“He may have said something to that affect, it's hard remembering much giving what my heads been through as of recent ...”

She honestly doesn’t member though that isn't so much of a surprise considering what they had just gone through as of a few minutes ago alone.


“The potion sounds like our best option so during these three days that we are protected what if whoever it is brakes through our defenses to control use, we fend them off but then what? Can he just attack the once protected mind or does it remain elusive for the duration and cannot be targeted until the potion wears off.

“I'm not sure if it's testing out strength or doing something else at this stage but the potions seem to work best I think.”

She hmms and ponders this for a moment.

"Well thats the bad part i suppose.. it could contune to attack.. and retake.. if anything.. it would most likly be surprised considering the part of the mind it was controlling was inthralled to it... Our protected mind wouldnt be visible to it at all.. so us taking back control would alert it... so yes.. it could attack us again.. but as long as the potion is active.. we could contune to take control back every time it let up a bit."

She pauses for a second.. "i admit..its kinda opened ended.. but at least within the 3 days we can take control back... its really to stop us from compleatly falling... if it chooses an all out attack.."

She sighs for a moment giving another shake of her head...

"But if we are going to do this.. we need to start bringing the supplies to the kicthen and whatnot so i can see about setting up a lab.." she says as she looks toward the door again.

“I think I see so it's sort of like a shell game, albeit with but two shells. It takes a mind, finds that we can take control but when he takes it it looses it's hold on the other completely and that one becomes hidden again during such a cycle.”

Psionic abilities had been one of those things that she would not really every know a thing about. So she appreciated thing being explained to her since psionics had been one of those things that she had to speculate of guess at.

That shopkeeper gave Amanda a rather useful ability. How it related to sex … well there were things she had not tried to do with it yet. Psionic monsters usually imparted this sort of training on their slaves, at least mildly psionic ones for those with greater powers had little use for such “talents”.

"Yes that is the general jist of how it works." she nods in responce to ama.

"You will be able to think foryourself within the protected part of your mind.. You will know and feel everything your body is doing.. but your mind will still be your own.. at least within that protected part. So you could in thoery hear yourself say things you wouldnt believe you are saying.. cause the control part would be making you say them" She responds.

She heads down the hall contuneing... this time heading for the hanger again.. they had to get the rest of the food and herb type supplies and bring them to the kichtnen so she could set up the lab and get this potion brewing.

"Hopefully... i get enough time to get this thing started." she says as they walk.

Nope. While Ama nods at what is explained to her the two girls go back to the hanger and get those supplies. They are about half way back when something forces it's way back into her mind. A lighter probe this time though she would have had a chance against anything greater.

Why had the attack been scaled back? Why had it retreated once she was at the brink again rather than keeping up the attack was still a mystery at this stage. She could feel something probing her mind again, something malicious. Yet she could not follow the intent for it kept her hard pressed to resist the latest onslaught against her mind. One that eases when she is at the brink again.

She groans softly as her hands come up to her temples again.. as they were nearing the hanger again. She finds herself slumping against the door frame.. as she thinks breafly at the yellow psi protecter around her throat.. to hide the potion idea from whatever it was forceing its way back into her mind again.

That aside... she does try to rebell the presences... though considering she had been under constance use of her new abiliy.. it was super.. tiring upon her mind.

"its..... back.." she grunts softly as she closes her eyes.. trying to use her will to hold that thing out of her mind... still trying to find what it was trying to acutally do to her.. or scan.. what of her mind.

Ama moves to her side briefly unsure of what to do. She tries to assist however she can, trying to project and protect Amanda's weakening mind. She is unable to do anything but but hold Amanda closer as she rubs her hand along an arm as she pulls her close until it passes

The presence subsides after a moment and while Amanda cannot determine what the presence is after but it becomes a bit clearer at what this thing is doing for instead of trying to slip past her mental defenses but rather it struck against her remaining defenses. It was not trying to do anything other than just that she assumed as it drew back after chiseling away at them.

She is left in Ama's arms a concerned look etched on her features. Apparently she had not been struck by the same attack just yet.

She shudders a bit as she contunes to hold her eyes closed.. trying to fight back against the knifes edge that was widdling at her remaining defences.

