She stood and moved closer taking all that in the red head was silent but when she kneeled beside Juniper she looked her in the eyes. “I don't think that you'll be able to play the monsters off against one another … the nurse and Mind Bender that is. Well, I'm not sure how either will take it. They might fight over you, they might not even like one another … well, I can say that they're disinterested in one another thus far.”

Gigi flickered her gaze to the ceiling then back to Juni. “No, I don't think so.” She smiled. “Though it is an appealing offer ...”

And then her eyes went white. A creepy smile hanginging on her features as she spoke. And yet, other than a hand on her shoulder hinting at greater than normal strength she had not moved to touch her.

“Now, I cannot have you parading around the island looking for me only to jeopardize your bargaining ability when you've work so hard to keep that intact thus far. Not a virgin but not yet indoctorined to the ways of the island either. Of course, you are still free to change your mind … in truth I was looking for you and hoped that I would find you soon and sensed your nearby so our meeting was more than a coincidence ...”

"Ffffffffffffffffuck." Juniper cursed, jerking back from the hand on her shoulder. It was evident that she'd planned to roll over and get back to her feet, but she got tangled up in the brace and ended up face down in the dirt for a moment, "Pft" she blew some crud out of her mouth and grabbed hold of the wall, pulling herself up until she could get her good leg under her again, "I wish I could say I didn't have my suspicions. 'Oh, Mind Bender is comparatively gentle', 'Oh, he keeps his word', 'It's pointless to fight', I wouldn't quite call you transparent but I can tell when I'm being sold something."

"So, how deep are we in my head? Am I even in the equipment shed?" she said, her eyes glancing around at the walls to see if any of the text on the blueprint was getting runny or wobbly, "And can I get a real name? Calling you 'Mind Bender' just makes me feel like I'm eight." she was putting up a brave face, she was good at that, but there was still a sheen on her cheeks. It hadn't been a show earlier, she was scared of what she was about to tackle, but she hardened up in the face of adversity.

"And I wasn't so deluded as to imagine I could have you fighting each other at dusk over my affections. You both have access and authority that I lack, and agendas that don't meet eye to eye. Throwing a wrench in the works with little, easy, favors like this administrative log-in is about as high as my ambition reaches. Right now." she raised her eyebrows perceptively, "Though I'm surprised to see you this far inland. . .I'd think that your invertebrate biology would find standing upright like this taxing. Wouldn't a shallow bay or atoll suit you better?"

“Sold something?” His eyes became green again as he stood up. “Why, it was my intent to let you go off without knowing anything different but I could not have you wandering about the beach looking for me and risking what you'd offer up in the first place. I even did some of your work for you, answered some of your questions as a typical student would have … I know most of the truths though … I left you the recourse to double cheek a few things but you will find that fighting back does no good.

“I will allow you to make your own determinations over the next four years though the photos you took, well since they were of illusions, as is this place, then the only thing that will show up after I stop influencing your mind are walls in a storage shed.”

He flickered his eyes to the blueprints following her gaze. “Oh not very. I've included a few illusions of this place, the blue prints and sketches, that makeshift brace is real though as we are in the tool shed, funny doesn't look like there are shelves of tools all about you. I even influenced the minds of the guards to leave this place alone as they searched so we could talk a little.

“Your kind has named me Aegir and that is what I go by. The ancient Norse where the ones that named me actually for you will find that I was alive for much of your history.”

He paused as the illusion of Gigi that he wore tapped a finger to his temple. “Oh I am aware or what you are thinking in that matter. But the forests are my dorms are my usua stomping grounds. The water is nice but the beach is too sunny for my tastes. Actually, I went to the dorms tonight looking for you but you were alright out. In addition to being a telepath I am telekineic so I can exude enough force to give me enough shape to walk upright.

“Still, this is interesting. I have encountered girls wishing to go home before, lots of girls in fact but none that have really grasped reality and wanted to learn the truth so badly. Knowledge, and the pursuit of new knowledge interests me as well.”

"Let's just say that you come off more as what you think a senior student would be like than the reality." she said with a bit of a shrug, "A word of advice for the future, try to say something nice about the competition, even if it's a back-handed compliments like 'At least he's a quickshot'. Everyone pushes an agenda, you just have to listen the right way, and Gigi's could be summed up as "You Can't Win" and "Mindbender is a pretty cool dude." She had to admit, she felt a little silly giving tips on deception to a creature who could craft such an elaborate illusion without so much as a tingle in the back of her neck to tip her off.

