Mystic Eyes of Domination

“Send the next one in, please.”

Arrio Wi Vanian looked down and checked the profile pinned to his clipboard as the insensate volunteer was carried out by a pair of stoic nurses. He marked the check boxes appropriately for a full circuit collapse and spirit core regression and then signed it. Another failure. Catastrophic, this time. He hesitated a moment and then also checked the box for supplementary aid to be given to the boy’s family. It would probably take him decades to recover the use of his circuits and become a productive member of society again.

He moved over to the small desk and began organizing his paperwork like he did after every new volunteer left the testing room. He found his gaze lingering on a frustrating report, eyes scanning over the most important parts.

…discovered in a low Lu clan, it appears to be a spontaneous manifestation of similar progress to our own efforts…

…fully stable and functioning. It’s clear it does not match the Lir Aseria in potency or breadth but it demonstrates that the bloodline that housed such a potent Eye still lingers in the population, if diluted. Code Name: Domination.

…could not secure the cooperation of Cora Lu Milinen as she has relocated to Axias. Please authorize an Acquisition.

Of course, no Acquisition was authorized. The heads of Wi Vanian did not want to aggravate any adventuring guilds based out of Mothergreen, even one as small and new as the Silver Wings. They were barely even monitoring the girl, for Kari’s sake. And of course, none of the girl’s family showed any signs of manifesting an Eye or even matching circuit or spirit core readings to indicate they ever would. Frustrating.

The door to the room opened quietly on smooth hinges and a nurse shuffled in, more paperwork in her hands. “Doctor, your next patient,” she said, hands steady as a member of Un ought to be. He took them with a nod and clipped them to his board, eyes already scanning them.

“Thank you, send them in.”

Two more nurses and a nervous young woman entered the room. The nurses directed her to sit on the examination bed and then waited patiently off to the side. If the initial exam went well, they would be the test targets of this girl’s Eye.

“Miss…” Arrio checked the paperwork, a slight frown touching the corner of his lips. Not a member of a high Family. “Miss Cutilia, thank you for participating in this study. Please follow my instructions to the best of your ability.”

The girl nodded and he began his examination with careful study of her circuits, her spirit core, and her eyes. She did possess these new “Eyes of Domination”, as evidence of the swirling sigils that snapped into existence when she channeled mana to her eyes. But it was a far cry from the sheer presence of Lir Aseria. It had been over thirty years since those fools and those greater fools that had followed them had tried their rebellion. Thirty years since the last holder of the Eyes of Command had been killed -- by the clan head Endo himself no less! The fool! And he’d lost control of his daughter as well! The last dregs of Lir Aseria blood they’d had control over and he’d let her fall in with those thrice damned adventurers!

And now…now they couldn’t touch her. The Angel’s Sword Guild may be young but they had gathered power to themselves in amounts that couldn’t be easily countered. One day, they’d make a mistake and Wi Vanian would be ready.

But for now…he forced a friendly, professional smile to his face.

“Well done, Miss Cutilia. You’ve taken the treatment well and your circuits are stable. Next, we’ll run some tests of your capabilities. The nurses will assist you with that.”

As Miss Cutilia began to express her power, tentatively calling out commands to the nurses in turn, he dutifully recorded the results. They were well within the standards of Domination, only a handful of seconds or a few minutes of influence before the mana unravelled. If only they hadn’t lost their one success. What they’d done back then was impossible now, the recovered Lir Aseria Eyes from the rebellion were too far degraded for implantation. They still had use for making the infusions that helped their test subjects develop Domination, but…he could still remember the subtle shiver of power from that girl, one eye gleaming with that Lir Aseria golden glow. But they’d lost her, too. 

She’d just vanished in the night from a secure room in the most secure facility Wi Vanian operated. No guards could remember anything, no sensors were tripped, and the recording orbs just showed one moment where their pride and joy was safe in bed and the next an empty, otherwise undisturbed room. Records of her spirit core readings, the successful implantation reports, the unique alchemical mixtures used…all of it was gone. Erased from secure rooms and artifice recorders like they’d never been. Only their memories of what they’d had remained.

He shook himself from his sour thoughts and offered Miss Cutilia a smile, the girl gasping in air and sweating from the amount of mana she’d had to channel. “Thank you for your assistance, Miss Cutilia. Please follow the nurses back to your room.” 

He turned his attention to the nurses. “And send in the next, please.”