"Ww wwhatever it is... is going after.... my.. defences... widdling away.. not giving me a chance to.. put up a defence." She responds horsely after a moment.

Still holding her head she was barly aware that ama was stroking her arm.. holding her as she leaned against the wall as she tryed to fend off.. this whatever it was.

She was quickly running out of.. options.. so.. in a desprity plee.. she sends a... wave of a push.. back along the knifes edge of... fear... sickness... like her mind was posioned to the touch. She really had no other options.. and if she made it pause to think that perhaps her mind was.. poisoness to mental touch.. even if it only felt that was for a breaf time.. at least it would leave her to rest a bit.

But whatever it was had not eased up with that push, not until it broke down the defenses that had built themselves back up. Whether it understood or cared about the push had been something that she was uncertain of though it should have understood the push leaving her with the feeling that It had not cared if it were true or not.

All she could feel was that malicious presence one that seemed to be chuckling into her mind a brief moment after that and then just as suddenly as it started it ended.

Ama was at her side, a worried look on her features as she rubbed her arm with a hand.

“We got to do something about this and quick. Can you ... do you think ..." Ama considered for a quick moment, she obviously was out of her element here. "Can you attack it?" It was regretful that once a Flash was used that was that and you had to get another to use that particular one again. Otherwise she could try the same Flash Amanda had and while it might not do any good at least it would double their attack power.

She feels her push.. of fear and loalthing of her mind seeming have no effect upon whatever it was that was chippping away.. or better carving away at her defences. Whatever it was seemed to want her totaly defenceless.

She falls to one knee as ama contunes to stay at her side... her eyes screwed shut as it was taking everything she had to simply keep the thing at bay...

Just when her defences were about to fall again... the attack from whatever it was suddenly stoped again... Though she couldnt help feeling there was a laugh on the outside of the bubble she had been defending.

"Cant... iit... doesnt seem to care what i do to it.." she stutters softly...

In the breaf moment of it leaving her along... she desides to try a different tactic... if the potion she would create would make a second mind shell so to speak.. then.... in theory.. she should be able to...

Letting her defences stay where the creature's mind had been carving out.. she fosuces in within herself.. imaging her.. core of her mind to be within a mirrored bubble.. something that reflected whatever that was outside her real self..... trying to hide.. so to speak where she could recover.. restore.. so if that thing broke threw.. it would simply see.. a seeming empty mind for it pillage.. and much the same effect like the potion she should.. in thoery be able to fight back when she recorvered her full strengh again...

She trys a simillar thing around all those.. ties that connect ama to her.. a mirrored way.. trying to defend against her mind.. perhaps the creatures attackes would rebound with her mirrored surface.

She creates, unable to fight back. Was it too late to protect herself? Did she think she had enough energy to do this now? Perhaps. Could she protect the two of them though? Time would tell. Just like fighting a war there was a constant give and take with territory. Right now she was giving up that territory in order to withdraw and protect herself, to gather up enough strength to launch a counter attack if necessary to drive this think from her mind, if it work for if it pressed into her mind and found nothing it may keep looking for that hidden reservoir inside her mind until it discovered that hideaway if at all possible.

From what she felt the thing did not seem as strong as her own Master or as ancient but it did seem to be persistent.

But they would not find out anytime soon as they had not come under attack again and they were allowed to set up the lab without any incidents.

Of course Ama had been worried, this was just another think she could not help with for her lack of knowledge and skill her made her as useless at the whole potion making thin though at least she could try to help with the later.

She contunes lean against the wall there in the hall for some time.. building those reflective surfaces within hers and ama's mind. At one point she reaches out... and grasps ama and tugs her into her lap as she slides down against the wall.. one hand around her shoulders and the other around her neck.. keeping her close... like the closeness would help her further within the girls mind as she attempted to do the same.

She stays like that for some time... Shhing at ama if the girl tryed to move or say anything. She worked on it for a while only to find whatever the creature or whatever that forgien mind was.. hadnt desided to attack again.

She knew her mirrored minds wouldnt be no where good as the potion would be.. but.. perhaps it would buy her enough time to acutally get the potion brewing.

After some time she finally opens her eyes and releases ama as she slowly gets back to her feet.