"Also, you responded to something I thought, but didn't say aloud." she coughed a bit and pressed two fingers to her lips as if smoking a cigarette. It was weird, she didn't feel the same predatory pressure coming off of this creature as she had the Nurse before. She had to assume it was because it was still wearing the guise of Gigi . . . or maybe because it hadn't slapped the taste out of her mouth for calling it 'squid-lips" earlier. It seemed like an unspoken endorsement of her irreverence, at least until the bargain was struck.

"Aegir." she placed her hands on her hips and nodded once, noting the name in her head, "Yeah, I figured if you were deep enough in to keep me from walking into stuff, you'd be able to pick up on my surface thoughts as well. You'll have to pardon me for expending the needless effort to orate, it helps me organize my thoughts. That is some impressive evolutionary development, integrated psionics as a method of achieving amphibious mobility, I'm in awe." Okay, she was more like intrigued, it was a facet of his nature not the result of personal development on his part, after all. Still, she had to admit she never would've expected to encounter something like it before tonight.

"Heh," she covered her mouth a bit to hide a slight smirk, "I'm flattered to interest you, I'd think you'd have seen it all by now. Yeah, it'd be easier to sit back and passively wish for rescue. Yeah, it'd be more comfortable to to lie to myself. Yeah, it's be simpler to just lay back and accept no responsibility for my fate passed this point." she drew her hand away from her mouth, trying to keep a straight face, "But all of those options preclude coming to grips with the problem, and blinding myself to solutions."

"That said, it's hard to take you seriously as a seeker of knowledge while you hide behind this . . . " she waved her hand around, "Fallacy. I understand it's for my benefit, but please, give me the benefit of my conviction."

“Oh, no many are that broken. A few aren't but I used the typical girl as a template for it. I know their thoughts after all. There are no secrets from me if I want them I could simply take them ...” he said matter of factly so that she would understand but he was not concerned if she bought that anyway. She would discover that truth soon enough after all.

He chuckled at the advice though. “Noted. Before coming to this place years ago I was not very creative. A product of my species but after a few years her I got more creative … I have some of the other monsters to thank for that since I can harvest memories from students … trace elements of my short comings are there and I find that often there is a hiccup in my illusions, normally since I can read minds I get aware of those little things when a student may suspect something and can chang it or the student isn't even aware of the transgression and skips over something. Most people as you yourself have found are less observant than you think.

“But I found that you were in the middle of something and merely wanted to give you some answers, some theories, right or wrong they would get you thinking. That and come morning when we parted this place and Gigi just disappear for a while, another source that mysteriously vanishes or a monster conducting an elaborate ruse, I intended to let you work that out but I was intrigued by your offer and figured with the way Rena was closing in on you it would only be a matter of time before she simply took what you would freely offer and make you uncertain of future dealings with me.

“Yes, my error there. Sometimes knwing something is a bane, you inadvertantly let something slip that you never intended. Most times I catch it, not always, other times I try to push past the slip before a student things to much about it.”

He grinned at her. “Yes, I experimented extensively with my abilities … in fact it was only when arriving her that I tinkered with manipulating dreams, really it's not too different then generating waking illusions but I found that I was making quick progress with it and no apologies needed about having to vocalize your thoughts. I am use to it, and in fact I have been using telepathy this whole time. I do not speak, cannot speak but I project my words, a minor illusion of sound which is really telepathy and wallah.”

He had been aware of the smirk for he may not have seen it with his eyes but he saw it in her mind even if she were attempting to hid it from him. She was impressed a little at least and he shook his head a little.

“I have seen a lot though not everything. Most students end up cowering or hoping for the best after a time. Some even have little to look forward to save for the next visit from me. Some know more of the truth than I revealed here tonight, some of it is spot on, some speculation from a stdent's mind set and some that was held back but I know that you enjoy getting to the bottom of things and won't ruin your fun.

“I can also see the formation of your plans and well, I do not have any stake in them obviously so I have no reason to stop you from doing what you desire. Do I think that it will make a difference? Probably not but it will be interesting to see this all play out over the next couple of years.”

