Eye opening experience.

The bliss that Tricia was enjoying instantly turned to panic. She ran from the table and entered the first room that she could find, slamming the door behind her.

"No, no, no... I looked at them... I tried not to... It can't be! Why now? They can't... They'll know what I am... A freak..." she mumbled in panic. She finally looked at the warnings from her suit and realized what she had done.

Warning: emotional spike at 27 on Mr Fluffy scale.
Containment protocol failure: one eye open.
Recommend emergency activation of all dormant limiters.
Thagimasidas awakened: stability 92%

Could it be?

"Tricia? What is happening? Do you need help? Answer us." She could hear multiple voices shout from behind the door she had closed. The door didn't have a lock, so they were actually giving her some privacy before knowing what was going on. Of course, if she didn't reply, they would enter, thinking that she was in some sort of danger. Could this new community that she had just joined accept her so fast? Truly care so much about someone that they barely knew? Was it like that to be part of a group? To have friends?

"Hmm, I'm alright, I... I need a moment to get in control... I'll explain, don't worry... Is everyone OK?" she replied.

"We're all doing fine, take your time. But try to keep in contact; if we don't hear from you for too long, we'll have to enter. If you say it is good I trust you, but it surprised us, and we are worried about you," replied John.

Vocal stress analysis: 98% genuine concern, 2% unknown.

Tricia relaxed herself. What could have been a disaster ended relatively well. The secret gift of her clan had awakened in her in a rather harmless way. It was by fear of this event that she had lived the last half of her life cut off from her feelings. The onset of puberty, the hormones and new experiences, all could trigger the emotions that would let one of the seven eyes open.

Thagimasidas, the healing eye, one of the most powerful healing techniques of her clan has awakened in her; she shuddered thinking about what would have happened if any other eye had opened instead.

The room she was in was a bedroom apparently, the bed and a nightstand the only pieces of furniture present. She realized that the spartan look of the place was not a choice, but linked to the lack of time and money on the owners part to make things look better. She could feel something strange about the bed though: there were no sheets or covers, it was only a mass of something looking like blue-green, translucent silicon. She approached it, using the shiny surface of it as a mirror to look at her own face.

She was keeping her blond hair rather short, except for a few longer braids integrated in the rest of her hairdo. On the middle of her forehead, a third eye was open, beaming of golden light. She should be able to control this, but she had trouble closing it without closing her other eyes. As she focused on this task, it seemed to her as if the surface of the bed was not only reflecting her face, but also taking the shape of it, somehow. She must be imagining things.

The fact that the first opening had been so stable was something to be proud of, but she would have preferred it to happen in a more private setting.

Tricia reluctantly reactivated another limiter, getting to 8/12 active. Suddenly, she was able to open and close the eye, but also, with a lot of focus, to keep it open while cutting the flow of energy emanating from it.

"Are you OK, Tricia?" asked Anna. "Do you want me to enter? Do you need help? Maybe Sylvia could be of assistance?"

"It is generous of you to offer, no... I... Only one or two minutes and everything will be fine, I swear."

Three minutes of intense focus allowed her to close the eye for good, making it disappear from her forehead like it was never there.

She exited the room, leaving the strange bed and what she thought she had seen happen with it behind her. Everyone was present in front of the door, looking at her with worried faces.

Facial analysis: worry
Origin: 85% Empathy, 13% unknown, 2% fear.

"No need to worry, I'm fine..."

"Do you want to talk with us about it? You seem pretty shocked too." John had put his arm over her shoulder while asking that, and Anna was on her other side; they were staying close to her, maintaining physical contact. Were they afraid that she would collapse? Or did they think that this would comfort her?

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize that my mix of spices could have such an effect. I know that some of these herbs have medicinal properties, but Sylvia assured me that they should be safe to use," explained Anna.

"It is a gift, for people of my clan. It manifests itself to people of my age when they experience strong emotions. I'm... I... To prevent accidents I usually avoid certain things. I relaxed that rule today, but I didn't expect some food to be so..."

