D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

*Um… system?*

User Kat requires either verbal confirmation of task completion from Summoner Xiang, another 24 hours of guard duties, or the system will recall User Kat after a further, 72 hours unless User Kat uses this as a chance to have an extended non-interference vacation in this dimension.

*What’s a non-interference vacation?*

User Kat has spent over a month in this dimension. As such, User Kat is entitled to spending time until the next Contract wandering the world. The non-interference aspect prevents speaking to or assisting the previous Contract holder, the intentional killing or maiming of anyone, even those who attack you first, and of course no technological uplifting.

*Hmm… Lily? What do you think?*

[In truth I’d love to stay… but at the same time we’d have to admit to our families that we chose to stay here longer… after being away for over a month… and I don’t think I could face down my parents and you… well can you imagine the look on Sylvie’s face?]

*I can and it’s awful. We’ll leave.*

“So… after checking with my boss,” Yang jumped a bit at that, and Kat cackled internally, as she’d been a bit worried about if ‘boss’ would count as the truth, “I have to stay for at least another twenty-four hours unless Xiang verbally dismisses me. After that I’ve got… well actually I’m not quite sure if I have 72 hours starting now or 72 starting tomorrow when I could dismiss myself… but I’m allowed one of the two. After that, I pretty much have to be gone,” explained Kat.

.....

Yang bit her lip and let out a hiss of air, “That’s really not what I was hoping for. I… would I be able to verbally dismiss you?”

“I was told it had to be Xiang,” said Kat with a shrug, not really sure why it mattered.

Yang sighed and said, “Right I guess we’ll just have to work through this then. Xuena is going to start doing crazy shit and I’d really rather she wasn’t distracted by a demon. This will be what she sees as her only chance to talk to you… though with Xiang around I give it even odds that we see you again despite what conventional wisdom would dictate. Xiang has already summoned you twice, a one in a billion chance, for each. Probably higher.

“Now, normally I’d let Xuena just ask you whatever she might want, it really isn’t my problem… but she’s also going to be attempting to cultivate, or make that stupid regeneration pill for herself. The chance of that blowing up and killing her is way too high for my liking. The only reason I’m not stopping her is she’d just wait till I was asleep and try without supervision.

“The issue though… is with two ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunities in front of her Xuena won’t be able to resist trying to capitalise on both at the same time so just… if she asks you a question can you try not to make the answer overly shocking or just… wait till she seems to be at a lull in the process?”

“Yes… but is it really such an issue?” asked Kat with some confusion.

Yang ran a hand over her face, letting it pull and twist the skin as she went before it snapped back into place, in a glare of course. “Look… Xuena is brilliant, she has an instinct for alchemy that most grandmasters would LITERALLY kill for. Not just one person either, hundreds, probably thousands. Some in fact HAVE done that. I’d trust Xuena to make a restorative out of two blades of grass, a bit of pocket lint and dried spit. The problem…

“Well the problem is that she isn’t ‘desperate’ she’s INSPIRED which is soooo much worse. She’s going to be pushing the limits of what should be possible to end up with the best potential result… in the middle of nowhere. She has no tools, no lab, no safeties set up. She’ll be using my cooking supplies probably and that’s only because if I didn’t hand them over she’d start carving shit out of the trees to roughly match what she needs which would be even worse.

“Alchemy is dangerous. The line between a magical pill to solve your problems and a poison so deadly nothing can cure it is exceptionally thin. The other thing is if she fails halfway through the backlash… well it’d probably be enough frost qi to freeze even Xuena solid, let alone the rest of us. Of course, if you’re bad at it ash or useless gunk is a common result but that’s not really something Xuena will ever end up with.

“That just means though, all those chances of failing weakly and innocently get used up to push things even further into… what’s the saying ‘go big or go boom’? Anyway… just… just be careful. If Xuena misses a step and she doesn’t notice it might explode right away or it might kill her so just… be careful please!”

[You know… for all her professed interest in Xiang I can’t help but wonder if Yang is at least bisexual.]

*Why is that?*

[I guess I just see a lot of myself in her right now. Not most of the time of course… but this seems like the sort of thing I’d do if you were more like Xuena. It’s an interesting mirror and I’m a little surprised by it. Then again… with the way Yang acts maybe if she was gay she’d already be with Xuena… or she’s in deep denial and is trying to hook herself and Xuena up with Xiang because being in a harem is more socially acceptable? That last part is more a guess. Nobody we’ve met has had a problem with the fact we’re gay… but that might just be because of how strong you are.]

*Can’t they just be good friends?*

[Oh, no question. This could all be completely platonic for both of them, or for just one of them but not the other. No way to tell without asking and even then they could be lying to themselves just as much as us. As for culturally… well we really haven’t seen enough to say. I… I just think it’s very similar to my own thoughts about you a lot of the time. I’m probably not great at spotting this kind of thing seeing as I feel for both of my best friends rather quickly.]

*Quickly? Really?*

[Yes. Quickly. For… her… it was as soon as puberty hit me. For you… I already knew I liked girls and you just had to be so sweet and noble. Why, there was no chance my heart could escape your clutches. If you weren’t so asexual I’d make a joke about how you were seducing me first but well… I’m not sure if that would be considered in good taste.]

*Why wouldn’t it be? I don’t really get sexual jokes… but I also don’t see why you can’t joke about me seducing you first.*

[Eh… I guess. It’s just not all that funny for anyone who knows you. Or at least… that’s what I think.]

*Well I think you’re adorable.*

“We’ll both try and be careful,” said Kat as Lily’s thoughts exploded into waves of pink. Kat found the fact that her girlfriend was still weak to genuine compliments, especially when they were unexpected to be fabulous. It was a trait she really hoped Lily never lost. She probably would, and Kat knew she’d have to keep escalating for a reaction… but that could be its own kind of fun.

Yang, oblivious to Lily’s lack of attention nodded slowly and said, “Thank you for accepting that. We should probably return now to make sure Xuena hasn’t collapsed from blood loss or something silly like that. Maybe if we work together she’ll finish dressing her wounds before starting her new project… actually, say you’ll only answer her questions if she can promise not to bleed out that should work,”

The group trudged back through the snow following what remained of the path they’d made to get there. The intense snowfall doing a good job at covering their tracks already. Kat and Lily couldn’t help but deadpan when they saw Xuena though. She’d removed her clothes to avoid all the blood… and it was a LOT of blood. She was coated from head to toe with worm blood and guts. There was a large meaty cube that kept beating off to the side and she was making her way through the rest of it. Yang and Lily both had to fight down a bit of nausea at the sight. Kat just rolled her eyes.