He considered for a moment. She already knew what he had looked like through the sketches. While it was not necessary for him toreveal himself to get at the heart of things most time he juggled her pursuit of the truth then nodded. “Very well.”

Gigi underwent a sudden transformation, green eyes going white, mouth tendrils sprouting from his face as her hair melted away. Her form stretched as she grew in height to around seven feet as her skin became mauve colored and rubbery. Legs melted away to form eight legs comprising of tentacles, his clothes tranforming to that of a red tunic that he wore.

A pretty lie or the horrid truth ...

Eugh, you would be that shade of purple, wouldn't you? Looks like raw calamari., she thought, raising an eyebrow and giving him a long appraising look, Height, roughly seven feet. Eyes white, no pupils, adapted for dark conditions. . .color vision unlikely, range of vision clarity suspect. Likely supplements automatically with passive telepathic scans. Skin texture smooth, likely highly insulative. . .deep sea life form? Yes, you wouldn't care for the sun, would you. Skin remains moist, even this far inland . . . protective membrane? Suggests that drying out is bad for your health, more reason still to keep to the dark. Hmn. . .extended cranium like octopoidal life, but humanoid torso . . . likely the vital organs are in the main body, cranium contains brain with additional tissues to house psionic nodes. Can't tell if the arms incorporate bone structure or are reinforced tentacles, perhaps with a cable-like muscle structure. . . she blinked, Aaaaaaaaand . . . you can totally hear everything I'm thinking

"Ah, yes, I imagine secrets aren't something you're often frustrated by. I suppose you're also used to such . . . rudeness." she muttered, covering her face more from embarrassment than revulsion. She'd heard of people being evaluated as a piece of meat before, but she doubted they'd ever experienced it quite so bluntly. It was just . . . he was standing there, she couldn't help but speculate on his alienness, like seeing a curious animal in a zoo or book.

What the hell is wrong with me? she thought, peaking between her fingers to make sure he wasn't cross with her, Get in there, girl, show him you can be accommodating.

Leading with her bad leg, she took a step forward, leading to a quicker second step with her good foot that brought her right in front of him. Putting on a soft expression, she looked up at him, meeting his eyes directly. She reached out to touch him, lightly brushing her finger tips along his stomach

"You're not horrid. . ." she said, bringing the fingers up to her nose, wondering at the saline level of his membrane, and thus whether or not she was going to be expected to use her mouth, A little freaky looking, maybe. . .Jesus, how am I even supposed to do this?

"So, we've come this far. Do we talk terms?"

He chuckled. No secrets ...

He reninded her though her mind was fairly sharpe, he could alter his skin tone and it actually dulled as he aged until at last it was a dull white. In the past his skin tone was deeper, a purple hue but had faded to this state. Clearly, he did not mind her musings though as she took in his features, a stark change from horror but she had an idea as to what to expect after all.

But you are mostly correct. I can change my pigment at will, this is what it is normally and I have no bones to speak of in these limbs of mine. Yes, I detest drier locals but can survive in them for a time.

He had not been cross with her, in fact given all the people he must have encountered on a daily basis, who he had revealed himself too in such a state he had run the gamut of sensations, usually fear and thus this was a rare experience. The Norse and others who had revered him were often not so afraid of him but that was because he tailored himself to their expectations more often than not and rarely revealed his true form to them.

He allowed her to explore him, to feel his body with that exploratory touch though as she brought his fingers to her nostils she smelled the salt of the sea though it had been faint the odor still lingered there.

It is not salty ... He commented about the smell. He spent a lot of his free time in the forests or resting at the beaches and amonst the scent of salt she would pick up the aroma of pine trees, nearly as strong as the smell of salt.

I am pleased that you think so … too many of the students simply are repulsed and don't share your interests and fascinations. It goes against what they normally expect.

He drapped a tentacle against her shoulder. We begin with the terms of the bargain, what is to be given, what is expected of course. While others may keep to the letter of bargains I tend to keep to the spirit of them so you do not have to worry about being totally clear, I can see what you intend on your mind and use that as a guideline.

Her heart jumped a beat as his tendril coiled up behind her to drape across her shoulder, he was warm to the touch, an endotherm? That was surprising given his appearance . . . but then, it would eliminate the need for a convoluted multi-enzyme genome that could function at a variety of temperatures in favor of supporting his complex brain mass.

