“Harry,” Murphy said, “I can handle magic. But I’m going to hold off on believing that little girl was an alien.”
“She said she is,” Harry answered.
“And you believe her?”
“Not in the slightest,” Harry scanned the room again, “But it would explain the mages here using a method of magic I’ve never seen before.”
“You’re kidding right?”
Harry just continued to scan the room as Murphy repeated herself. His ears listened to bits of conversation that floated by him, looking for one to interject himself too.
“So Koji’s been locked in his father’s lab for 3 days working on that thing?” One voice said, to which an answer soon came.
“Yeah,” a female voice answered, “I’ve been keeping an eye on him, considering he still has his father’s notes with him.”
“But he’s not his father,” The first voice said, “Do you really think he can repair Mazinger?”
“He built a personal inter-planetary spacecraft on his own dime,” The feminine voice said with a smirk, “I don’t doubt his ability as a mechanic—just his sanity.”
Another nail in Murphy’s (and his own) disbelief in the presence of aliens in this room, but before he could alert her, another White Council face revealed itself.
“I know that guy—” Harry murmured and began walking towards a rather large circle of people—though he used the term loosely.
The circle consisted largely of Gargoyles, but he decided to pass it. Amongst the Gargoyles (and demons) where two young teenaged Asian girls—one of whom was actively engaging the Gargoyles in conversation. Both were rather pretty for their age—though one was obviously more athletic than the other, even though she was slightly shorter. What really made the pair stand out, however was their clothing. The taller girl wore a white dress with red highlights, whilst the other wore a black suit and tie.
For about one quarter of a second, Harry mistook her for a very pretty young man.
The suited girl carried herself strongly, but was visibly nervous. The one in the white dress just bubbled energy.
“I love the way your wings fold up!” White Bubbles beamed, “I bet you can swoosh them around like a cape too.”
“Not really,” The rounder of the Gargoyles said. He was large, barrel-shaped and a light green in color.
Next to him were a muscular male and slender female, both a shade of purple Harry was sure had a specific name that wasn’t just normal purple. Maybe it was eggplant—he didn’t quite care.
The girl in the suit seemed to shrink as the other spoke more openly to the Gargoyles.
White Bubbles wrapped an arm around her friend and nuzzled up against her as she whispered in her ear—but not quietly enough, “Yours are still prettier, 'tsuna.”
“Yours?” The large purple said.
The girl in the suit, 'tsuna, looked aside and murmured, “I do not wish to talk about it.”
“Oh,” White Bubbles whined, “But it’s not like they’re Tengu, they’re Gargoyles!”
“Tengu
are Gargoyles” 'tsuna murmured.
“Not if they’re from New York,” White Bubbles smiled.
By then, however, he reached his destination. An old man in a simple, but elegant kimono, he had a long white beard that was well kept and highly stylized. The top of his head was bald except for the back which housed a rather long braid.
This was a White Council warden like himself, but from the other side of the pacific: Konoemon Konoe.
Upon spotting Harry, he arched one of his fuzzy eyebrows and let a small smile escape the forest well kept hair that nearly covered his face.
“Mr. Dresden,” Konoemon said, “What a pleasant surprise.”
“And here I thought I was the only representative from the White Council here,” Harry extended a hand to the older man, who gladly shook it.
“From what I’ve seen,” Konoemon said, “We’re the only ones—must be an east/west thing. But there are quite a few oddities here, aren’t there Warden Dresden.”
“Where would you like me to begin,” Harry said, “At this event being held at all or the fact that there are several groups here who are not exactly the best of friends sitting at arm’s length from each other?”
“Not to mention the big names,” Konoemon smiled, brought a small pad from a hidden pocket and said “It’s not every day one can get Hongo Takeshi’s autograph.”
“Who?”
“Oh, you wouldn’t know,” Konoemon pointed towards a couple a few yards away, “he’s the pretty boy with the red head over there.”
Sure enough, he spotted the couple. The pretty boy was of a decent height and of a slim athletic build. He appeared to be Japanese and stood almost rigidly straight. His suit was well made, but he wore black leather gloves with it. Something else was off about him too.
The woman he was with was a stark contrast to him greatly. Though she too was Japanese, but her hair was vividly blonde. His dark suit with green tie counteracted her white dress with red trimming. While he stood rigidly, she could not help but move with every syllable she uttered.
An inhuman, fluid movement that was almost mesmerizing. It helped that she was quite curvy and the dress left little to the imagination.
They stood talking to another woman with slight Asian features in her face—a very tall one at that. Not as tall as Harry, but enough to be more than a head taller than Murphy. She was also stacked.
Listening to their voices, he realized that he overheard them earlier in the party--they had re-established Nanoha's claim towards alien influence. Were these aliens too? He bet the fluid woman was just using human form as a disguise. There was no way a human could move like that.
“So,” Konoemon said ripping Harry away from the woman’s mesmeric bounce, “What do you think?”
“It’s bad news all around,” Harry answered, “Before Xanatos became president he was one of the most successful businessmen in the world. With us here, all these powerful wizards, foreign dignitaries and things I didn’t think really
existed all in one room.”
Harry took a breath, “I expect a coup d'état.”
“What?” Konoemon coughed, “I was talking about my granddaughter, Konoka.”
Konoemon pointed to White Bubbles, Harry blinked, “Um, huh?”
“How about a marriage interview?” Konoemon smirked, “With your combined raw talent, I’m sure you’ll produce powerful wizard children. And marrying into my family would certainly help with the bills, wouldn't it?”
Harry sputtered and thanked God that he wasn’t drinking anything at the moment.
