"Zombification retrovirus attempt number thirteen: Failure."

"Magically modified Cancer number seven: Critical Failure. Caused dangerous mutations to the subject, resulting in magical Awakening of the zombie rat that threatened to breach containment." Imogen shook her head with a sigh as she updated her notes. "Spontaneous telekinesis from a non-sentient, while fascinating, is deemed an unwanted side-effect. Safety protocols were engaged, and test subject successfully eliminated..."

"...and it will be hours before the room temperature returns to safe levels and repairs can be initiated. I hate it when the damn workers have to tromp through my lab. They always make such a mess! Stupid Incendiary Runes!"

"They're damn efficient runes, though... Maybe I should switch to trying to weaponize them again?" She muttered to herself, idling chewing at her bottom lip. A soft sigh escaped her lips as she shrugged. "No, that won't work. The instability of the runes when sufficiently miniaturized proves too catastrophic..."

Slumping into her chair, she threw back her head with a groan. Tucking a few stray strands of hair behind her sharply pointed ears, she closed her eyes and worked to gather her thoughts once more.

The sudden knock at her door made the woman snap awake from where she had just started to drift off.

"WHAT!" She snapped, her fury mounting as the door opened without her permission- everyone present knew better than to enter her lab uninvited! But, seeing the hunched back old man in the doorway, her anger instantly cooled. "Uncle Manny!"

Despite not actually being her uncle, the old man simply had the aura of a kindly uncle- and, with how he doted on her and saw to anything she needed, he was one of the few people she tolerated breaking her rules. It was her lab, after all; Even the Royal Family wouldn't push things too far in here.

A small smile slowly spread across the older man's face as he plodded into the room, a silver tray clasped gently in his clawed hands. Time almost seemed to slow alongside the glacial pace at which he walked- due only to her perspective and not any sort of magic.

Chronomancy was an impossibility, as far as Imogen knew.

Brown fur, shot through with silver from age, rippled across Manny's arms and cheeks with every shuffling step that brought him closer to the desk, where he set the tray down. In the center of the tray was her favorite mug, filled to the brim with coffee that she knew would be luke warm at best- even though the entrance to her lab was less than fifty feet from the small kitchen. It was actually a fairly quick pace for a Sloth Beastkin of Manny's age.

Of course, that was perfect for her. If the coffee was still too hot, she would have to wait for it to cool- and likely forget about it in the process.

Picking up the room temperature drink, she gulped it down as she waited for what she knew was coming- she may be the single most impatient person in most things, she had an endless amount of patience for the old man in front of her.

"Busy... Little... Alfar." Manny spoke just as slowly as he moved, long seconds passing between each word. "Need... anything... else?"

Imogen chuckled slightly at being called 'Alfar'- the ancient word for Elves, her kind, hadn't been used in centuries... except for by an old Sloth like him; they were notoriously bad at keeping up with linguistics. The only reason he even spoke using modern Anlish was because she had asked him to learn... When she was five.

It had only taken him twenty years, though, which was quite a swift change for him, all things considered.

"Yes, actually! First, more coffee please!" She said, plopping the empty mug back on the tray. "Then, if you could direct the repair crew to Lab 4. Full hazard gear, just as a precaution."

"Right... away." He rumbled, his clawed hand gently patting her head- which she patiently sat still for, despite desperately needing to get back to work. She would never try to rush, or brush off, Uncle Manny in any way. He was practically family.

"Don't... stress... too... much... Everything... will... be... ok." He said before slowly plodding out of her office.

Imogen sighed as the door closed behind the old man, rubbing at the dark circles under her eyes for a second. "Don't stress. Right."

"It's not like the fate of the free world rests on my shoulders or anything. I can just let those halfwits from the Institute handle it, right?"

She snorted without humor, instantly shaking her head at her own words. "Yeah, no. If I leave it to those idiots, we'll all be dead while they are still arguing over who has the better qualifications. Puffed up buffoons that they are..."