"The terms I propose --" she hesitated, swallowing a lump in her throat

You remember this moment, girl that nagging voice in the back of her head growled disapprovingly, You fix it in your memory. This is where you make the transition from victim, to whore. She blushed furiously and looked away for a moment, her heart beat picking up a bit further. For a moment, it looked like she was going to back out, right at the precipice. Then, she turned back to meet his blank white stare.

"The terms I propose," she began again, an angry bite in her voice this time, "are that you provide me with an administrative log-in and password for the school's Intranet. This is defined as the log-in and password to an account that has full permissions and the highest security clearance on the network. Should this log-in and password fail to work as advertised, for any reason, you are liable to replace it with a functioning example within three days. This responsibility is only binding until such a time as I verify delivery of a functioning code. . .by using it in the manner previously established. Ah, we don't have access to any paper, so I guess you'll just have to imprint it directly into my memory" she took a deep breath, steeling herself for the next part.

"In exchange, I offer to. . ." she swallowed again, "I offer to gratify you, sexually. You will have full access to my body, and I will endeavor to my fullest to satisfy you. As I'm not familiar with your physiology and needs, I'll take direction as you deem necessary, without spoken complaint. The service is to continue. . ." she glanced away for a moment before meeting his eyes again, "Until such a time as you deem yourself fully satisfied, or a period not exceeding eight hours, lest the code be useless to me. I'm . . . uncertain how your mind powers interact with your libido, and I really wouldn't even have the terminology to know how to meaningfully regulate it's use. I will, instead, respectfully request that you stay out of my memories, and refrain from rewriting anything that will interact with my long term memory as we're settling payment."

There. She'd said it. She'd put it out there. It was in his hands now.

"Do you find these terms acceptable?"

Aegir could feel her thoughts as she wrestled with this decision. The transition between her indecision, the uncertainty that she held as she considered then reconsidered her thoughts but Aegir had patiently waited for her to finish what she had to say to him reflecting on her words. She spelled out the terms of this arrangement and he took it all in stride. Eight hours max … he regarded her with those white eyes of his then reflected on the terms. He had been in contact with so many minds that this had been incidental in that he picked up what she already was after. He never had to bother with anything more concrete or lasting than these mundane thoughts.

Now he could stay out of her head, that was easy enough though his sensory powers were akin to another sense altogether. Still, he could refrain from this and he considered the terms carefully. She might have considered that he was trying to think of a means of backing out of this though he wasn't, it was not often that he went without using his gifting so he thought it over.

Transmitting the codes from my mind to yours is an easy enough matter … sadly I have had no reason to test them and while the pass words stay the same the codes are changed randomly each day to help diminish hacking and I do not have valid pass words at this time, an easy matter to rectify of course, a smalll matter than can be done within a day …

I am unuse to using some of gifting as I often stimulated the pleasure regions of the mind and dull pain. It is practically automatic for me to read surface thoughts, though I can halt this with controlled effort on my part.

But I need not influence or alter your mind at all. In fact it could be refreshing as a change not to have to rely on tried and true methods. Your leg is injured and I am lacking valid pass words at the time so shall we wait to conduct this transaction or not? Further more, I will give you codes for three days delievering the day's passwords into your mind through the day at the same time. I am often around the dorms so as you get up each day I could easily inject your mind with the days password. For general access it is the same code, for something that you wish to have access to only a detailed few have access of course though getting such codes are easy enough. There was a nusky scent emitting from him now as he thought over her terms and conditions.

Save for implantin the codes is the absence of powers only during the exchange or meant to be longer in duration?

"The leg will keep." she said, patting her knee with a self-depreciating smile, "Not to put too fine a point on it, but this isn't the kind of work where I expect to be doing a lot of standing. The codes, however . . . yes, I'll want those before we get started, so I suppose we'll have to delay things a bit." she said, reaching up to gently take the tentacle draped across her shoulder, and beginning to lift it away.

"As that's the case, once I have verified a useful code, payment is to be delivered at a time and private location of your choosing. If you should have any requests, garments, foodstuffs, what have you, I'll make an effort to accommodate as best I can. I wouldn't want you to feel cheated." she fidgeted a bit, she wasn't looking forward to having this rendezvous hanging over her head, she kind of wanted to get it over and done with.

