As we all sat at the table I unlike Bulma, Tights, and Pansy, gave Puar some space.

   Ryan-" Hey Goku do you want to have a spar?"

   Goku-" Of course!"

   GG-" You two had better do that someplace else, like the rocky wastelands. This forest can't take the abuse, the ground is too soft."

   Goku-"Kami has a weird empty room we could spar in, but he says that time gets funky in there."

   Chi-Chi-" What he means to say, is that Kami has an extra dimensional space people can enter. A year can pass inside while only a day passes outside. It also has the gravity changed to be ten times earth's gravity. What Goku is forgetting to mention however, is that the room is disturbing and dangerous, not only is the weather abnormal, with variance ranging from heat and humidity so high in areas that water will condense in your lungs, and drown you, to icebergs falling from the sky, which can crush you. The room is basically a void of white. No sunrise or sunset. No beginning or end. Just a floor, a small compound by the entrance, and a never ending expanse. The mental toll of staying in there is the real challenge."

   Bulma-" See Dad, magic is bullshit!"

   Pansy-" Watch your language at the table."

   Briefs-" I think we should let her have this one dear. I can't imagine being able to build something like that."

   Kashi-" I insist on seeing this room. I have to see the magic at work."

   Chi-Chi-" There is also the pendulum room. A room that allows you to visit a  record of various moments from the past through forceful image training. These recordings allow you to interact with them. You can't change the past, but it makes for a great way to learn, or so Mr. Popo says, I haven't tried it either."

   Bulma-" I give up. Magic wins."

   Ryan-" We can check both out after we finish up here if Kami let's us. I have no intention of going in the time chamber though, 10 times gravity sounds like it would be tricky to use Ki to circumvent the harmful effects on the body."

   Yamcha-"What do you mean? Can't you just enhance yourself with Ki?"

   Bulma-" That would be risky. You would need either extreme precision or enough skill, and Ki to simply brute force through the change in gravity entirely, which would be pointless."

   "Higher gravity can do something as small as change the shape of our eyes, messing with vision, or it can cause something as major as your blood to pool up at your feet. Various Metabolic processes in our cells would even have issues. For example, if you exit a higher gravity environment without gradually shifting back down to normal, the denser gasses you breathed, will want to expand in our bodies and will literally boil in our blood just like a diver who rises too fast. Not to mention the stress on the spine heart and bones if not enough Ki was used properly."

   "I imagine you would have to learn how to safely decompress after leaving that room. How anyone has used it safely is beyond me, it would kill any human not prepared with prior experience, and knowledge. Maybe there is some magic at play that helps this issue."

   "With all that said, I must admit it is an interesting idea. And perhaps a great way to train, not the body, but physical enhancement and Ki control, for as long as you keep pushing yourself atleast. This is where-in the risk lies. Not enough gravity to challenge your skill results in nothing because it's not a challenge, where as too much can kill you."

   Yamcha-" Yeah, that sounds unnecessarily dangerous."

   Krillin-" I just started getting taller, I'm not going in there either."

   Ryan-" So what kind of magic training have you been doing up there Chi-Chi?"

   Chi-Chi-" Mr. Popo has had me learning to dispell magic of all kinds. After that he said he will teach me how to make enchantments on objects. He says I will eventually make objects like the Power Pole, or his flying carpet."

   Ryan-" That's pretty cool. Have you gained any insight into that rage boost?"

   Chi-Chi-" Not really, the bean gave me control of those Ki flames, and changed them, but nothing more. I still have no idea where the heat and flames come from aside from it being triggered by emotion, and fueled by magic."

   Ryan-"Why don't we get you a familiar? One that can perhaps shed some light on this. What do you think Kashi?"

   Kashi-" We could, what do you think Chi-Chi?"

   Chi-Chi-" I don't know, don't I need to share my magic with them? I also need to take care of it properly, that's a lot of work."

   Ryan-" What about a fire spirit? It can feed off of your flames, and takes very little care."

   Kashi-" But they are firebugs, and the weaker ones we could find won't be able to articulate anything worthwhile about her unique ability."

   Ryan-" Not the Tsurubebi variant."

   Kashi-" Yeah, but they hate humans."

   Ryan-" True, but it's worth a shot."

   Kashi-" An Aitvaras, it's the best choice. It is intelligent, can talk telepathically, if they rarely do, and like to bond to human homes even when not a familiar. To top it off, it can breath and manipulate fire through it's innate magic. It should be able to not only solve the mystery of Chi-Chi's flames but perhaps aid her in their use."

   Chi-Chi-" An Aitvaras? What's that?"

