The first time Pandy did this, it had come as part of Ismara's Blessing I. Or at least she'd assumed it did, since she got both the inventory and the blessing at the same time. But now, while she felt something inside herself expanding, and fully expected to come apart at the seams, in fact nothing happened except that a few words appeared in front of her, briefly blocking the waterfall.

Your Inventory has been expanded by five slots. Stack quantities vary by item.

That was it. She didn't even get a notification about Dark Restoration, and when she checked, she still had four hundred and ninety-seven Corruption Points and full Mana. Something shifted beneath her paw, and she looked down just in time to see the brown leather bag poof into nothingness. It didn't even leave behind some sparkling dust or flickers of digital code.

<Kappa?> she asked tentatively.

I really prefer-

<I'm not going to call you K-Man,> Pandy said firmly. <Did it work?>

…

Fine.

Look for yourself.

Oh, that's right, she could do that now. And she hadn't even thanked him for that yet. <Inventory,> she thought, then added, <Thank you, K- K-> No, she really couldn't do it, so she just left the name off entirely. <For upgrading my System. Though I do have a few->

Slot One – EMPTY

Slot Two – Unknown Unknown Pink Pearls (Qty: 4)

Slot Three – Battered Small Pink Handbag

Slot Four – EMPTY

Slot Five – Small blue book of unknown age and origin, entitled Notes from the Far Side of Dawn: A Primer on Dark Magic

Slot Six – EMPTY

Slot Seven – EMPTY

Slot Eight – EMPTY

Slot Nine – EMPTY

Slot Ten – EMPTY

Pandy stopped, reading the words over and over until they faded away. With this, she could store her clothes, or at least some of them. But could she still swap between outfits the way she had before? She hadn't had the chance – or the need – to change since getting the upgrade, so how would that work? <Can I still save outfits? And, um, why can't I store items inside other items anymore?>

I had to define outfits as separate classes from items, and when I did that, the System looped on the items inside the bag.

It created a recursive function.

That's part of why it took so long to get your System back up.

I broke the loop by adding logic to distinguish between container-items and composite-items, which then defined the contents as separate items.

That… made no sense whatsoever, but what Pandy was taking away from this was that she was just lucky everything was working. Before, Muscle-Head Keros had cast a spell which just did what spells do – magically make something happen. Now, Newbie-Programmer Keros was futzing around with it, and at this point, Pandy should probably just back away slowly and hope that he didn't break anything to the point that the System went down completely.

With a small internal sigh, she dropped the subject, then said, <I thought Ismara's Blessing I was my inventory, so it would go to Ismara's Blessing II or something when I opened this bag. But if the blessing isn't related to my inventory, then what does it do?>

That's a good question.

Let me take a look.

I've been focused on fixing your clothing issue, so I haven't-

Oh.

Pandy waited, but that seemed to be all she was going to get. <Kappa? What did you find?> she prodded.

It imported a new System Module, called VitalLink.

Not part of the original System at all.

It's… complicated.

But it definitely affects your Life Force somehow.

Life Force? Pandy thought back. Yes, she'd gained her first positive point of Life Force when she prayed to Ismara and unlocked her Inventory. But when did she get the second? After Shield of Light had changed to Shield of Darkness, wasn't it? And Ismara was a goddess of Light, which meant that for a moment, at least, Pandy had touched Ismara's element. Was that what had done it? <Is there anything strange about Shield of Darkness?> she asked.

Everything.

That spell is all snarled up.

<But does it,> Pandy hesitated, searching for the right words. She was the furthest thing from a programmer, so she finally just said, <Does it talk to that VitalLink, um, Module?> While she waited for the answer, Pandy edged back out around the waterfall. She didn't want to spend any more time away from Thaniel than necessary, and apparently exploding wasn't on her Bingo card for today, after all.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

It does!

There's a spell-interception hook that checks for Light.

It reroutes any spell that conflicts with your natural element through VitalLink.

<So whenever VitalLink is triggered, it fixes whatever set it off, and I get a point of Life Force?> Pandy asked.

I… think so.

But this whole module is incredibly complex.

I'm not even sure I've found all of it, and I definitely don't know exactly what it's meant to do.

Other than giving you more Life Force, apparently.

Pandy thought about that as she hopped back toward the training grounds. <But if Ismara put VitalLink into place, and VitalLink is helping me, isn't that an obvious indication that Ismara does want me here? Can you show that to Judge God, and prove that you didn't do anything wrong?>

Ahead, she could see the children, now on the ground and walking their mounts slowly around the ring. The animals had their necks arched, lifting their hooves high with each step, while their riders attempted to hang onto the reins and look like they were in control.

I wish it worked that way.

Even if Zeus understood… any of this, it doesn't prove that I asked Ismara before bringing you here.

Showing that she's fine with your presence now might have been good enough if this other god hadn't gotten involved, but at this point, I doubt they'll just let it go without Ismara herself testifying.

Pandy came to a halt by the fence just as the bell rang to tell everyone class was over. The steeds relaxed as the children handed them over to stablehands, who patted the animals and offered them water and treats. <I guess that means we're right back where we started, then,> she said as Thaniel scooped her up, snuggling her close while he walked back toward the main building.

No, because now we know exactly what we need to do to find Ismara.

Pandy's ears perked up. <We do?>

We just need to invoke VitalLink.

Then I can trace where the magic comes from to power it.

And the ears went back down. <But it makes me explode!>

It's not so much explode as… lose cohesion.

And you already knew that was probably going to be necessary.

