A channeler's proxy

"Before we go too crazy, I don't know enough about this new development to say that it's safe to leave the house. What if you're out and about and the channeling ends because it's not on the same time schedule as mine?" Tori returned to the guest room and dug into the bottom of one of her boxes, pulling out a plastic case. Ensuring it wasn't damaged, she opened it up and walked back over to the kitchen table, revealing a book. "Curse Compendia, Volume 2. This might have some details in it. It's really old so I try to minimize time that I open it, but this seems like the right time to check it again."

You blinked, following Tori, shivering as your bare feet step onto the hardwood floor. Drea may have been used to how everything felt underfoot, but you seemed to need some time to adjust! Not just to that, but to everything else, crossing your arms and finding resistance from the chest hesitating to give way. "Uh, right. Okay, so... channeler curse, where's that at?"

"Fortunately, and unfortunately, right at the end." Tori flipped the book over and carefully pried the back cover open, as well as the last couple pages. "It continues in Volume 3, which I don't have. Seriously, who writes books where a curse has a cliffhanger? The trouble is, the method to dispel the curse is in that third volume, but this book has details on the structure of the spell. It doesn't list everything, there's lots of times where it just says 'this magic is unpredictable' but I feel like there was a section on curse propagation that I always skipped over because I already knew that it moved down family trees, but maybe that's not all!"

Tori sat down, while you leaned your elbows on the table and stared intently at the pages as Tori carefully flipped through them. Every so often she would glance up at you, and you would glance back. "Something wrong?" you asked, in a voice foreign to your own.

With a giggle, Tori shook her head. "Wrong, no. Strange... yes. Drea has a cute face, but I've only ever seen it twisted in a snarl when she looks at me. Like, you remember that one summer trip to Mt. Ezri? She was the one who had never been camping before, and yet she acted like I couldn't do anything right."

You snorted a little--hardly a sound your girlfriend ever made. You didn't try to put on a little-miss-perfect act while you were inside her. "Yeah, I remember she didn't set up her tent correctly, she ended up soaked from the rain that got in, and then accused you of sabotage or something."

"Well, she said she didn't want my help! So, I didn't tell her when she didn't secure the rainfly." Tori brushed some hair from her face as she glances down a page. "Oh, here we go. Curse propagation... yeah, most of this I knew since my dad told me. Upon reaching one's second decade, the curse will awaken and continue until an age such that your condition cannot help a needy soul without potentially causing undue harm or hardship to yourself and others. That's why Grandma Kathy doesn't have any problems making her casino trips now. Family curse, blah blah, passes down to all children, yeah... oh, here we go. Curse proxies!"

"A curse proxy sounds about right, just from name alone," you said.

Tori nodded, and carefully turned the page to read on. "Proxies for channelers are created when a current or former channeled being willfully and maliciously tries to harm the channeler's body or reputation. Each channeled being carries a small amount of dormant curse energy within them, which does not pass on through childbirth. Minor proxies are created when a former channeled being spreads knowledge about a channeler's involvement in the curse and will act as channelers themselves. Major proxies are created when a current channeled being attempts to use a channeler's own body in a way the curse deems malicious to the channeler. As curses are intended as a sort of 'corrective measure', the curse will still actively protect the channeler from undue harm related to channeling."

You shrugged a little. "I could understand a 'corrective' curse for one person, but weird that it propagates through a family tree... whatever." You wriggle your new hips in anticipation, glancing back at this 'proxy' for Tori. "What does it say that these proxies do?"

"Well, the minor proxy just behaves like a new channeler, it seems. The dormant magic grows in them until it works the same as mine. I've never heard of even this happening, but I'm used to helping farm animals who don't do much talking afterwards anyway." Tori skims through more of the page. "And a major proxy... interesting." Tori looks at you, grinning widely.

You blinked, standing up. "Interesting how? This is a good interesting, yes?"

Tori nodded vigorously. "Oh, this could definitely be good indeed, a major proxy has a lot of perks! For me, at least. A major proxy is assumed to be a hostile entity and thus the curse can be used by the affected channeler to command the proxy and alter the parameters of the curse." Tori clapped her hands together. "I can do things like make it so her involuntary channel quota is increased, or she has to channel for longer than twenty-four hours if the channeled being isn't ready to leave yet. But here's the real interesting stuff: I can command her to channel other beings, even me! Though it doesn't eliminate the possibility for involuntary channeling. I can alter the parameters of her channeling, such as how much control or memory she exerts in either willful or involuntary channeling. I can even... ooh."

You cross your arms. "Ooh what? This already sounds like a lot, we aren't going to do anything that would hurt Andrea, are we? I'd rather just send her back to Seatown after one big breakup chat, more than exacting justice if this ends up putting her in harm's way somehow."

Tori shook her head. "The book acknowledges that particular hostile beings might not accept proxy duties, thus I can have her copy the personality and behavior of the last thing that channeled her! So, while I wouldn't harm her, I could make her act like another Peter! A... Pete and Pete situation, how interesting. Or, I can make her forget things or make decisions on her behalf, and she will accept just about anything I say. But don't you worry, if I do anything or make her do anything that puts her in harm's way, it breaks the proxy curse. But this is too good to pass up! I'm half-tempted to see how this works. I could yank you out of her if you'd like, apparently I have that sort of skill now."

You blinked, looking down at yourself. You were just starting to get used to this! Was it really time to leave so soon?