   Kashi-" They get a bad reputation, but they are all male lesser dragons born from the union of a chicken and a very old normal rooster. They are only born in the wild which makes finding them a hassle. They can shapshift into a black rooster with a tail that looks like fire. When in rooster form they go unnoticed, which they use to sneak around. "

   "They often cause panic, when seen in their dragon form, which is due to their large size and fearsome appearance. They are full of black scales, sharp claws, and massive wings, with the only color coming from their long tail which is made of fire. Truthfully, they are just loner dragons who find happy families and kinda just invite themselves in. They are said to steal souls, but in reality, people sometimes die from fright when they see them, which caused the old wives tale."

   "They do have a habit of bringing home any loose change they find though, just like any dragon they have compulsion to build a hord."

   Chi-Chi-" You recommend a dragon? Are you crazy!"

   Goku-" You should do it Chi-Chi! You could have a dragon, that would be so cool!"

   Chi-Chi-" But Goku..."

   Goku-"Pleeeease Chi-Chi."

   Goku says this while pulling out the puppy dog eyes he used on Kashi years ago. This wears at Chi-Chi's reluctance leaving me an opening. Time to be a proper wingman and help a bro out. 

   Ryan-" They also guard their homes fiercely. Your children would always be safe while it is around."

   Kashi- "They are well mannered and take care of themselves as well. You wouldn't have to feed or clean up after an Aitvaras."

   Chi-Chi-" Huff. I'll think about it."

   GG-" If it's only wisdom you seek, a Basan lives in the mountains near my home."

   Kashi-" They are too shy. Always running away. We could keep an eye out but, I doubt we could get it to have a conversation unless we forced it to. Better to leave it alone. I'll call Baba and see if she has any leads on a young Aitvaras, or any eggs."

   GG-" How long do you think it'll take the tribe to graduate the class?"

   Ryan-" That depends on how high I set the bar I guess. I suppose once they can all hover, maneuver in the air, take off and land safely, my job will be done. I think they'll get there in a week, maybe two. I'll make sure one of them, likely Bora, gets some instruction or some notes from me on the more advanced principals for higher speed flight before I leave, everything else is up to them and practice."

   Bulma-" This was faster than I thought it would be."

   Ryan-" That's great. it gives us atleast a month of down time before the conference starts. When is it exactly GG?"

   GG-" The first of July. He is hosting it at the military base in West city."

   Ryan-" Military base?"

   GG-" He wants to start with the military. Civilian facilities will take a few months to get sorted with the new masters who I also need to teach. Last I talked to him he was writing a speech to the world. One that addresses the Miracle, Ki, Magic, and the state of galaxy and our place in it."

  "From what I know he intends to go public with the information after a significant part of the military are already trained. He wants to have a way to prevent mass panic and destruction. Hence the military, and likely the police will be the first in line followed by emergency personnel like firefighters."

   Tights-" He intends to go public with the Ki stuff  and magic I understand, but why frighten everyone with the idea of scary alien tyrants?"

   GG-" He knows that it will become public knowledge once aliens start to visit earth more officially. and wants the people mentally prepared. He said, his advisors suggested the existential threat will push people to greater heights. They say it is a matter of pride, nobody wants Earth to be a planet of weaklings when aliens arrive. It's all part of his planned push for Ki to be leaned by all."

   Bulma-" There is no chance that the military will be able to keep a handle on every nutjob. Imagine if some of those climate protestors had Ki when they attacked the space elevator. Not only would flying make the security incredible difficult, but using Ki itself to harm the construction would be easy."

   Briefs-" I was thinking the same thing. I have been brainstorming a safe way to net and capture intruders."

   GG-" From what I know, people convicted of violent crimes, will not only be barred from Ki facilities, but their power level will be strictly regulated. Heavy fines and imprisonment if broken"

   Ryan-" I don't imagine that being an easy thing to enforce, especially when people can learn to suppress their power. it's also rather contentious and a slippery slope."

   Bulma-" Actually, I could probably put a group of satellites outfitted with Ki sensors in orbit around the planet. I could get an accurate reading on everyone, and record everyone's unique Ki signature in real time, 24/7. So unless they never use their power, suppressing it would just become a burden."

   Ryan-" Talk about an invasion of privacy."

   GG-"It is inevitable, and felons already have their gun rights taken, this is no different. It may not solve all issues but it'll be a good first step."

   Ryan-" Hey Bulma. What if you turned those power level detectors outwards? How far out could you get reliable readings?"

   Bulma-" I'm not sure, I'd have to run a simulation. But if tuned correctly I could get rather accurate readings if the power levels are high enough. And close enough. Ki can be detected before it reaches the detector itself, signs of it's presence can be measured and it can be a extrapolated from there."

