Caspian steps back before turning on a heel and moving to exit the building. Already preparing himself mentally, his path leads him to one of the small buildings surrounding the Chassan HQ. This one, like all others in Chassa, has a modern feel to it, like centuries of architectural theory has been placed into its creation. Next to the door, there is a lavish sign with the word “Hexkeeper” on it. He promptly enters, now thinking on which upgrade he will be suited with this time.

A bell tolls as the door opens, then a young-looking Changeling greets his visitor. “Welcome, welcome!” In front of him, the being works on a staff holding many intricate runes at the end of it. Using four arms and extremely nimble fingers to handle the thing, this person turns its eyes to who had just shown up. Overly-narrowed pupils widen instantly, taking in Caspian. “Ah- here for your new goodies, eh?”

“Hello again, Tourn. Yes, back for modifications per the Council.” Having been here many times before, the Reaver makes his way over to an operating chair in the main lobby of the three-roomed building. In the lobby, there is natural decor in the form of potted plants, framed pictures, and a wide, transparent screen displaying real time news on each of the different worlds. Few magical or technological items are left out for visitors to see, as normally the Hexkeeper has orders put in for all of his creations.

“This one took twenty hours longer than the most complicated of the others to perfect, Agent. You plan to put this to good use, right? If you didn’t, it would be a complete waste of the last week.”

“Do I ever waste your valuable time, oh great Hexkeeper?” Sarcasm radiates in Cas’ voice coupled with relaxation. He knows Tourn well, and the two have had non-business centric conversations before, albeit few and far in between.

Still tinkering away, the Changeling steps out from behind the desk with the staff. “Never! Never, but I wish I could know why you suddenly need telepathic links made between you and a ‘Controller.’ Your leash isn’t tight enough yet?”

“Ah, so that’s what I’m getting done today.” With a scratch of his cheek, Cas adds, “I’m being shipped off-world to deal with something or someone that decided to create its own Chassa. The Council wants to know everything it can from my trip, so I guess I’m going to log it all through the link.”

“Quite interesting,” the Hexkeeper responds. It has a rather high voice for a male being, and it sports short, black hair at this time. Constantly unhappy with his own look, the Changeling swaps appearances on the daily without an end in sight. Some say he holds multiple personalities that have unfolded themselves and fight for power over the body, but Caspian has written it off as Tourn simply being a fashion diva. Never, however, has he seen Tourn pose as female. At least, not yet. “I would think a simple mental journal would suffice, but perhaps the powers at be don’t believe you’re coming back... Ah! Silly me to say such a thing!”

Cas hunches over a bit. “Thanks for the words of encouragement.”

“Right, I’m here to serve as always!” The sny enchanter pipes as it repositions the staff so that a curved blade at the end faces Caspian. The blade is made of gold, a material best used for its ability to conduct magical energy. The runes on it are like a foreign alphabet known as the Arcane language. Throughout every world, there aren’t too many people who fully understand the ancient language, though its uses are nearly infinite so long as the user is able to weave together their own spells or incantations. “Lean back now, dear friend, and I’ll keep this quick and painless.”

Placing his head against the seatback, Cas prepares for the worst and drop his eyelids shut. He winces once the blade makes contact with the side of his head. It presses against his skin, inducing a lightheaded feeling as concentrated magic invades his body. The runes do their work, forming a sort of device that embeds itself within his skull. Manifested wires plug into his brain, connecting with nerves while keeping damage to an absolute minimum. Any incorrect placement could have a chance at leaving the man braindead, but Tourn is a skilled enchanter who is long past his amateur days.

The process overall takes around a minute’s time, and Caspian is left fully conscious during it. When finished, he sighs deeply, having endured the pain like he had many times before this, from upgrade to upgrade. With the neural link connecting to the one other person with this upgrade, he feels another conscience enter his mind. “About time,” he hears in the voice of none other than Alain, his new Controller.

“Doc, I think something went wrong,” Cas spouts, receiving a tilted head from Tourn. “I’m hearing a pesky Elf in my head.”