"I wouldn't want you to tax yourself on my behalf, that would be counter-productive. Besides, it would be difficult for you to communicate your desires to me you stayed out of my surface level thoughts." she rubbed her arm a bit, diverting her eyes off to one side, "I just don't want to find memories not matching up, or to be discovering any lively new kinks in the aftermath of this tryst, I want to stay me as much as I can."

"Heh, I'll admit that I don't appreciate the notion of you rummaging about in my thoughts as a general rule, I somehow doubt that I could extract that kind of promise from you without a hefty price. I'll trust you to hold to the spirit of the bargain, however, and not retroactively tinker with my head inside that time window." she paused and glanced at the ceiling, "Barring world-threatening events, obviously. My world most specifically. Just covering my bases."

The tentacle was heavy, rubbery and moist though not slimy as she might have suspected. Still he did not resist her from moving it off her, understanding of course … it was not as if she could go anywhere so he did not worry about her not paying up, in fact he assumed that she would be concerned that he wouldn't but had he of wanted he could have lied or supplied her with false codes but that of course went against the spirit of things.

His mouth tendrils twitched in formation of a frown for his species. She being indoctrined into life on the island by him had never been a condition of their terms though in good conscious he could not have her wandering around, searching for him when he had been right there. He of course knew her thoughts but waited until she came to terms with them, vocalizing them to another showed the strength of her conviction.

He was a little dissapppointed that they would not be starting anything just now but he understood from her point of view too … Aegir had been in close contact with humans for awhile now. When he use to consume minds he had been imparted with their knowledge but sometimes he had felt their emotions and very often he took insight from those tid bits that others of his kind did not understand making him somewhat of an outcast amongst them. Fortunately his species was rare indeed …

He had considered … once she had the codes he would cease making contact with her mind until their agreement was reached and while now she could not hope to deceive him she would have that small amount of time to do so. Thus while he felt she would not cheat him he was still no fool, he would hold onto her prized camera until he got his payment. A day, perhaps two even. He would give it back to her as soon as their time was up though.

When I give you the code I will halt influencing your mind in anyway save for telepathically as I cannot communicate other wise. Once I give you the codes you give me your camera, which will be returned to you after you verify the codes and conditions of our terms are completed.

Staying totally out of your mind is an easy enough matter for me. I usually don't do it. Consider it similar to holding your breath, normally you don't do it save though a conscious decision to do so for a short time at least. I can refain for a time if so desired, far longer than you can go without air ...

He paused, that musky scent still lingering in the air though it had been stronger now. Aegir listened to her concerns and while he did not actually have to listen, knowing her mind, he found that interupting all the time was as creepy as answering unasked questions so he let her finish.

Simple illusions and fooling the senses are perhaps the biggest deceptions I do, save for the occassional dream I have refrained from leaving lasting marks on students save for one occasion, secret fetish of one of the students. But even in that case nothing far reaching … remember no secrets. But their will be a window of time where I will be unable to read you. I once, well twice, encountered an alien with such powers to prevent me from reading their mind and it was thrilling in that it is something rare, save with members of my own kind I have not met anyone immune to my mental probes though I feel as if I could crack the defenses in time there is no real benefit to it, making them like countless others in the galaxy so you will find yourself amongst a very exclusive group for awhile at least.

Reflexively, she reached up to touch the camera hanging around her neck, gripping it tightly. As ridiculous as it might sound to hold a camera hostage, Juniper was loathe to give hers up. It wasn't as if there was a store on the island she could use, or a site she could use to order a new one from the school's intranet. They were isolated out here, and aside from the emotional investment of a gift from her father, it was an invaluable tool in the hunt for truth.

"Tch . . . fine." she acquiesced. She had to admit, it was fair for him to have some assurance that she'd pay up after she had what she wanted. She also had to admit that she was working a subtle kind of leverage on him. It wasn't part of the bargain, but she knew that he wanted to be the one to "break her in", and the longer she was out of his sight the higher the chances that something else would corner her first. A little incentive to work quickly, since she herself had to work quickly if she was going to give her nemesis the slip.