   Ryan-" Could someone detect us from space?"

   Bulma-" Not an individual, but the planet as a whole? Yes, yes they could."

   Briefs-" That's not good, it'll put the King's entire plan in jeopardy if we catch the wrong kind of attention."

   Bulma-" I'll come up with a shield. Something to keep the power levels of Earth hidden or to make them seem that same as always.

   Briefs-" I'll help, this is important. I'll talk to King during the conference."

   GG-" That would be wise, I'm sure the King will want it done anyway."

   Bulma-" Capsule Corp must be making a lot of money from all these projects the King is funding."

   Briefs-" Not as much as you may have thought. I'm doing my part to help the planet by not charging as much. one of the perks to never having gone public with the company. However, a new competitor has popped up recently. They are rather small, operating in North City being run by Dr. Gero, and Dr. Kochin."

   Ryan-" Wasn't Dr. Gero working for the red ribbon Army?"

   Briefs-" If he heard you say that he would sue you for slander. The official story says he was kidnapped and held against his will. Both his son's and his wife passed away there as well, so everyone ate his story up. Dr. Kochin has acted as a witness saying he was kidnapped as well."

   "It doesn't hurt that they have shown the King their research into Ki blasters, and biomechanical technology. Some real interesting stuff I must say. It's still years out though. They won the contract to design the arena for the next tournament. A supposedly Ki resistant arena."

   Ryan-" We should keep an eye on them, I don't trust them."

   Bulma-" They are just some old men, Why would they hurt anyone?"

   Ryan-" One lost his entire family to the same army both got kidnapped and supposedly forced to work for. An army that if you remember, was bent on world domination. Yet both make a company together and carry on like nothing happened after it is destroyed? It doesn't make much sense. Any chance you could do a little surveillance Bulma?" 

   Bulma-" I'll check them out when I can, but I can't watch their every move."

   Ryan-" I understand, just do what you can. If they have bad intentions they could cause a great deal of harm."

   Puar-" Excuse me, I heard of Dr. Gero, but who is Dr. Kochin?"

   Briefs-" He made his name when he worked for Dr. Wheelo. They did ethically questionable research into biomechanical devices, to include prosthetics, compact reactors, and made great strides in the organ transplant field."

   "Dr. Wheelo went missing a long time ago, but Dr. Kochin never gave up looking for him, always claiming that he was alive under the ice, at the north pole. He was laughed out of the scientific community and eventually put into a mental health facility after concerns over his obsession with thawing the glaciers was discovered."

   "Many of his fellow scientists tried to find any evidence of Dr. Wheelo being stuck under the ice but none was ever found. Many think he killed Dr. Wheelo, but without a body, or a motive, no case was ever brought against him."

   Ryan-" All the more reason to keep an eye them both."

   The night continued on with everyone having much brighter conversations, while I was worrying far too much.

   Unless I want to go execute the two doctors there is very little I can do about them right now. With a heavy sigh I let my worries fall away and sit down on a log beside our customary fire we have lite every night. I can only control what is within my ability. Worrying over this won't help me at all.

   Kashi-" Want a glass?"

   I look to my side to see Kashi carrying a bottle of white wine and a couple of glasses.

   Ryan-" If it includes your company, then that sounds perfect."

   As Kashi pours our drinks she sits down besides me and talks to me.

   Kashi-" So what's wrong Ryan? Ever since dinner you have been acting down."

   Ryan-" I was just worried. Things are changing fast."

   Kashi-" Uncertainty always come in times of great change."

   Ryan-" Since when have you been offering such wisdom?"

   Kashi-" Me? Not at all, I just heard GG say that to Briefs earlier. I find it calming though."

   While Kashi and I enjoy our drinks she slowly nestled herself into my shoulder with my arm around her. One of the beautiful things with my materialization are the range of objects I can make. I slowly change the log we are sitting on into a loveseat, and added soft fabric and cushions. Before long Kashi is asleep nestled into the crook of my arm, and Bulma seeing this squeezes in to my right side and helps herself to the last bit of wine in the bottle."

   Bulma-" This is good stuff, I never really like wine, but I really like this, what is it?"

   Ryan-" It's my type of wine, a white dessert wine."

   Bulma-" It's very sweet. I see why you like it. Anyhow, it's time for bed, you mind helping me take.Kashi to the tent?"

   Ryan-" I don't know, I'm very comfortable with you two snuggled up to me."

   Bulma-" You know my parents and GG would never allows us to when they are around, you'll just have to wait. Now let's go to bed, it's been a long night and aren't we going to climb the tower with Chi-Chi and Goku tomorrow to check out those rooms?"

   Ryan-" Now who is being a party pooper?"