It’s normal to hallucinate when you’re stressed, right? That’s all this is, Tanya. Big scary bloke might stab ya, so your brain goes funny an’ drops you in a video game.
Adder stood. He tugged on the small metal pulley, fully opening the blinds. Tanya watched a lady across the street glance over before bolting.
He arched his muscled back to catch a glimpse of the snake's head in his reflection in the glass. The others crowded around, slapping him and each other on the back with toothy grins. Dreadlocks had only left his spot guarding her because they blocked the door. Her eyes locked onto the door to the back room, but there wasn’t much point. The back door led to a dead-end, so she’d have to run to the front of the building to get away. They’d just step out the front door and intercept her.
Tanya couldn’t stop thinking about the voice, but she focused on her plan. There was no guarantee that they wouldn’t kill her at the end of the tattoos, but she knew there would be more gang members than this. All she had to do was a good enough job that they wanted more tattoos from her and they’d let her go.
Tanya’s eyes darted back to Adder but he was too busy swaying this way and that to get a better look at it. He hid his excitement from the rest of the group but a smile flickered when his back was turned from them.
Smilin’ means not dyin’.
She picked up a mirror from the side table. Her mind flashed back to the last time she had used it hours ago to show Maria the stencil on her arm. Her fingers clenched tighter. It was better than them shaking.
She led him to the corner. The full-length mirror usually lay covered in a tarp to shield against the blinding neon lights bouncing around the cramped shop. The fabric slinked off with a whoosh, curling on the floor next to her like a sleeping cat of satin.
Adder looked at her, not questioning or curious, just nothing she could read behind his eyes. The comfort of tattooing was over and the pit in her stomach returned. With each movement it swayed like a pendulum, creating waves of nausea. She lifted up the hand mirror and her breath caught in her throat. Dreadlocks’ toothy grin filled the reflective space in her hands. She angled it to the snake and Adder took it from her. Tanya expected rough, calloused hands, but instead, he delicately cradled the antique silver. It was at home in his hands.
Bewilderment was the first proper expression Tanya had seen on his face.
His lips parted and nostrils flared, the careful mirage shattered. “Why is it itching?”
Tanya took a deep breath.
Don’t let his feelin’s get to ya. Stay calm.
“Itchin’s just part of the healin’ process,” she said, more confidently than she felt.
Tanya’s calm only lasted until she confronted the snake on his neck. Itching was common from a tattoo, but not like this. Underneath the plastic film she’d rubbed across it, it was bubbling. Black molten inky bubbles swelled and burst without a sound. They began more like blisters. But as they rippled under his skin, each bulbous affliction glimmered with a magical sheen. Her mouth dropped open.
“What is this?!” Adder spun round, gripping Tanya’s shoulders, only inches from her neck. Tanya gulped and she swore he could feel it.
“What’s happening? It burns!” His voice cracked with agony. He pulled away and grasped at his own skin.
She couldn't afford relief. His fingers dug into his shoulders like he was trying to tear the pain out. Tanya’s gaze fixed on him as panic rose within her. Everything else faded into the background. She couldn’t breathe—couldn’t think.
The hand mirror shattered on the floor. Tanya wasn’t sure if she’d dropped it or if he had. Her hands and legs were numb. She tried to move, but her feet were fused to the floor.
His agonized cry ripped through the air. He staggered backward, hands clawing at his body in a futile attempt to stop the ink from eating into him.The ink bubbled and writhed on his skin like it had a life of its own.
What have I done to him?
Tanya’s breaths came in shallow, frantic gasps. The rest of the group stormed over at the commotion and Dreadlocks waved the knife in her face. She stood frozen, eyes glued to the bubbling ink. Their voices sounded far away and angry. She willed her body to move; anger simmered in the air around her. Move. She took a slow, shaky breath, willing her body to respond. Gradually, the weight of the world on her chest lifted. Feeling in her limbs returned, but her steps were jerky as if she had just woken up.
She swung around, her heart hammering in her chest, but Dreadlocks was already there. His hand shot out, gripping her by the arm with terrifying force, yanking her back before she could take another step. The leather of his sleeve was rough against her collarbone. The blade no longer pressed lightly; it bit into her throat, daring her to move.
“I swear you will die for this, if you’re part of another group we will gut you and hold you up to show them what we do to traitors—” Dreadlocks’ words dripped with madness. He spat out one theory after another, each more terrifying than the last. His hands twisted into her hair, yanking her head back roughly as he screamed, his breath hot and ragged in her ear.
The metallic click of a gun being drawn jolted her heart. One of the brothers had pulled a weapon from his jacket, the barrel pointing directly at her. The black steel gleamed in the low light.
Is this how I die?
Then Adder screamed and all eyes were on him.
He leaned forward and backward, the bubbles pulsating from his back as hands clawed their way out from beneath his skin. With each rock of his body, the ink pulled harder. Bubbles were no longer forming and popping, they lifted up the entire image.They formed a grotesque, swollen noose encircling his neck. His eyes bulged, the whites marred by streaks of red.
One of the brothers pointed the gun at her face. She was staring down the barrel. His finger adjusted on the trigger. There wasn’t time to process that she was about to die. At the last second, the other brother lunged and shoved the wielder’s arm.