"I'm really sorry; you have saved me, and I ended doing this to you. I have tried to understand what you all looked for in food. And when Anna explained that spices were herbs and grains that brought enjoyment to people when mixed with their food, I provided her with some that would do exactly that. I even made sure that they wouldn't have any harmful side effects when I grew them myself," explained Sylvia in turn.

"I'm sorry that something like that happened to you because of us; I only hope that you won't blame us too much and will accept to continue working with us... with me!" said John.

"What? Wait... You... You still want to work with me?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I?" he replied, surprised.

"But... The eye... I'm a freak!" complained Tricia.

"Never say that again!" intervened Anna. She looked really angry now. She moved in front of Tricia and put her hands around her face, looking her in the eyes. "Tricia, you told us that you can't control that thing. None of this is your fault. You are a beautiful girl, and even if it is strange, the extra eye doesn't make you a freak. You are a healer, someone with a kind heart, don't let anyone make you think that you are are anything less than awesome. Look around you, normality is overrated."

The flow of emotions that Tricia was experiencing was strong but really different than before. It seemed like the opening had released some pressure building up and that she was at less risk of another incident now. She decided to do something that she never would have considered. She started hugging Anna; the young queen of Arcadia was showing so much concern and care for her that it pushed her to reply in a way totally unusual for her.

Soon, she found herself at the center of a group hug, everyone joining them to comfort her. When the hug broke, she was really feeling better, like it was something that she needed but had been deprived of.

"Do you want to finish eating? Or is it too risky? I have to admit that these tenders were some of the best food that I have ever tasted; if something could make you react, it would be that," asked John.

"I'll... I won't finish them, but I can eat the rest while you explain to me what you had planned for later." With that she went back to her seat, only to find her plate missing. John extended his hand in front of her, making the plate reappear, the food on it as warm as she had left it. Taking a spoon and fork, she started eating again, listening to John.

"There are many things to do. Algernon and his people are slowly growing and gaining intelligence, personality, but the interface does not recognize them as people yet. I have used my powers to enhance them in various ways, but I would like you to see if you can think of something that would make them advanced enough to count as people in the kingdom's population. There is, of course, the study of the plants and animals of the realm, both as a scientific endeavor but also to identify possible resources and sources of income. We already have started selling a product made through alchemy from some sap produced by Sylvia and the trees of the glade; your knowledge might help us improve it further or simplify the production process. We also gained a chrysalis after defeating an infected drider in the underworld of this place, and I'm curious to know how long it will be until it hatches and what to expect when it happens. There's also a few other aspects, but that's most of it."

Tricia could barely believe what she was hearing. This was only a list of things regarding biology and healing powers, yet this boy was already running half a dozen projects at a time. Her research into him from before his powers emerged showed that he did little appart from playing video games and writing naughty stories online. She would have imagined him running around, trying to bed every girl he could find, not expertly trying to improve a kingdom in more than a dozen ways at once. Of course, the fact that she was probably the only humanoid female present that he had not bedded indicated that he had managed to do both of these things, which was even more impressing.

The more she thought about it, the more Tricia realized that if John was indeed feeling for her what she hoped he did, then finding a place in this strange relationship wouldn't be such an issue. And the long shape she had felt against her leg through his pants during the hug was pointing in the right direction.

"I'd really like to analyze the herbs used as spices for the tenders. No matter what, if we sell them as spice, medicine or just integrate them into another product, they are sure to be very sought after," she pointed out, munching on an onion ring. She had carefully avoided the glass of ice tea that she had been served, in case it contained some of the the herbs that had triggered her earlier reaction.

"Of course, we'll bring some samples to the lab after lunch. I, too, do not know or understand everything about my powers, so I know how it can feel. If you need someone to talk about it, to help you investigate, train, experiment, or just to comfort you, then you can always come to us," replied John, and everyone around the table nodded in agreement, and Anna put her hand on Tricia's forearm. The more it happened, the less she was finding this profusion of physical contact surprising or embarrassing.

