“Ten minutes?” I asked in confusion. “The last time I was in a Breach area, we were given half an hour of notice- and the operator apologized for detecting it late.”

“Yes, ten minutes. The large difference in times is due to the lack of advanced sensor technology and alert systems in the facility. The only reason that anyone else will know that a Breach formed here will likely be from the energy vacuum created by its opening being detected by satellites. Forming a contract would create a similar vacuum, allowing for earlier detection while preemptively reducing how much energy is available for demons to manifest- although this would only severely affect the first wave.”

“You don’t have a way to tell other familiars about this? Why can you tell when there is no indication of anything happening?” I asked in rapid succession before taking a few deep breaths to calm down.

“I have no way of communicating with others, as I have only just manifested- and thus gained an ego. Because of this, I only know base-level information about you, the general structure of various organized MG groups, and the full scope of The Tree and its systems. As for your second question, my nature as an extra-universal entity allows me to sense the presence of others not yet manifested.” The cat-thing said in a tone that indicated it would prefer no more questions. “I would suggest you prepare. Normally I would also recommend you to warn the other humans near you, but from what I have gleaned of your impressions and interactions with the others in this facility- no one would believe you.”

That stung a little, only because it hit a little too close to home. No one would believe a young, antisocial patient about such a major occurrence as a Breach. In fact, I wouldn't put it past them to try and use it as an excuse to limit my freedoms if only to see me get frustrated.

With a sigh, I walked over to my bed. I had an emergency bag stashed under it and unlike a lot of my other stashes, this one wasn’t hidden or disguised. I’m sure the staff had known it was there for a while, but it was a fairly common practice so they couldn’t complain. I hadn’t gone through it in a while, but when I checked it still had everything. I didn’t keep much in it- to be honest, I didn’t expect to ever need it. I took out a knife just small enough to qualify as a tool and not a weapon and dumped the rest on my bed. I wouldn’t need a few days of rations, clothes, or iodine tablets- replacing them with my laptop and phone. Then after a moment I added the cash I had, some smaller trinkets I had acquired, and a few chocolate candies I had laying around.

I had been mentally counting time, and doing this had taken three. “So even if I can’t form a contract without making my condition worse overall, you’ll still be around for a while right? Enough to get out of here safely?”

“It is possible to still form a contract without potentially making your autoimmune disorder worse. We will just have to disable the MG Suite- which is sadly the most heavily relied upon perk for new MGs. The bonuses from a weapon proficiency can only go so far without proper training and the utility perk is usually not immediately helpful. Of course Most new MGs from contracts outside of imminent breach events- making a trial by fire such as this exceedingly rare.”

“Another thing I drew the short stick for… Anyway, how is a contract formed? As selfish as it sounds, I’ll take anything that has a good chance of increasing my survival chances.”

“If you would do anything, why didn’t you immediately start running in order to get outside of the Breach when I told you one would be forming?”

I blinked at that. Normally a warning would give you anywhere between an hour and half that- but ten minutes of running would be sufficient to get clear of the affected area. The thought had never crossed my mind. “I guess I’m just stupid. Just tell me how to form a contract so we can see what ‘perks’ I get.”

“It is as simple as giving me a name with the intention of forming the contract. Doing so will fully tie us together.”

“How very… fey… of you.”

“We are called the Semiseelie for a reason.”

Once again I was left dumbfounded- but for a different reason this time. “That's actually what you’re called? Not some awful joke by idiots on the internet?” After my outburst I quickly added, “Not that it’s bad or anything- it’s just that I didn’t expect the horny bastards on… certain boards to actually be right about something. Well, I guess if they didn’t know something after all the stalking they did… ugh.”

“No need to be concerned. Any names or nicknames further cements our presence in this world- especially in the case of a specific and personal name.”

Roughly four minutes left. “I see. So any name is sufficient?” After receiving a quick nod, I let out a breath. “Then given the form you took- I give you the name ‘Cleo.’”

As I said that, all the lights in the building flickered. 

I thought the power would go out completely with how long it lasted, but everything eventually stabilized. Immediately after that ended, I thought I would faint from the sudden assault of sensations. It was like someone was forcing air down my throat, pushing them past capacity as my diaphragm spasmed. My eyes watered and I leaned heavily against my bed- heart rate accelerated to the point I couldn’t tell individual beats apart. Finally, goosebumps broke out all over my body and a shiver ran down my spine as the feeling faded.

“Congratulations, but we have just under two minutes. I’ll assume you want a brief overview of the perks you got while you catch your breath.” Cleo calmly stated. “The ‘Suite has been disabled, but can be reenabled easily given a few minutes of safety. As far as weaponry goes, you appear to have an affinity for improvised weapons- not exactly surprising given your stress reaction of stealing whatever is closest to you. The lines of what counts as ‘improvised’ are very thin, but you should be able to feel when you are leaving the territory covered by the perk in time. Similarly unsurprising in retrospect, your starting utility perk is called ‘Covert Requisitioning.’ It should give you minor antimemetic properties when stealing something, if you place the object into an opaque container quickly enough or start using it quickly enough.”

Finally having recovered from whatever the hell had just happened, I coughed, “That doesn’t exactly seem helpful right now. Also what was that about a stress reaction, I think I’d notice if I randomly stole some-”

“My estimates of when the breach would form were incorrect. Please brace yourself.”

I was about to ask what they meant but like when I had formed the contract, the lights flickered violently- although this time, they went out and didn’t come back on. There was the usual screaming and complaining at losing power seeping through the walls, but it didn’t seem like anyone was too concerned yet. Just as I was about to ask Cleo if the Breach actually formed, a screech filled the air.

I guessed it came from a few rooms down, but was still particularly noticeable if only for the fact it didn’t sound human. It was too consistent in pitch and made me cringe in disgust. It was followed by four or five more in quick succession- which bled into much more human screams. My knuckles were white with how hard I was gripping my knife, which brought up an important question.

“Cleo, are these demons built like animals on Earth? Like, is a knife even useful against them?”

With its unerringly calm voice my familiar  replied, “They will look unlike anything you have seen, but given that these will be early scouting and energy collecting forces they will have to have forms that could plausibly exist on this planet. If you stab them in their equivalent of a neck or heart, they will die.”

I swallowed hard and nodded, stealthy moving closer to the door to my room. It had gone mostly silent in the time it took to ask the question and get an answer- but that was almost worse. It was likely that everyone who had encountered a demon was now dead. Shoving down my intrusive thoughts, I turned the lock but paused before turning the knob as a dull thumping approached on the other side. When it was right in front of my door it stopped and was replaced by a choked huffing. Moving much slower, I rotated the knob just enough to get it unlatched and pushed the door out an almost imperceptible amount so it wouldn’t re-latch.

Taking a deep breath, I lifted a leg and kicked out hard- catching the door right next to the handle. As my foot connected, I felt a sensation similar to when Cleo manifested a part of their body, and the wood of the door rippled slightly like it had a layer of water creating waves from the impact site. The door swung open with much greater speed than should have been created from my kick, catching the demon outside it in the face with a nasty crunch. I followed right behind, pinning the tripedal, flower-faced dog-thing to the ground and stabbed half a dozen times before it stopped its panicked huffing.

From inside my head, I heard Cleo’s voice, {I guess I don’t need to explain how to channel magic into a weapon. That's one down quite nicely. I recommend moving before any others take notice- what you killed is a preliminary energy gathering specimen, they move in packs of three to four. Stay focused and alert, it's only just begun.}