“Oh, this one has an ocean view,” I said as I leaned into the window.  “It’ll be a terror sealing the bedroom in stone though.”

                “Bay view, Cass, this is Oakland.  For sealing your god-cave, benefit of family connections is that we can get the materials cheap,” Michelle pointed out as we toured one of the apartments (condos?) in the building Zothie was considering buying for us.  He’d told me to buy whatever I wanted so I was taking him at his word. 

                “At least the building has granite siding, a rarity in the city,” the family realtor pointed out.  As his badge said, he was Valentino Dunamis and was a cousin of the branch that led the San Francisco offices.  “The adjacent buildings aren’t up for sale yet, but I can keep an eye out if you’re interested.”

                “Just take the block for the family,” Michelle asked with a laugh.  “That wouldn’t look sus at all.”

                “Sus,” I asked bewildered then saw the answer in her mind.  “Oh, that game.  Sus indeed.”

                “It creeps me out when you do that,” my assistant said honestly.  Or did she think it…

                “Can’t really stop it,” I said honestly with a shrug.  “Trust me, I’ve tried.  I’m working on turning off that ability but no luck yet.  At least you’re just thinking about games, the people in the house next to this one are into some freaky stuff.”

                They both looked at me with worried expressions and I threw up my hands.  “Sorry, fuck you, its impossible not hear things.  At least you aren’t trying to experiment on my ass.”

                “I’ve never had a client that could read my thoughts before,” Valentino admitted.  “But I’ve never been in presence before.  You’re less, hm, impactful than I thought you’d be.”

                “She’s not in full goddess mode,” Michelle told him, thinking he was an idiot who should really keep his mouth shut if he wanted his commission.   “Telepathy is one of her minor talents.  She caused that 5.9 quake north of here, remember?”

                 “That would destroy the city if she caused one here,” he said with an audible gulp. 

                “Yeah, so maybe be a bit more respectful,” she suggested before joining me. 

                I let them talk it out while I explored what I thought of as an overly daring design on a bathroom.  I was a lab experiment with the powers to destroy the tri county area, big whoop.  I was seeing what Gwen meant- I was both a mess and a goddess.  It was a strange blend of things. 

                Emerging, I asked, “What’s under the house?”

                “Yes, Michelle told me to look into that,” Valentino acknowledged, pulling out his phone.  “There’s tunnels that run throughout the city but according to the builder’s specs, you’re over about fifty feet of sand-stone mix before hitting bedrock.  We can, of course, bring out a team to get you detailed underground information, should you wish.”

                “I wish,” I said with a roll of my eyes over how he phrased it.  “There’s what, 8 units here?  Zothie whichever, I like that one on the first floor with access to the garage and the gardens.  We’ll need to outfit it, but that’s not a big deal.  Michelle, you can pick after Zothie chooses his place, assuming you’re ok living in the same building.  If your cousin’s food makes Zothie happy, we’ll give them a unit.  Better to have them on site and let them spend time with the baby.  Sound ok?”

                “You’re giving away apartments,” Valentino asked, astonished.  “You can make over 30 grand a month on those apartments.”

                “Meh,” I said with a shrug.  He said the number like it was important but from the bank statements I’d seen, Zothie and I had no worries about funding.  My brother had added me to his accounts, saying he’d never spend it all.  “I would rather our people work for a fair wage and be close without breaking themselves on housing.  And if they see me in the building, I don’t have to answer weird questions.”

                “Told you she’s different,” Michelle said with a grin.  “Should be move forward with getting in a bid?”

                “Fuck yes,” I said.  I hated this house hunting nonsense.  “Wait- it has an ADA compliant elevator, right?”

                “Of course, it was on the mandatory item list that Michelle sent me,” Valentino informed me. 

                “Good, we’ll need that possibly,” I said and looked to Michelle.  “Can we head back to the hotel now?  These shoes are fire but hurt like it all fiery fuck.”

                “Of course,” she said with a laugh.  “Send us the paperwork tomorrow?”

                “Its on its way to your email now,” Valentino said with a grin, pocketing his cell phone.  “I saw this one a couple weeks ago and thought it would be her favorite.”

