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Faye's flushed face was covered by her palms. She was clearly embarrassed at herself for letting me almost sweet talk her into my plan. Seemed like my attempt at convincing her hadn't gone as smoothly as I had hoped.
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Faye was now lookin at me with pity, like I really was some poor brain-damaged fool.
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Unfortunately, I understood her moral qualms. Even the Faye I remembered was quite cautious when deciding how to apply her competence. Forming was, for a lack of a better term, mana bioengineering: an art which consisted in modifying a living developed organism through the use of appropriate instruments and techniques. For example, the remodelling of the musculoskeletal system of an individual to make them stronger and/or more resilient, the formation of new arteries and veins to increase blood circulation, etc. The only limits were the skill and fantasy of the artisan and the resilience of the patient. It was comprehensible how these types of operations could be considered questionable.
But what I had been asking for was even worse. My plan was to have Faye dig through my flesh and produce an artificial mana circuit. A mana circuit was something only a fraction of archumans possessed and which set them apart from the rest of humanity as a whole. While you could still consider yourself human while being an "ordinary" arch, having a circuit meant having surpassed humanity itself. In a circuit, aura flowed like blood: it completely changed the metabolism and the properties of the organism and, through enough practice, the flow could be consciously directed, with variable outcomes.
So, basically, what I had been asking Faye was to establish the foundations of an ethically ambiguous practice and use that same practice to remodel my organism and make me evolve toward a not-so-human state.
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We were not going anywhere. My argument needed to be stronger. I decided to be more incisive.
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Faye glared at me, but couldn't mutter any word. I continued on.
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Time seemed to freeze. Faye pondered my words for a long while, before opening her mouth again.
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This caught me off-guard. She was concerned. Concerned about the person who had made her come here through a not-so-veiled threat. It finally dawned on me: the one I'd been trying to manipulate was a genuinely good person. My proposal was an honest one, but my intentions were insincere. Although I planned to help her, I didn't care about her aims at all: I only wanted to make sure she would comply with my request.
But, although I felt a little bit guilty, I was mostly delighted by the fact that I had apparently succeeded.
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She looked at me horrified.
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Although I didn't know much about the actual Forming procedure, I was sure the procedure would be incredibly painful: it wouldn't be possible for someone to remodel themselves, and she was the only one on the planet who would become capable of such a feat. Also, I'd begun suspecting I had an aptitude for rapid-regeneration and was confident it would prove useful during the operation.
<<... Fine. Let's give it a try. You have been saying crazy stuff for a while now, but your confidence must come from somewhere and, honestly, it's not like I've something better to do with my life. I love Pop, but I'm not that fond of agriculture. Might as well give this a go… Also, for some reason, I really want to believe you>>
Faye finally came to a conclusion. My lips curled up in delight. The first step toward the future I aimed for had been taken.
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Her hearty laugh had quickly disappeared, and in its place a serious countenance had taken hold of her. Faye had fallen deep in thought. I didn't know what she was thinking about, but I dared not disturb her. Her brain was a miraculous little contraption, so it was better to leave it at its own devices if possible. Whatever she was trying to come up with, it would certainly be useful for our purposes.
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Happy to oblige, I left the room and looked for the missing two people.