly. If you've ever heard the term "to be sectioned" then this is the section they refer to.
Criminally, if someone is judged mentally incapable of standing trial or is successful in pleading an insanity defence, they are likely to end up under the safe framework for a fairly indefinite amount of time... However long it takes to convince a judge they are mentally capable of standing trial and serving a sentence, most likely.
I would be shocked if there was a single country that didn't have a similar law on their books or some other blanket detention law that can be wielded to the same effect. In the US there are the Conservator laws for lesser cases, power of attorney for severe judgement impairments, and involuntary detention at a mental health facility for the worst cases. It is pretty rare they need to go as far as forcing someone to take medication but there are other options they can employ instead.
Hell, if you want a famous example, look up the details of Typhoid Mary.
These are certainly less invasive failsafes than the Law, but they are also considerably less gentle or subtle.
@Kaithar Not what I said. First I was describing the US not UK. And I said FORCING MEDICATION not involuntarily imprisonment to a mental health facility .
Those are very different things.
They can put you in a physical prison and I did say be put you in a physical prison. And then Only if the person is a Danger to themselves or others.
So you totally missed my point.
In a physical prison, you can argue your sanity or your rite to have your particular BRAND of insanity. But with a drug to correct {wrong think} the mind is subject to censorship and you do not have an option to appeal.
Now in the USA they can offer you a choice of Medication or Jail but not force Medication on you.
Hypothetical Example. A man Claimes the vaccinations are bad insisting on a conspiracy.
So they force the vaccine on him years later they find out he was right and the vaccine is poison. Pure Hypothetical ..
Now Lets say instead the doctor was Allowed to Force medication on him and therapy? And he was Brainwashed by his doctor into agreeing with his doctor???
If you think this is improbable here real world Example.
I had a friend Named Betty She was 70 and a Hindu.
She went to the Hospital with chest pain and brain fog. (it was a mild heart problem )
Her Doctor saw she was white but had Hindu on her medical Record and a no Resuscitation order on her Medical Papers.
Her Doctor asked her How come (she thought) she was a Hindu.
Betty said she became a Hindu as she had Dreams as a child of living as a African Queen and became a believer in reincarnation.
The Doctor a first-year none Psychiatric Doctor a first year intern Diagnosed her as Schizophrenic And did indeed have her 302ed (committed for 24 hours) it was a weekend so stuck there 3 days and had the Brand put on her of Schizophrenic. All based on a 15-minute Examination by a first-year intern.
She told me and I believe her that the young doctor was offended that she did not believe in Jesus as her lord and savior.
Now Imagine what would of happened if this Doctor (I use the term loosely) had been able to force her to take medication.
As for Typhoid Mary its you who need to look it up. She was not confined for having typhoid.
And she was never Force given medication.
She was confined for Deliberately infecting people after she knew she was infected.
Now again nothing to do with what I was saying..She was a criminal and was imprisoned for killing people.
(Imprisonment for a crime is Fine. But forcing Medication on someone is not as it removes the ability to Argue your Sentence. )
@dragondeathlord Curiously, the US legal precedent seems to be that it's a violation of rights to forcibly treat someone so that they are competent to stand trial, the laws on refusing treatment appear to hinge on the person refusing being mentally competent.
"Those are very different things."
They really aren't. The two tend to be part of the same process, in particular following a medication plan is an alternative to involuntary inpatient time. But your examples make me suspect you don't actually properly understand what I'm talking about...
"But with a drug to correct {wrong think} the mind is subject to censorship" - No
"The Doctor a first-year none Psychiatric Doctor a first year intern Diagnosed her as Schizophrenic And did indeed have her 302ed (committed for 24 hours) it was a weekend so stuck there 3 days and had the Brand put on her of Schizophrenic. All based on a 15-minute Examination by a first-year intern." - No and also malpractice
These are not what this kind of treatment is for and blatantly isn't legal. The process, when actually followed properly, involves court orders and oversight, specialist doctors, and is only taken when there is a real risk of harm to themselves or others. As in, this is for treating people like some who suffers a psychotic condition that leads to them trying to stab people. People who become violent or self-destructive when prevented from running down the freeway every night.
And frankly... comparing psychiatric medication to a mental prison suggests a lack of understanding of how bad it is to trapped inside your own mind because you aren't able to seek help. I've experienced bad meds, but I've also experienced withdrawal crash from working meds and that was only a fraction of the severity some of these conditions can inflict.
I brought up Mary because she refused diagnostic procedures to determine if she was a carrier, refused any treatment protocol that would have allowed her to continue living in open society, and refused to refrain from activities that would spread the disease. She didn't deliberately infect people because she never accepted that she was a carrier, making it much harder to form a criminal case against her, and rather she was arrested on the basis of being a threat to general public health. It's true that at the time there weren't really much in the way of effective medication but there were effective non-medication protocols that she refused to follow.
In short, they attempted treatment with varying levels of cooperation, released her from quarantine on the basis she obeyed a therapeutic protocol, and was quarantined when she refused. I brought her up as an example of the necessity of applying a minimum level of medical treatment and restrictions when someone demonstrates a threat to others due to a medical condition.
As a side note... Intentionally infecting people with a serious disease is rare enough and new enough that the only cases I know of where that has been alleged as the specifically criminal behaviour is intentional transmission of HIV. Acting to both intentionally make yourself infectious and intentionally infect others is surprisingly hard to prove.
@Kaithar No you you are the one with no understanding.
You say " - No and also malpractice" but it happened and the Abusers in the system never face consequences. That doctor still practices and since the hospital does not want to lose money they will stand with such Employees 100%.
And it would not be possible to hold any doctor accountable at all if forced Medication was a thing.
In the United States, we had forced Lobotomies and other chemical Treatments like forced administration of Narcotics. Forced Abortions.(Having s*x with someone of another race was ground for commitment and forced Abortions) There wear many many abuses and there still are. And it was for that reason the Practice was stopped and Doctors had their powers to force treatments Limited. They Had the power you talk about and it ended in many disasters and abuses of the power. I have Asperger's syndrome when I was 16 I had a Conservatorship my sister tried to have me trapped in a Conservatorship and she tried to commit me when I tried to have the Conservatorship removed and her Prosecuted for taking credit cards out in my name and loans. My father had left me half a million dollars and a house.
When I was 18 I was able to get enough evidence that she lied and get the Conservatorship removed. But if as my Legal Guardian had been allowed to get me on medication My life would of ended.
I got the Conservatorship removed because the Judge found out she spent all the money and got the house into debt and lost it. Because she surrendered the Conservatorship the court was not allowed to find her in criminal violation. The Judge made it clear that was the only reason she was not facing Prison time. Yes she got off on a technicality.
The only reason I am a free man is I knew the law and was able to sue and represent myself and later get an attorney to do the work pro bono . But if she gotten a bunch of medications in me? Yes I would of been trapped for life unable to have the cognitive ability to first approach the court.
I am 54 now. So You see you really really have no idea what you're talking about.
Quote" These are not what this kind of treatment is for and blatantly isn't legal. The process, when actually followed properly, involves court orders and oversight, specialist doctors, and is only taken when there is a real risk of harm to themselves or others" End Quote Tell it to Britney Spears.
LMAO No idea what your talking about as you admit that your talking about the UK Law and I am talking about the US Law.
And it does not matter anyway. As we talking about a Story wear you get the Equivalent of a Drugged Lobotomy and not for harming themselves or others but for Saying nasty things or even thinking them. ...
https://www.britannica.com/science/lobotomy