“Are you kidding?!” Harry nearly shouted, “She’s fourteen!”
“Isn’t that the legal age in America?”
“
No!” Harry answered, “besides, she looks a little too friendly with the girl in the pantsuit.”
“Well,” Konoemon’s grin reminded Harry of the Cheshire Cat, “Why not have both then, I’m sure Konoka wouldn’t mind.”
Harry did everything in his power to keep his power under control.
Magic power was strongly tied to emotions, and Harry had a lot of power. One uncontrolled outburst and he could blow circuits in nearby machinery. Harry felt the power rise up in him, but he grabbed it and channeled it back into the floor, grounding it. He would later recall that the light's barely even flickered when he did so, but his mind was on other topics.
Konoemon’s laughter eventually clued him in. He’d been had.
Distracting Harry from the fact that no electronic equipment nearby was effected by the power release--the light bulbs did not even flicker.
Konoemon apologized but then added, “But think about it in another 8 years. If I haven’t found her a husband by then—or if she wants to raise a kid with her girlfriend, give it some thought.”
Harry decided to bow out before the conversation got any more
wrong.
The next words to hit Harry’s ears immediately grabbed his attention: “You
licked me!” It was a girl’s voice that reminded Harry of his apprentice Molly Carpenter. It carried the same annoyed know-it-all attitude commonly found in teenagers.
This declarative statement was followed by, “As part of a normal investigation! Don’t you use all of your sensory—and why are you getting upset over this in the first place?”
The voice had a British accent Harry could not quite place, and seemed to slightly together due to the speed at which the person talked. He appeared to be a young man in his late 20s.
Harry eyed them and found Tongue Man in a blue suit and bow-tie whilst he girl wore a yellow sundress and orange scarf. The small Asian girl was a wisp of a thing that carried herself in a manner similar to Nanoha. With them was a rather strongly built military man in a blue USAF dress uniform. His rank read as Colonel, his hair graying but body remained rather fit and well built. Harry guessed him to be in his 50s or so.
“For cryin’ out lout,” the soldier said, “can you make this conversation any creepier?”
Thinking on it for a brief moment, Tongue Man said, “I could mention the various impurities and calcifications that accumulated on her robot shell while it rested in Antarctica—but it’s not as if I licked your projection or anything! Licking a giant robot’s armor isn’t creepy in the slightest!”
The soldier, girl and Harry did not believe him.
“Ah! Harry Dresden!” He said as he walked over to Harry, alarm bells ringing in his head, “wonderful to meet you!”
“Um, hi, who are you?” Harry asked Tongue man as he shook his hand.
Tongue man pointed to a name tag on his shirt that read ‘Hello my name is: The Doctor’
“I’m the Doctor,’ Tongue Man said, “And over there are Colonel Jack O’Niell and Ixtli Reika Mishima.”
He shook Jack’s hand first. He went to shake the girl’s hand (she could not have been more than 16 by appearances) when she met his eyes—which flashed red.
Yellow Sundress gave Tongue Man a severe look, which forced him to scan the surroundings looking for an out.
And she met eyes with Harry.
He found himself in front of a titanic machine in the shape of an angelic humanoid figure with a mirror for a face. Below it the girl stood watching the life of a teenage boy with someone who looked exactly like her, but with darker hair, inside the reflection of a lake they all stood upon.
The sky was the color and composition of the skies of Jupiter. The machine howled, causing the sky to shatter into a blue hue. As it did, Harry felt his heart seize for a brief second and every atom of his existence vibrate to the same chord.
Harry awoke in time to catch himself from falling to his knees.
Or Harry thought he did. Murphy actually caught him and was glaring at this Ixtli thing, whatever it was Harry was certain now that it was not human.
And
she was very sad.
“Harry!” Murphy blurted out--just before Harry realized he fell into her arms.
“You alright?” Jack asked.
The Ixtli looked at him, her hands clasped together in front of her mouth, “I am sorry. I had forgotten how easy it is for some wizards to initiate a soulgaze.”
“Oh," The Doctor winced, "you got the God Machine’s Full Monty. Never a good thing.”
First wizards from outer space and possibly the future too, followed by a “God Machine”. If Godzilla showed up in Chicago to attend this function, Harry did not think he’d be surprised.
Harry stood up with Murphy's help and found some wood to knock on rather quickly after that thought crossed his mind.
This Doctor guy was also starting to get on Harry’s nerves.
“Wait, a God Machine?” Murphy fixed her gaze between the Ixtli and the Doctor.
“Deus Ex Machina,” The Doctor explained, “God from a Machine.”
“So what just happened?” Jack asked Harry as he righted himself.
“Soulgaze,” Harry said between heavy breaths.
“It let’s a wizard with the right talents to see into the psychological profile of a person they lock eyes to,” The Doctor explained (to Harry’s relief), “unfortunately anything you see with your soulgaze stays with you—burned into your brain until the very end.”
“How…do you know—” Harry stammered, but the Doctor interrupted him.
“Well, I may not be able to
use magic,” The Doctor smirked, “Or even like it, really. Buuuut I do know how it works.”
“Do you need to sit down?” Jack asked Harry.
Harry righted himself and breathed, “No, I’ll be fine.”
“So, you’re a wizard,” Jack asked him, attempting a conversation, “Not what I expected but at least you’re not a 10 year old girl.”
“You met her already, I take it?” Harry said, finally standing on his full two feet.
“A while back,” Jack answered, “Still not used to it.”
Harry was about to ask him another question when a voice sounded over the speakers, “Everyone, please take your seats. The presentation is about to begin.”