Vortex Meditation

Jab, thrust, spin, strike.

I move through my attack motions like a machine. Or at the very least inside of one, as I force Raygunnr to move fluidly between each strike as we wind and dance our way through my afternoon Qi training routines.

Of course, Raygunnr is getting bored with such consistent training, at least I believe he is getting bored due to the way he sings the words to the worst fighting songs ever.

Swipe, thrust, spin-strike.

"When I move, you move," Raygunnr helpfully adds in the muted Mana Language, meaning that only I and everyone of my students who stayed behind during these afternoon cram sessions that I've been offering. Yet, I don't know why I even offer them as no one seems to ask any questions. In fact, I swear most just choose to stay behind and gawk at the attack moves that Raygunnr and I put on.

Toe-spin, duck, nimble tumble rising up into an exploding Qi-burst.

Having mastered that move while inside Raygunnr is a feat in and of itself, as it took me a while to get used to being able to tumble in such a large device. Apparently, Raygunnr either thinks too highly of what we have done, or is trying to mock the achievement, or somehow both as he continues to sing.

"Just like that!"

I roll my eyes at the antics, but he lets me continue to train without interrupting or really stealing control, which is great as I am able to use this time to improve his overall Qi core size and Qi usage by quite a lot. While his body isn't entirely used to house Qi the same way mine is, I have greatly expanded his Qi meridians and connection nodes to make almost any size of energy possible.

Oddly enough, I find the beat of the song to be a decent cadence. A few softer beats to note quick and silent movements, followed by explosive beats.

I'm wondering why he keeps humming this particular song, when speaks about his "diamonds are reckless."

Only to go silent a moment later, but that's when a few enthusiastic students who were following along and apparently remembered the song better than I did, explained why Raygunnr apparently chose to hum this particular song today.

"Feels like a midget is hanging from my neck…"

Skrrt.

Hearing that line I grind my training routine to a halt as I realize that I am in fact said midget, hanging in an area that technically begins below his neck, but right where a particularly long necklace might linger.

At the sudden pause Raygunnr flashes a note of confusion at first, before I cut in.

"A midget joke, really?" I begin.

There is confusion for a moment, only for shocking realization to creep in as Ray realized that the song could be interpreted in such a way.

"What, no, I, just…" Ray began, his words getting clipped off as he didn't allow enough time for the mana to flow and finish a complete thought burst before going to his next thought.

Shaking my head I only cut back with, "and here I was thinking you might actually learn to actually be funny, only to throw in a midget joke."

Honestly, I think this one was well played, the long slow troll that requires a bit of insight to get why it is a joke. But, I can't let Raygunnr know that it was a good joke, otherwise it would get to his head, which is why I point out the fact that I think he could do better.

"I didn't even realize that the song could be taken that way," Raygunnr comments defensively. Hearing that I just shake my head.

"That's even worse, as that makes possibly one of your best and most tone deaf jokes to be ironic. Nothing is worse than being the person who is only ironically funny."

"Wait, what?"

"You know, people who are only funny on accident, versus those that can do so on command. But it does explain a lot, and it clearly states why your jokes seem so forced most of the time." I reply, knowing that my own joke will get him deep, and his instant reaction does not disappoint.

"What? I can be funny when I want," he responds.

I just roll my eye, but during this time of distraction, I go through the final movements of my afternoon stretches and movements without having to feel like I need to dance and keep up with Raygunnr's surprisingly consistent tempo. I guess that is one of the good things about being a machine, is being able to keep rhythm and timing down to a science. Mentally I note this as something to be aware of, and potentially something to look forward to in the competition against other machines and their drivers. This might actually be the bit of leverage and insight I need to gain an advantage in a particular battle. If I'm able to adjust my timing to come at alternate movement points, I could negate many advantages that supposedly superior machines and drivers might have.

With my routine done, I pause, and then seeing that I have so many students still at their seats all trying so hard, I eventually decide to skip to meditation and leave my other movements that require much more space for later.