The gun jerked to the side, the deafening crack of the shot tearing through the air. The rush of a bullet skimmed past her head, a sharp, searing heat slicing through the space just above her ear. The wall behind her exploded in a puff of plaster, and flecks of debris rained down onto her shoulder. She covered her ear. The ringing was so loud she couldn’t hear through that ear anymore.
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“What the fuck are you doing?!” the man yelled.
“You nearly killed me!” Dreadlocks screamed. He pulled away from Tanya’s throat to shove the brothers.
One of the brothers wrestled the gun from the other’s hand. “She obviously just got a Class. We need her alive to fix it.”
A Class?
The inky snake finally ripped free from Adder’s back. His skin was torn but there was no blood, like unfinished special effect makeup. Adder sighed in relief, collapsing to his knees and taking huge, shuddering breaths. The snake rose off his back like Tanya was its snake charmer. She stared it in the eye and it stared back, orange glowing iris inked exactly how she had drawn it.
What the hell’s goin’ on?
The world almost stopped. Adder fell slowly to the ground. A bead of spittle flew from Dreadlocks’ mouth, proving to Tanya they weren’t completely frozen. She looked down at her hands and they moved at the same rate as everything else around her. Blinking lasted a full second.
Initialising…
Sight connected
Hearing connected
Touch connected
It was the same voice as before. Her thoughts felt watched. She had no clue how to describe the feeling other than that.
I have deemed “English” to be your main language. Would you like to change this to another language?
English: 89% fluency
Espa?ol: 6% de fluidez
Fran?ais: 2% de ma?trise
She tried to speak but her mouth opened at the same speed as everything else around her. Thinking no seemed to be enough. It dinged.
Welcome to the—
What’s happening?
Tanya didn’t mean to “talk” over the voice, but she wasn’t used to this thinking communication yet and the question flew out. The voice was raised, like yelling across a car park. It came with an ache in her chest and she could tell the voice felt it too. The voice paused.
I am best understood to your kind as a god. The portals allowed me and those under my care into your world.
The portals?
Tanya replayed the words over and over.
What portals?
You will see them soon.
She expected it to say more but nothing came. Her eyes began their slow shift up from her hands again until she could see the inky snake. She could see it better now that time was so slow. It really did look like it was still made of ink—but not a puddle. It held its shape, moving as if it had real muscles underneath.
Can you help me?
I already have. You are now under my care.
Tanya considered her next words very carefully. She needed more information but she didn’t want to sound ungrateful.
An’ bein’ under your care means what, exactly?
Accessing The Interface…
She noticed that there were two types of voices coming from The System, one that sounded more like computer commands and another more personal. Tanya blinked and her vision was filled with words. She shook her head, but the words remained fixed in her vision. It was like some sort of character sheet.
* * *
Information
Name: Tanya Angelo
Number: 10056
Age: 24
Species: Human
Class: Tattoo Summoner
Level: 1
Attributes
Strength: 8
Dexterity: 14
Vitality: 8
Concentration: 6
Will: 12
Abilities
More than Meets the Eye
Level 1
Tattoos created by you are imbued with latent magic. They can be summoned by their Wielder for unique effects. These effects are determined by the design, Vitality of the Wielder, and cost of creation.
Achievements
Worthy
You were deemed worthy of The System’s care. You have been given a class and access to The Interface.
Unique Circumstances
The circumstances that showed you as Worthy were Unique. You have been given a Unique Class.
* * *
Tanya mulled the words over. Her Attributes made sense. She’d had a lot of work on her Dexterity tattooing. She wasn’t exactly sure what Will meant, but—
* * *
Will
(Attribute)
Your inner strength and mental fortitude. Governs resistance to fear, mind control, and debuffs, as well as powers tied to determination and resolve.
* * *
Jesus fuck. Alright, now that’s proper creepy.
She was tempted to keep checking through each section, but as the snake’s blinking eye reminded her, the world wasn’t frozen, just slowed.
Scanning through the character sheet, she searched for something to get her out of this. She began thinking about something to stop the men, but then the snake slithered further forward in her peripheral and she paused.
I'm safe from my own tattoos, right? The ones I done on others?
Tattoos are wielded by the person's body they reside on. They will follow the will of their Wielder's emotions or commands.
That wasn’t good. There was no way Adder would be able to control a freaky new magic tattoo he just got, and if it followed his emotions then she’d be its target. She switched tactics, skimming through the sheet faster for anything to save herself from the snake.
Can I see what it does?
Insufficient Ability to perform inspection.
It was the robotic voice again.
Can I control the tattoos I’ve done on other people?
Insufficient Will to dominate Wielder.
Can I unsummon it?
Insufficient Vitality to absorb another’s Summons.
Can I just—I don’t know—fuckin’ destroy it?
Error: Destruction protocols unavailable for creator-bound entities.
Tanya paused.
Is that summat I get later or...?
Destruction protocols are not an available Ability.
Tanya’s mind raced through the tattoos she’d done. She couldn’t possibly recall every single one. Just this week, she’d inked a couple of lions—one so big it had covered a man’s entire back. Would size make it more powerful? Would people have human intelligence? She thought of all of the people: samurais, celebrities, skulls—and all of the names and symbols. She must have done thousands of tattoos in the last few years, and she’d never be able to permanently destroy any of them.