Imogen's chair went skidding away from her as she leapt up at the chime that sounded, a thrill of excitement coursing through her.

"Is it here!?" She squealed as she darted over to her second workstation and began frantically tossing aside the books and papers that littered its surface to reveal the most complex Runic Array she had ever seen- one that she had made herself, even if she didn't know why at the time... or even how it actually worked.

It had felt like a fever dream at the time, as something had simply come over her and she began carving into the wooden desk itself. The intricate interweaving of runes was far beyond her comprehension- beyond anything that even existed, as far as she knew.

And the few other experts she had shown it to had agreed with her- which had also caused her far too many problems, as all of them had immediately tried to claim it to 'study', despite that fact that it wouldn't work for anyone but her...

Thankfully, her backers had quickly shut down that particular batch of idiocy... Especially after she had proven its worth.

"It's here!" She cheered as the array activated under her deft magical touch. "Yes! Come to mama, you wonderful ingredients! There are potions to be made and discoveries ahead!"

A manic light flickered across her eyes as the glowing runes shifted and contorted, slowly forming into the words she was excited to see.

Opening Auction House...

Initiating Virtual Space...

Distributing Invitations...

The MDMS Auction House is now open for business!

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Stupid, arrogant jackass! Yeah, get banned fucker!" She growled as the 'Toxic' asshole was booted from the auction.

"He said no weapons... Shit! And why the hell am I still holding on to this Blame Thrower? It's just junk, anyway! I really should scrap it..." She muttered frantically as she tossed aside the odd looking gun covered in blinking lights and tubes filled with glowing liquids- she had forgotten exactly what went into it, but knew she still had the notes if they were needed... Not that they were, as there really was little use for a weapon that only generated such a weak psychic effect.

"Ah! The Arcane Awakening Potion! That's definitely worth enough, right? And it's pretty damn useless since that asshole made that runic structure that does the same thing... Still too damn expensive for general public use, though."

"Not like the potion is any better with it's rare ingredients..." She muttered, even as she placed the softly glowing purple potion in the center of what she had dubbed her 'Auction Runes'.

"Now, you sexy merchant man, give me my ingredients! I swear, you keep bringing me stuff like this and I'll marry you just to get more!"

In a flash, the potion disappeared from the circle, only to be replaced by ten simple clay pots holding ten healthy looking plants- each one looking like it had been transplanted just moments before.

But, before her eager hands could touch the first pot, the door opened once more.

Turning to glare at the door, her angry words died in her throat as the imposing man strode in. Nearly a head taller than her, his own brown hair cut short above his pointed ears, and with amber eyes that locked onto her instantly, the man marched across the intervening space to stand in front of her. His crisp brown uniform jacket, heavily decorated with medals, bore an extra star than the last time she had seen him.

"Oh, promoted to Major General already?" She teased, before blowing an annoyed raspberry his way, her focus rapidly shifting back to the plants. "Forgive me for not saluting, sir, but I'm a bit busy right now."

"Is that any way to talk to your father?" He huffed a laugh. "And what is so important that you can't even say 'hi'?"

"This." She said, waving her hand at the plants. "I have more materials to work with!"

"Oh, and hi, dad. It's good to see you, dad. But I need to get these seen to before something else interesting comes up for sale..."

"Actually!" She spun suddenly, eyes narrowing on her father. "Do you happen to have any personal illusion enchantments? Or something for translation? Maybe-"

"Slow down, Imy." He said, placing a restraining hand on her shoulder. "Why do you want all of that, anyway? Those things aren't easy for me to get a hold of, and they have nothing to do with your experiments-"

"I need them to trade!" She snapped, rushing to move the plants aside and access the 'Auction Rune' once more.

"Who are you trading with?" He asked, glancing around the empty office with a confused look. "And what was that you said about marrying someone?"

His voice softened with concern as he leaned closer to his daughter. "Honey, you're working to hard. Talking to yourself, muttering about marrying people that aren't here if they keep giving you things..."