The Changeling gives a hearty laugh. “Then it worked!” Before retracting two the four arms protruding from his torso, he places the staff back down on the desk and returns to help his customer back to his feet. “She came by right before you did. Good luck on your journey now, and you better come back. I’ve invested too much energy and time into you thus far and if I can’t keep working on you, I’ll be damned if I can’t have you stuffed and propped up on display to advertise with!”

The newly upgraded man stands, waving off the comment. “I’ll return, don’t worry. See you later, Tourn,” he says, stepping out of the Hexkeeper’s shop. The upgrades for both Caspian and Alain are compensated for by the Council, so no payment is needed on his part.

Now focusing on the neural link, Cas also feels a bit of himself invade his Controller’s mind. Around him, the world brightens the slightest bit. His vision blurs, like he’s seeing two of Chassa. This lasts a few moments, causing a dazed feeling, before all goes back to normal. Like receiving a new sense, he is able to communicate with Alain telepathically. “Feels weird communicating with someone else’s mind but the Council’s.”

“We’ll have to get used to it, at least during your time away,” she responds almost instantly. “This is exciting, though. My first assist in one of your missions. I still remember when you were among the others handing out tasks for the previous Reavers, now look at us. Taking the worlds by storm as a cohesive team.”

“How can you already know we are a cohesive team? The only time we’ve ever worked together was as children in training. You consistently tried to be my partner for exercises.”

“Because you always insisted that you could do them by yourself!” Alain shoots back. Even through the mind, shouting is still shouting, it seems. “Master Callahan asked me to keep a tight leash on you, anyways.”

“So you slowed me down during our final tests, which is why I was never recommended for the Chassan Knight Squad, but to be a future Councilman.”

“You loved being a Councilman, if I remember right. You always seemed so happy when we spoke. Well... at least you were able to leave that life before they created the Council. Could’ve been stuck in that body forever with all the others.”

“Now I’m stuck in one body with one other mind.”

“Not the same thing, Agent. Regardless, I was asked to keep an open dialogue between us for this week until you’re sent off. It’s to build the link between us and keep the bond strong. What you do in that time is up to you, but I will be thoroughly testing each feature laid out to me by the lovely Tourn.” Alain is known well around Chassa. Before she began working for the Council not long ago, she was a traveling envoy or diplomat. Her duties spanned Chassa for a while until the world became known to Ascentia and Descentia. After the Void scare, Alain was sent to key leaders in each world to announce Chassa’s presence and intent. It was a dangerous job, especially for the pale Elf, but she did what she had to under the Council’s protection. During her diplomat days, she was upgraded quite a few times by the Hexkeeper, forming a solid friendship with the previously recluse Changeling. “Say, I remember now why you wanted to work alone. It was because you had to impress every adult everywhere you went.”

“Who told you that?” At this point, Cas is rounding the Chassan central building to meet back up with his Controller, Alain, before he will be released once more to do as he wishes.

“I... No one, I think you accidentally just told me. Huh, this mind-sharing thing might turn out more interesting than I initially thought.” Through the link, Hayalci feels her joy at the idea that she could partially hear his thoughts.

“I wish I could be told of the conditions of these upgrades before receiving them. Also, no- not every adult, just every man. I never knew which one would be my father.” When he was a child going to school, Caspian found out that “normal” families have two parents, not just his one. When he asked, he was told his father was a Chassan Knight whose identity had to be wiped for confidentiality and keeping no loose ties. Even his own mother had forgotten her mate’s name and face. That is the power of the Chassan Council, even back when it was a physical collection of people and not one being.

A few moments of silence pass, then Alain’s bashful words appear in his mind. “Apologies. I’ll do what I can to keep this link restrained.” She doesn’t receive any response as her agent finishes rounding the building to meet her. She offers a smile, though her eyes deny happiness. Throughout her life, she has never been good at personal interactions. With strangers, even massive UnGods with legions of minions, she is among the best with words. The moment the conversation becomes more than just business, her charm falls apart. This is one of the curses of being an Aether Elf.