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Inside a private lab of one of the businesses that Ms. Shimmer funds, a young scientist is hard at work. Her lab was little more than her one bedroom apartment before she was contacted by Ms. Shimmer. She publish her theories on using magic and technology online, and videos which was one of her sources of income, from before. The other source of income was as a freelance programmer and computer help center.
Her work into magic started on the day that she found an old oil lamp that never goes out. There isn't any oil but there is a flame and that the flame can be blown out but can be relighted. The lamp from her research is using energy that she never seen before. She spent years researching the lamp and been trying to get it to work with technology, but with her limited resources and funds there was only so much she could do. And no one showed any interest in any of her papers that she published.
She was reduced to living off her merger income by cutting corners and she can only afford the red sticker, half-off, expires-soon foods. If she still had her dog Spike, she would be sharing his food. Then Shimmer came to her and showed her a way to make her dream of creating magictech to become real.
Shimmer showed her the magic umbrella that allowed her to enter the world of a book. She took her with her inside the books and she learned so much. She was able to look over the many different technologies from books that while won't work in real life, gave her an idea what to do with what she has to work with. Like that guy who made his own lightsaber. (1)
She created her very own Doctor Octopus tentacles but made the design to be inflatable, using plastics instead of metal. Meaning she can wear the harness under her clothing but inflate the device when she needs to. Just like the female Doctor Octopus from that movie. This impressed Shimmer enough to gave her a state of the art lab and funding for anything that she needs.
Which has paid off, thanks to Shimmer taking her into books with advance technology and giving her access to magic. She has managed to make many breakthroughs and advancements. Mostly in making better heat sinks, CPUs, memory storage, power grids, more efficient fuel engines, and computer programs that work better, all just improvements on already existing devices that people can easily grasp and can just hit the market after they pass the safety tests. As Shimmer told her to get her name out there and make money so that the funds and resources she's sending her won't dry up.
"Sparkle how are things?" Shimmer asks stepping into the lab.
"The magic taken from the heart is more powerful than anything I have seen so far," Sparkle said reading the data coming to her from the scanners.
"I want to know is that the powers the heart has can be copied even without the pendent," Shimmer said.
"Yes, I have been testing it out and all the powers that the pendent has can be copied thanks to my device," Sparkle said holding up the pocket watch sized device.
"Good," Shimmer said walking over to the work table where Sparkle is working at. "Have you tested it out?"
"Not yet," Sparkle said.
"I'll test it out then," Shimmer said picking up the watch.
"What are you going to do?" Sparkle asked.
"Combine the umbrella with the magic of the heart. The book worlds can't effect anything outside, nothing but knowledge can leave those worlds, seeing how you tried to use those nano machines and other body altering stuff on yourself with you turning back to normal once you left. Even dying in the book world will only result in you returning to the real world," Shimmer said.
"Tell me about it," Sparkle said as she's the reason why they learn that safety feature.
"I told you to be careful around battles," Shimmer said.
"And it's a waste of time as there is no way for me to even make my own blaster," Sparkle said.
"Those use power cells that we simply don't have," Shimmer said. "But anyways, I think I can finally bring things out from the book worlds."
"How?" Sparkle asked.
"By a spell called Astral Drop that creates a magical doppelganger. Although a Drop is a perfect physical copy of a person, they possess none of their memories, and have no personality of their own. The leader Will only used it once and never again after an enemy of hers turn the Drop into an Altermere. An Altermere has the exact powers of the person who they are based on. As Altermeres also gain the feelings of this person, the two are capable of finishing each other's sentences. Unlike Astral Drops, they do not fade away when "Astral Drop" is said; they are actual living beings with feelings, emotions and memories. My plan is to go inside a book and create a Drop of a person and see if they can come out of the book with me," Shimmer explains.
“Like those monsters in Power Rangers where they’re created by using clay?” Sparkle asked.
“Yes you can think of it that way,” Shimmer said. “I have been waiting to bring an old friend to the real world for years.”
“One of your teachers? Is it Lina Inverse?” Sparkle asked.
“I am not finding out the hard way if she can tap into the magic of this world. She’s a good teacher, as long as I paid her, she isn’t good company,” Shimmer said as she summons an old book and the umbrella.
She discovered that once entering a book world from start to finish, the book world will reset itself once she gets to the ending, or when she enters another book. Leaving her to befriend people in books all over again, she shared that with many people inside the books over the years. Nothing she did could keep them from forgetting about her when she starts over, like replaying a new game where she has to start back to nothing and start all over again.
Shimmer vanished as she enters the book, leaving Sparkle by herself. Shimmer reappeared and she wasn’t alone as there is a man who stands over 8 feet tall with her. Sparkle recognized the man as the Frankenstein monster who she has studied when Shimmer took her into the book.
Sparkle remembers the description of the creature in the book.
‘His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips.’ (2)
In the real world and what looks like some years having passed where the medical scars having healed and his skin tone gotten some sun. The creature is by modern standards a hunk. With his powerful body, his rough but handsome look, and his eyes strange but unlike in the 1800’s it’s not going to cause people to flee in terror.
“Herman you’re ok?” Shimmer asked.
“Yes, I am,” the creature now named Herman said looking at his new surroundings.
“You did it,” Sparkle said.
“Yes but creating an Altermere is very taxing. I think it’s because of the book world. The Drops are easy enough to create the Altermere cost more to create, combine with how hard it is to use magic in the book worlds, it took me awhile to be able to do it,” Shimmer said.
“How long did you take?” Sparkle asked.
“About 10 years to get it right, not counting giving Herman an education,” Shimmer said.
“And you did explain everything right?” Sparkle asked.
“She did, I’m not the first she has befriended just the first who can remember,” Herman said.
“Even those who are fully self aware that they’re fictional and break the 4th wall don’t remember when the book resets,” Sparkle said.
“Sparkle while I’m busy experimenting you and Herman can get to know each other,” Shimmer said taking her leave by opening a portal and walking into it.
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In a town in the USA -
Jeek once again found himself being hired to drain the magic of a magic ring with the magic drainer he was given. The ring he was told is the Ring of Hallow Light. Using the magic detector he located the ring inside a hamster cage being worn as a crown by the hamster inside.
The window was left open with only a screen separating Jeek from the ring. Pulling out a knife he cut through the screen and entered the room, he reached in and he used the magic drainer on the ring robbing it of it's magic. He then quickly got out into the backyard where he made his way into the street and slips into the storm drain where a portal would open for him once he made a call to the one paying him for the job.
When Brian enters his room he discovered someone had cut their way into his room and did something to the ring of Hallow Light that allowed him to transformed into a Sentinel of Light Unseen like his dad the old Spectra Warrior Krys. The ring no longer shined like it did before like something had drained it somehow.
Unknown to Jeek his break in was captured by the home security cameras of several homes. Which the video of a strange creature lurking about would soon be all over the news and online. That lead to Krys sitting down with his son, Brian and telling him of his past before he settled down on Earth with his mother, after Brian showed him the ring. And lead to Brian telling his dad and mom about Rainbow Land and the friends he made there.
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