"Have you even slept recently?"

A blush crept up her pale cheeks as she stared down at the auction, another item already being sold- some sort of large, cat creature she had never seen before. Not something she was interested in, but she didn't want to miss whatever came after it. "I'm not actually marrying anyone..." She muttered. "I was just excited at getting my new plants! And I slept... on... Tuesday. I think."

"That was four days ago." He glowered, pulling her away from the strange rune she was staring at so intently.

"And why are you so excited over some random plants?" He asked, glancing at the mentioned flora- before quickly doing a double take. With inky black bark, and leaves that seemed to glimmer as if dusted with gem dust, he knew he had never seen anything like them... Or even heard of anything like them. "What the hell are those!?"

"This is what I told you about!" She gushed, plucking up the first pot from where it sat. "Remember? I said that the Rune I created allowed me to trade for strange things! This plant-" She said, holding it up on display. "-comes from another world."

"Just imagine all the things I can discover with new materials from across the cosmos!"

Major General Indigo rubbed his eyes, his mind flying back to that conversation. He had thought it to be simply mad ramblings of an overworked young woman- as much as he loved his daughter, he knew how unstable she was. It was half the reason he asked Manny to keep an eye on her.

A cosmic auction? Trading for things from other worlds, or even other Universes? How was he to believe something like that...

But, as much as he questioned her mental state, the work she was doing was too important to stop... even if it broke his heart to see her like this.

"Imy, sweetheart... I need you to slow down and explain things better."

Imogen's hands flew to her head, wanting to rip her own hair out. She knew how crazy it sounded- and how everyone had been calling her crazy since she was twelve. But she also knew how incredible of a resource and opportunity sat at her fingertips.

And she knew that, if she didn't convince her father, she may well be pulled away from her research for another 'examination'- and she couldn't allow that. Not now.

As the third lot in the auction wrapped up, and she saw the contents of the fourth- some sort of black seaweed- an idea popped into her head.

"Get me an enchantment for personal illusions or translation and I can show you!" She ground out, glaring at her father.

Staring into his daughter's eyes, Indigo knew he had a choice to make: call for her to be taken away and seen to, or give her a chance to prove that this wasn't her mental troubles rearing their head again. But... she was his daughter, and he didn't want to see her suffer.

Of course, if she couldn't prove anything... He would do what was best for her.

Even if it meant losing her research for a time- possibly too much time.

Pulling the plain looking woven bracelet from his wrist, he held it out to her. "Ok, Imy. This is enchanted to be a universal translator. I need you to show me-"

Before he could finish his statement, the bracelet was snatched from his hands and slapped into the center of the odd, complex Runic structure.

Where it almost instantly disappeared, replaced by... some slimy, black plant.

"See!" Imogen howled, picked up the seaweed and holding it out to her father. Ignoring the slimy texture, and the horrendous stench emanating from it, she began to laugh. "See? I can buy and trade for things from other worlds!"

"And, if this Silk keeps bringing me more goodies, I'm sure I'll figure out a solution!"

"How long?"

Indigo sighed, seeing the blank look on his little girl's face- she may be a grown woman, but she would always be his little girl... And he hated having to bring bad news. "How long until you find a solution?"

"Well... how the hell am I supposed to know!?" She grumbled, marching off to find a suitable container for the seaweed- which continued to drip salty water across her office. Calling back over her shoulder, she snarked back at him. "Experimentation takes time! Maybe these new materials will have a solution, maybe the next batch will... But I'm sure that, given a couple years, I'll find it!"

"We don't have years..." The General sagged in place as his daughter whipped around with a horrified look. "Nothing is certain yet, but... A year, maybe."

"Then... the War will likely start, and we expect the first attack the Twerg to unleash will be those undead monsters..."

"Goddess preserve..." Imogen muttered in disgust and horror. They weren't ready...

And, unless something drastic happened, they wouldn't be ready.

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