"You don't have to try and make me feel special, you know. I'm on the monster menu at Shokushu U, that's a pretty small demographic all by itself." she bowed her head and slipped the camera strap over her head. Moving a little slowly to make sure she wasn't going to step on him, she took a step back as she raised her hand to offer the item to him, "You should probably go ahead and take this now and save yourself the effort of taking it off of me once I verify the codes. The next time we meet face to face, it should be to complete this arrangement."

"So, is there anything else? Do you actually have a need for a portable generator, or was that just something to maintain appearances?" she glanced away with a grimace, not particularly pleased to admit she was already indebted to this thing "It might not've been what was portrayed, but you did haul my ass out of the fire either way." she glanced back at him, "Assuming the Nurse is a real thing, and you didn't just cobble together something out of my nightmares and reckless speculations just to fuck with my head."

When she looked back he was turning the camera over in his hands before dipping his head and slipping the strap over it. He glanced back at her with those white eyes of his and since their transaction had not been complete he had not yet extracted his attention from her, he was not pressed too deeply into her mind, just enough to follow her surface thoughts.

The list of potential students might be small but we are the ones who choose them in a manner of speaking. Why someone is targetted and someone is not is mainly due to luck, a monster simply passed them by for someone else. Of course, once word gets out that a girl is on the list a lot of monsters are appealed by someone new to torment so the long cycle begins with them content to torment these victims in lieu of others. So the initial demographic is quiet large as far as selection goes, but I am assuming that is in comparrison to the population at large. There is also the fact that this might just be the tip of the iceberg, their may be other schools.

Oh, I do not need a generator … Gigi did, but she does not really exist.

The nurse, Rena? Oh, she is real … quiet real …

Nor is she pleasant to deal with either, I am gathering from the memories of other students I have encountered thus far. I have implanted a suggestion in security earlier to stay away from this place and if you are willing I can implant into your mind where else I have altered their minds to stay clear from. Of course, you are free to attempt to find your own way back or even wait until the morning to attempt finding your way back. None will bother you while you are in my presence assuming that I am entertaining you in other ways ...

"Compared the the seven billion souls on earth? Even if the island was an open smorgasbord of depredation, with creatures howling and women twisting from one coast to the other, it'd still be select group." she said, turning her back on him and waving over her shoulder as she reached the real wall of the shed and rested against it, "As for the possibility of other schools, that's speculative, there's no evidence to support or deny the notion. You've already admitted to mixing truth with fabrication just to set me on the path, so you'll excuse me if I don't accept every implication at it's face value."

Rena, she thought, sliding down the wall, So, the bitch has a name. I suppose hoping she was a bad dream was wishful thinking. she let her head fall back to hit the wall with a light 'clunk' before she let herself sink back to her seat.

"I'll stay here 'til morning, then ditch the brace and make my way back, that should give you some time to work if you like." she raised her good knee and leaned forward against it, "Given the veil of secrecy about the place, I kind of doubt they'll just snatch me right out of the classroom. I'll wear some dark hose with the uniform, maybe some makeup if I need some touch-up around the arms, that should help conceal the damage. I'll just have to suck it up and walk normally."

"Other ways . . . heh, like what? Chess?" she smirked a bit at the notion, Don't misunderstand desperation for comraderie the thought bounced out only barely consciously, a mental reflex more than a swallowed remark.

In regards to your population I would say yes, a select group even if there are multiple schools out there. In truth I do not know the answer to that as I have never had a need to know and have not dealt with anyone here that possessed suchdge themselves.

He considered this option though. Perhaps someone here knew that answer that he had never been exposed to before, even he didn't know the entire island, enough of it for his uses but little more than that unless he gleaned it in a mind from incidental contact.

He allowed her to make her musings then shook his head a little. If I leave you here something else may stop by, only security was around and thus only they were affected to stay away. Rena was not in range at the time, and should another monster chance upon you here then there is no guarentee that they won't help themselves. I could get the codes but they change them daily so they would only be good for a few short hours anyway. It is probably best that I get them in the morning so you have longer time to use them, I shall do that in the morning while you are at class, by noon the codes will be pressed into your mind … save for telepahy and inserting codes I will refrain from using my mental abilies on you until the terms are meant, three codes, and our joining, Once the third code is transmitted though I will be free to use my powers again to monitor your surface thoughts.

Rest, tomorrow I feel will be a long day for you especially in the afternoon after you get those codes.