                “It’s only the tenth place we’ve seen IRL,” I said wearily.

                “That’s nothing, I’ve had clients look at dozens and dozens of places,” Valentino said.  “I’m sure you’ll be happy with this as your base of operations.  Relatively good neighborhood, multiple shopping sites within walking distance, BART station a few blocks away and the private schools here are nice if you’re looking to bring in families with children.”

                “I’m not planning on that directly,” I said with a shrug.  If my people had kids, they had kids.  If they didn’t, they didn’t.  Besides, it was illegal to not hire someone because they had kids. 

                We were walking to Michelle’s car when she spoke up again.  “I got an email from the head of the local Family saying that he wants to throw a little welcoming party for you.”

                “That doesn’t sound so bad,” I said, dodging a delivery person on a bike. 

                “It’ll be a black-tie affair and full of drama,” she added which made me frown.  “I know, not your idea of fun but if we want their help and backing, it would be unwise to decline the offer.”

                “Dance, squid-monkey, dance,” I grumbled, stepping down into her Miata. 

                “You’re not wrong,” she agreed.  “And since your formalwear has to be custom, I can ask for a month lead time on the event.  Should give me enough time to make something stunning that can hide or show your tendrils.  Might be a nice reminder to the family.  Will have to request that all the staff are ours, though.”

                “So, I get a month to prepare to be grilled about whether I’m really a goddess or not,” I concluded.  “And then we get to shove it down their fucking throats that I am.  At least we can move forward with setting up office space and all that jazz in the meantime.”

                “The family owns a building near Summit Hospital,” Michelle told me.  “We’ve got an appointment tomorrow to take a look at it, see if it fits your needs.  Initially, we just need general office space but because it’s owned by the family trust, we can rent it cheap and modify as needed.”

                “Excellent,” I said, wishing I could stretch out my tendrils.  They were starting to cramp from being held so tight against my back all day.  I envied Gwen, just having to hide four instead of twenty.  “Also, thank you.”

                “For what?”

                “Arranging everything,” I said bluntly.  “For showing up at the drop of a hat and diving into my crazy ass ideas with enthusiasm.  I appreciate it.”

                “You’re welcome,” Michelle said after a moment.  “I assumed I’d be someone’s flunky for the first four or so years out of university.  With you, I’m serving a goddess, which is a trip, don’t get me wrong and I get to set up a non-profit to help people.  It’s a win-win.  Not to mention the salary’s pretty good, though we’ll have to work the funding to come from the charity once we’ve gotten our site and the paperwork started.”

                She went on about paperwork requirements, the need for an accountant and more while I partly tuned her out.  I wasn’t overly concerned with the details of the numbers side.  I wanted to get involved in the community and first step was figuring out how I wanted to do that.

***

“Why did I let you talk me into this,” Michelle muttered as she looked at the yawning hole in the earth. 

                “Because it sounded fucking fun,” I retorted as I tightened the chin strap of my helmet. 

                “We’re not going to wait for the tour guide, are we?”

                “Nah,” I said, neglecting to mention that I hadn’t found one.  “It’s a cave.  They like me, we’ll be fine.”

                “I know Zoth Ommog said you altered the caves to escape where you were, um, born but how do you know these will like you,” Michelle whispered.

                “You can stay up here,” I reminded her as I could feel fear mounting in her mind.

                “I’m sorry,” she sputtered.  “I- I’m supposed to go with you but I can’t do this.”

                Yeah, no shit, I thought as I felt her fear.  It was a dramatic contrast to the cool welcome I felt from the abandoned tunnels.  “I’ll let you know when I’m out, go get something to eat.  You can pick me up later.”

                “Thank you,” Michelle said as I started to walk into the hole.  The terror in her was a visceral thing and I didn’t have the heart to drag her into a place that made her feel that way.

                As she walked back to the car and I came into the cave’s embrace, there it was.

                Sheer…

                Utter…

                Silence.

                Aside from the rush of surf through the sea-side part of the cave, of course.  But I couldn’t hear any other living beings.  There were multiple openings in the cave where I could see the sea and sunlight poured in but I left those to head further in, slipping past a “stop, no tours past this point,” sign. 