"i.. i think its over for right now.." she says as she looks at ama.

"Come on.. we should get my lab set up.." she says again... as she starts off down the hall.

They dont seem to be attacked again... which was a good thing.. cause it does take several hours for her to jury rig a tempory Chemistery type of set. And the first thing she started was that potion. It really wasnt hard to start.. the biggest problem was letting it simmer.. and cook in on itself for about 13 hours. But now that it was at least started... by morning.. it should be about ready.

She checks over her equipment one last time, making sure everything would stay sage when she wasnt here.. no burn outs or blow ups so to speak as she turns back to ama.

"Ok.. i dont know about you.. but im finding.. im suddenly.. really tired..." and it was true.. if anything she was overly mentally tired.

It had been scary, being drawn into Amanda's lap as she was it almost felt as if this was an admission of defeat, that she just wanted some measure of comfort in all this. Still she sat still with the girl for awhile though when she had eventually gone to move she was wrapped up tighter.

So there she stayed until Amanda felt well enough to get moving again.

“I hope you're right ...”

Ama helps setting up the lab and the potion is set to brew. Ama takes notes encase she every has to do this herself if there came a time when Amanda was incapacitated and she had to deal with this herself at one point to safeguard them all.

"Exhausted ..." Ama pants out by way of explaination.

She was tired but the attacks made it tougher to sleep. Was an unconscious mind more vulnerable? It was about the time that the potion had been finished that both of them were attacked again. Their defenses repaired somewhat the attacks keep coming until those defenses are washed away again then the attack ceases on both girls without any explanation though they could deduce that whomever was out there had been deliberately eroding their defenses and keeping them nonexistence for whatever reason. Perhaps when it decide to attack it wanted to sweep past them when attacks finally did come.

It had been a night since the last attack. Ama was still feeling run down for she had barely managed to sleep during this time. One, she did not want to risk lowering her defenses any more than they had not understanding these things. And two, she wanted to remember all the steps possible for the brewing of this potion even though the bulk of that time was the simple simmering of it.

When she is attacked again in the morning her defenses are shattered again and quite easily too this time around though it does not press it's advantage ... yet.

It had seemed to be a intresting night.. after they had left the kicthen.. and made there way back to the room they were useing for sleep. She had taken her time.. eaten some of the energy bars.. and checked all the security camers.

Even as they laid down to sleep.. threwout the night the unknown mind presence kept attacking.. and kept defeating there normal defences.. but.. it seemed it hadnt seen the mirrored surface within there mind.. it jsut kept destorying there active defences.. leaving the pair of them still mentaly tired in the morning.

But at least within the mirrored confines of her mind she was gathering herself.. and not overly fighting to her regualure defences.. just enough to put them back up.. and saving her full strengh as it regenerated within her mirrored hiding place.

When morning rolled around she felt a little dizzy... then remerbered the new flash was spilling into her mind....a new skill was splaying threwout her mind.... and it would take her a moment to piece togeather what she had just learned.... it really could be the read and write common, all the knowladge of herbs, alchemy whatnot, or.. she still had that unknow one to learn.. that could.. or couldnt be something that shop keeper desided a slave should know or do.

Since she randomly chose her Flash for the day she would be surprised at which skill she now possessed as morning came around. Her mind, mentally exhausted from the attacks that had been designed to chip away at their defenses to leave the pair mentally exhausted and defenseless whatever it was had not begun poking around where it may have assumed that their minds had drawn back or maybe not though it was clear that this thing was only knocking down their defenses again and again as if keeping them on edge as to when the true attack would finally come.

So her mind was a wreck in the morning. Not only had her defenses been reduced to next to nothing and throughout the night her brain was being restructured as this and that was implanted in there.

Her mind had been attacked in the morning and it took a little bit longer for the connections with the Flash to be made. Herbology. This one dealt with the various herbs and their properties that she had not known expanding her materials that she could substitute this herb with or what was more potent than something else.

In retrospect a very useful one right now at least. Still she did not know what the last had to do with sex. This one had more to do with servitude and cooking. When to use such seasons, what dishes where best flavored with them and the like were prominent in her mind.

“Are you OK?” A concerned Ama asks as she was slow in coming around.