<Yes, but probably isn't the same as definitely. And what do you mean, lose cohesion?> Honestly, that just sounded like a lazy form of exploding to her.

Look, you… your vessel isn't actually alive.

The only thing holding it together and making it function is magic.

When that magic is diverted to do something else, it, ah, falls apart.

As Pandy attempted to come to terms with this, the children joined the stream of students entering the building. The girls split off, then Isidor and Abbington separated from the group, and Thaniel entered the Governance and Leadership room. The two 'kingdoms' had just begun diplomatic relations, attempting to trade Bunlandia's surplus of food for Grand Saskington's extra iron. So far, things weren't going well, since both sides wanted more than the other country had to spare.

<So, how do I set off this VitalLink?> Pandy tried to think of any other spells with 'Light' in their names. Dispel was a Light spell, but since it was specifically designed to get rid of any Dark magic in or around the target, Pandy had pretty much decided not to get it. After all, accidentally forcing herself out of her own illicitly gained body would be a very embarrassing ending to her own personal playthrough of Gacha Love, even if it didn't potentially leave Thaniel in danger and without protection.

Pandy's list of skills and spells was comprehensive, and included only one spell which she'd crossed off as soon as she wrote it down. It was called Divine Retribution, and Clara used it only once, to finish off Demon Queen Ascyra. It was the definitive Light spell, calling on Ismara to banish Ascyra and her Demon horde. Clara was only able to cast it because of her desperation and the purity of her Love, standing side by side with her chosen partner.

Now, Pandy had a very, very bad feeling about what would happen if she, as the current incarnation of Ascyra, were to use the very spell meant to destroy her. With or without this VitalLink, that was a recipe for disaster, and a weapon of last resort, exactly as it had been in the game.

<Now that I have Dark Restoration, I can try praying at the little shrine again,> Pandy said. <Or maybe we should have someone try to Cleanse me?> That also seemed like a very bad idea, but it hadn't worked when Lian tried it, so maybe it would be all right?

Praying might work.

I think it has to come from you, not an exterior force.

It looks like Ismara – or whoever set this up – wanted to make sure this process is voluntary.

<Wait. Process?> Pandy asked, only half-listening as Grand Saskington's diplomat called the diplomat from Bunlandia a poopyhead. Bunlandia's court immediately rose up in protest, and Mrs. Lovett told everyone to sit down. The Grand Saskington diplomat was sent back to his homeland in disgrace, forcing his court to retreat into a huddle as they tried to figure out what to do. Pandy just wished she had some popcorn, because this was both adorable and entertaining, especially since Thaniel wasn't at the center of it.

import time

from AuditedLink import AuditedLink

import CustodianChannel

import SecureStateEngine

class VitalLink(AuditedLink):

def __init__(self, affinity, custodian_key=b'supersecret'):

self.affinity = affinity

self.custodiankey = custodian_key

def grantlife_force(self, caster, amount=1):

amt = max(int(amount), 0)

prev = getattr(caster, "life_force", 0)

max_lf = max(1, getattr(caster, "max_life_force", 1))

caster.life_force = min(prev + amt, max_lf)

audit = {

"ts": int(time.time()),

"σ": getattr(caster, "name", None),

"prev_lf": prev,

"curr_lf": caster.life_force,

"α": self.affinity

}

if self.checkthreshold(caster):

payload = self.sealaudit_payload(audit, marker="ΔΕΜΣΕQ")

CustodianChannel.deliver(payload)

SecureStateEngine.commit(self.snapshotvitals(caster))

def checkthreshold(self, caster):

κ = int(getattr(caster, "lfcounter", 0))

τ = int(getattr(caster, "vitaltag", 1))

μ = int(self.gethidden_modulus())

return κ >= 0 and μ > 0 and ((caster.life_force * τ) % μ == 0)

def gethidden_modulus(self):

s = sum(ord(ch) for ch in str(self.affinity))

φ = int(s / 37) ^ (len(str(self.affinity)) << 2)

return abs(φ) or 1

Pandy stared at the gibberish that had just come between her and her afternoon entertainment. If she hadn't seen the System actually produce errors, she might have thought that was what this was, but it didn't look random. <What am I looking at?>

Part of the VitalLife Module.

It gives you Life Force, but then it creates some kind of record.

For someone.

Honestly, I have no idea what's going on here, except that it looks like something will happen when you reach some predefined amount of Life Force.

<How much?> Pandy asked. How many times was she going to have to blow herself up – she wasn't saying 'lose cohesion' – before whatever was going to happen happened? Or, given her luck, how many chances did she have to try to find Ismara before this thing went off?

I have no idea.

Pandy sucked air through her long front teeth, trying to decide what to do. Well, not so much what to do as when to do it. Obviously she should try praying again, but suddenly this wasn't just a matter of finding Ismara, but of what would happen to Pandy in the process. For all that she had accepted her first death with relative equanimity, she found that facing another one was… less tolerable. She might be demonic, undead, and a rabbit, but for the first time ever, she had something to live for.

<Maybe I should wait a little while,> Pandy said cautiously. <You can look at that some more, and see if you can figure it out. Besides, Augustus or Thaniel might need my help with something, and it wouldn't be good if I… wasn't available.>

That sounds like a good idea.

We have three more years.

There's no hurry.

Did she sense compassion in those stark letters? Pandy sniffled a bit, wiping the back of a paw against dry eyes. Really, why couldn't she cry? <All right, then,> she said softly. <Thanks, um, K-Man.>

You're welcome, Pandora.

And you can call me Kappa.

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