                Michelle had offered to take me clubbing, to various markets, to anywhere in the tri-city area and I’d picked a cave system.  Being outside, the air moving through past the hollows in the stone, that was more relaxing than being packed into masses of humans trying to drown their brains out drugs and dance. 

                Not to say I wouldn’t try clubbing or concerts with her later, but I needed a break from the sheer masses of humanity in the city.  Though I’d seen signs showing there was sometimes concerts here in the caves- best of both worlds. 

                I crawled around, over and sometimes through pieces of rock in the tunnels.  Zothie had started teaching me to sing the stones into the shapes I wanted, so I employed that as I moved.  Chiodos seemed appropriate. 

                “Are you ready to take a chance and risk it all,” I sang as I shaped the stony world around me.  My words echoed off the walls, adding layers of nuance to the music I crafted, the guttural screaming of some of the lyrics layering over echoes of softer lyrics. 

                “Cause you’re afraid,” I called, repeated as I came around a corner. I could feel the stillness of the cave all around me, the only sounds ones of my own making.

                Until there was another one.  Something as female as I was but far further from human.

                “You gotta get out of here,” I sang, voice growing softer as I finished, seeking the one I felt.   “Stop hiding in the shadows.”

                It was dark as pitch before I hit the light on my helmet, even the walls bare of the glowing lichen that had lit the caves the freed me from the facility.  The burst of light stung my eyes and apparently something else’s as there was a hissing cry, like an owl I’d heard as we came down the coast.

                That was not what I saw when I found the source of the sound with my light.

                Nope, she was fucking creepy looking, which from a woman with enough 20 extra limbs was saying something. 

                “Don’t run,” I whispered aloud, hand reaching out toward the… whatever she was.  “I know, you’re afraid and I’m scary and you’re scary.  But don’t run, I won’t hurt you.”

                She stepped closer to me, a delicate cloven hoof striking the stone as she braced to run.  She had four such hooves, long, delicate legs and a body like that of deer.  Snowy white fur shifted into feathers that framed a face I would later learn was like that of the Western Barn Owl.  Her mind was a soft whisper as she thought, “Who?”

                I fought not to laugh, an owl asking who. 

                After a moment of calming my weird sense of humor, I said, “I’m the Psyche.  Do you have a name?”

                “No.”

                “Oh, I’ve been there, it fucking sucks,” I acknowledged.  I’d once only been a number myself, so I got it.   “Do you want a name?”

                “How does one get one,” the being asked, head tilting to the side, ears flickering forward.  She twitched, her hide ruffling and I realized it wasn’t all fur down her back.  Tucked in close to her sides were a pair of wings. 

                “Zothie gave me mine,” I admitted, calling the stone to form a seat so I could sit above the damp floor.  “What even are you?”

                “Alive?”

                “Okay,” I said, drawing the word out into multiple syllables.  My tendrils ached under my puffer jacket and I started to unzip it before freezing.  “Um, don’t freak out, but I’m a bit strange myself.”

                Huge black eyes followed my hands as I finished unzipping the jacket and shrugged it off, darting back and forth as I unfurled my tendrils from my back.  The being’s voice was high pitched like a child’s as she asked, “What are you?”

                “I’m a lab-grown goddess,” I said with a wry smile.  “Just as legit as a natural born one, twice as unethical.  Humans created me to be like one of the Elder Gods.  I still don’t know why though.”

                “I was created, too.”  The being paused before going on.  “I didn’t always look like this though.”

                “You were smaller once?”

                “No,” she said and began to shimmer.  When the shimmer faded, she perched on a stalagmite looking for all the world like an owl with oversized eyes.  “I was only this once.”

                “You’re hauntingly beautiful, in a creepy fucking way,” I murmured, looking at the way the light refracted off her feathers.  “Why are you down here?”

                “I don’t know the way out.”

                “Want to come with me, um, fuck you need a name,” I verbally stumbled.  “How about I call you Dani for now and you can come with me out of the cave.  If you want to stay with me, you can or you can fly off to wherever.  Sound good?”

                “Yes, Psyche,” she said, shifting back to her deer form again.

                “Oh you are gonna scare the hell out of Michelle,” I said with a wicked grin.