"I know, I know, I can't go swimming without a swim top like this. Seriously though. Thanks for stopping that transformation." A thought struck him and he narrowed his eyes. "Actually wait, how did you do that? And why aren't YOU transforming now? Wait, have you already?! And why did the stuff leaving you make me start to turn into a snake?"
[Actually, he was in the process of becoming a Lesser Chaos Lizardman, not a snake,] the System helpfully corrected.
Like that was a helpful correction to begin with, Alesha thought sarcastically, shuddering slightly as she remembered how it had been a Lesser Chaos Lizardman that had caused her to fail the important-item theft quest two days ago. Had it really only been two days? Everything was changing so fast ever since she had woken up with the System.
[... If you think this is fast-paced change, you're hopeless,] the System said ominously. Okay, that was a worrisome statement if there ever was one. It didn't consider this much change in two days to be fast?!
"Helloooooo, are you zoning out again?" Dennis asked, waving his hand in front of her face.
Alesha blushed, realizing she'd spaced out right after Dennis asked her a question. Damn System. She was absentminded enough herself without having a whole other entity in her head to distract her all the time.
[Hehe.]
Any ideas as for how to misdirect him, at least? Alesha thought towards the System.
[Nope! Good luck!]
Great.
"Um, well I'm actually part of a super secret agency and we have magic," she began, making up the most ridiculous yet believable thing she could think of on the fly. "They recruited me back while I was at college and my magic reacted badly to the aliens' attack, and um, that's why I was in a coma and the seizure last night was because they were attacking again. My magic doesn't like them."
[Pppppppphhhhhhhh HAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHA!] The System began laughing quite boisterously at that. [Seriously?! Super secret magic society, and their magic reacts badly to the invaders?! Your explanation only digs your hole so much deeper for you later!! Ahahahaha!]
Alesha's mental reply was quite upset: "Well it's not like you gave me anything better to work with! And I can't just tell the truth thanks to your stupid ability to stop my voice box from working when I try!"
[Who said I would have stopped you this time! Hahahaha!]
That floored her. Seriously?! The System would have let her tell the truth this time?!
[Nah, I'm just teasing you. You still wouldn't have been able to tell the truth. Hehe.]
Dennis was so wrapped up in his own excitement with the possibility of his sister having joined a secret magic society that he completely missed the shifting emotions on Alesha's face as she conversed internally with the System. A good thing, too, or he would have seen her go from embarrassment to anger to betrayal to frustration. Not the kind of emotional progression you'd usually expect to see on someone who was neither speaking nor listening to anything audible.
"So you're part of a secret magical society?! That's so cool, Alesha! Can I join, can I join?"
Alesha snapped back to the present just in time to catch the last, repeated request to join. "No, sorry buddy. Actually I shouldn't have told you at all, but I had to because you got hurt because of me. So shhhh," She said, adopting a mischievous sparkle in her eyes and putting a finger to her lips.
"Okay!" He said cheerfully, accepting her rejection without complaint. The boy could be incredibly naive when it came to trusting his sister, a fact which Alesha was very grateful for (and simultaneously felt very guilty about) at the moment.
After he left, Alesha laid down on the bare mattress and sighed in relief. "Thank goodness he's alright," she whispered. "I was so worried. Thank you for telling me how to help him, System, seriously. I know you were enjoying his changes. It means a lot to me that you still helped."
[... Hmph. I only told you so that you would drink all the Mystery Potion today. It was a fair trade, your interests for mine.]
Why did the System consider that a fair trade? Once they knew what the Mystery Potion did, wouldn't that make drinking more of it pointless? Unless each potion was a different kind?
Just what had the System told her about the potion before… she couldn't remember.
Pulling up her inventory, she checked. No information was displayed about the potions other than their name. They stacked, too, which either meant that they were the same kind of potion, or that until identified, they would be treated as such.
Well… she could just find out right now what they did. Did she have any reason to wait?