"Thanks... I never had anyone care about me like you do... It's... Thank you... I'm sorry I interrupted lunch like that. You guys didn't get to eat dessert, and I'm really not that hungry anymore... I'll wait for you to finish eating, and we'll go test out the new lab." Her plate only had the three winged serpent tenders left on it; it was as if the rest had just disappeared. She didn't remember having eaten so much in years, if ever; growing up, she always had been a picky eater, but Anna's food was so delicious that she probably could eat more; she only was stopped from doing so by the knowledge that it would probably make her sick.

"Don't worry, I had only some sliced fruits prepared for dessert, so you can take a plate and eat some of it while sciencing. I'm sure you two have more important things to do than watch us eat. I'll set things in order and join you a bit later," ruled Anna, no one around the table being willing to contradict her. She produced a plate of colorful slices and cubes of fresh fruits which disappeared as soon as John touched it.

Back to the lab, Tricia lost no time to put an herb sample in the analyzer. The results indicated the presence of low amounts of known psychotropic substances and of some totally unknown to her but of similar structure.

"Look at these readings!"

"Hmm, my knowledge of molecular biology is not that advanced. I understand the basics, and I have a good grasp of some subjects, but you'll need to explain it to me."

"Well, if I'm guessing right, by extracting some of the substances present in these herbs, you could create recreational products that wouldn't be illegal because the active principle is a molecule that is unknown on earth. Low doses could make your current product a lot more potent, and it means that you could sell it for more. I... I'm pretty sure that I could also develop a substance that would artificially trigger what happened at lunch, being able to control the doses would help me greatly in mastering this skill."

"I'm not really sure that I want to become a **** dealer, will this thing make people addicted to it?"

"I would need to study it more, its processed form too. But from what I can see and the expertise of your Dryad, it should not trigger a chemical addiction. People will want more of this because it is awesome, like good food, video games or... You know. But they won't pawn their TV to get some or become a shivering mess if they don't get any for a few days."

"This is the chrysalis; what do you think of it?"

John had just taken a huge lump of white silk of the size of a big gym bag from a chest. Tricia pushed a button on one of the machines, and two small drones exited from a small door on the side of it. They hovered above the chrysalis, bathing it in numerous colored rays of light.

"You said that the one that you killed was infested? By what? How big was it? Where did you find it?"

"It was guarding an Altar in the tunnels under my kingdom. It was huge, the spider part easily reaching my size. It was half mushroom, fungi growing everywhere on it, but the human half completely unrecognizable. Will it hatch? When? And more importantly, should I let it hatch? Will it be hostile too?"

"It is already at an advanced stage, since this is the last time it changes before taking its adult form. Their reproductive cycle is pretty complex. I just checked the database for it. First a larva comes out of the egg, it does not look like a drider at all, then it forms a cocoon like this and a puppa emerges from it, this time looking like a baby drider, the human half childish in appearance, then it changes once more to become an adult drider. It is not their final form, adults can spawn some spiders to serve and defend them, only elder driders can lay eggs and create a new generation, and it takes many more years for them to reach that stage. This one is a perfectly sane female specimen, and it will hatch in its adult form in the next days or weeks. The way time flows here and the time spent in your inventory could affect it. They are not always hostile, even if they are mostly predators. I would advise you to keep the chrysalis in stasis until you have a secure area to let her hatch. If we have to deal with dangerous specimens, vats won't be enough, so we will need a sealed area that we can secure."

"I have a raid planned for this afternoon after school. I should be able to secure a great deal of resources. Since I only had this place for a really short time, it is still pretty WIP. Money, resources and time had been limiting factors so far. But with ways to make money from it, Cali helping me to harvest resources, more manpower and the time differential, it is beginning to take shape. Not having to hide it from Anna helped a lot, and now that she can access this place, I can share my time here with her, rather than divide my time between her and this place."

John checked the time; with all of these crazy events, he still had a bit above an hour at his disposal if he wanted to go back exactly for his next class, a bit less to be safe.

"Now, show me this product that you are selling, and let's see if we can improve it. We might need Sylvia for that..."

The alchemy set that John had gathered looked childish in the face of the new high tech equipment, but he wasn't ashamed of the elixir he was selling, as it was like printing money and he knew it could be made better.