Sitting down, I try to do something that always seemed like it was a cool thing in cultivation stories, but never seemed practical until I thought about how I would create such a scenario. You know, the scene where the great and powerful cultivator meditates so hard that they actually float while doing so? From a basic outline it seems nearly impossible, especially considering the fact that I am directly in the middle of a giant ton of scrap metal.

"Hey!" Raygunnr states and sounds offended.

I pause, realizing that yep, he can still read my base thoughts just as I can read his. I feel kind of bad, but then realize, "I guess we are even for the midget comment."

"Oh come on, it was possibly the best fighting song ever."

"It's about picking up people at clubs," I respond.

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"That's just one way to interpret it."

I just shake my head not wanting to argue with Ray, who is clearly in some type of mood today. Instead, I sit lotus style, forcing Raygunnr's joints to do the same. Then focusing on the way I am cultivating, I try to instill the use of electromagnetic principles that I begin cultivating in myself and then carry through Raygunnr's form as well.

There is a bit of a learning curve, as I quickly learn I have to alternate the currents not only within me, but within Raygunnr as well, then the rate of rotation within me needs to be able to match the speed I can push through Raygunnr. Then finally, there is the third layer of interaction, where charges of the energy flows going through Raygunnr get temporarily placed in the ground, and it is these final charges that provide the resistance that I want for my ultimate effect, that of being able to float while allegedly Meditating.

I am in the middle of my process of trying to figure out how to match the three rates of rotation, knowing that the energy within my body needs to set the pace that the other two forms, that of Raygunnr, and finally the ground can mirror, when I get my first success.

Lurch.

There is a moment that we rise up, and suddenly a sense of shared vertigo crosses over us, causing me to momentarily lose focus, and crash.

Thud.

Of course, the sudden thud causes everyone of my students, who stayed after all to not ask me any questions, to stare up at the two of us and wonder what just happened.

"Vertigo? Really?" I respond. At my scolding words, Raygunnr seems to shrink in on himself before responding.

"Sorry, I didn't know what you were trying to do."

"I was clearly trying to meditate."

"By floating?"

"I always float."

"Yeah, but normally that is due to your wings and causing your body to weigh nothing. This time, I could feel my own body lifting up, and well it startled me."

With that, I pause and realize that I likely should have told Raygunnr what I was trying to do, as I could see how going from being in a sitting position to randomly floating could be alarming.

"All right, sorry. I am trying to see if I can do that whole meditating thing where we float from the power of our meditation." I admit, but then realize that I might be doing it wrong, or maybe I just need to implement longer breaks and pauses between my differing polarities.

Having had a moment to evaluate what worked, and what didn't, I once again try Meditating, this time with Raygunnr curiously glancing around to see the effects of our combined actions. Almost as if I was draped by a particularly interested cat who sat on my shoulders and turned to stare at each aspect of our progress and trying to see what would happen next and where, I focus even through Raygunnr's antics and begin cultivating, focusing on polarities again, but this time, I go slower.

I even find myself going to what I now consider my new mantra, "slow is smooth. Smooth is fast. And the way you tell if you are fast enough, is if you don't get caught."

And like that, the polarity changes into three layers that are effectively chasing each other. My core has two alternating parallels that first imprint on Raygunnr, and move just fast enough to be repelled by the similar properties and then try to chase the opposite properties that are within my core. Then we expand outward again, using the ground as a mirror of Raygunnr at first, causing Raygunnr's massive form to be pushed away from the ground. Now one would think that everything should end here, as logically the spiral of energy would only last as long as the cores within Raygunnr and myself have energy, which we are exerting a lot of energy. Energy that gets transferred from me to Ray, and then to the ground.

But there is an odd phenomenon that I notice occurring with this process. Namely the fact that by having so much Qi energy circulating in one area, we create a mini-vortex that grabs all the energy around us, and sucks it in. But unlike the clearly established polarities that exist within the three of us, polarities that oddly have to be slowly sped up as time goes on to avoid overlapping of polarities, the energies that we are pulling in by this vortex effect don't have time to adapt to the changes. Causing the motes of Qi energy to be drawn close, then reeled in, only to be attracted first to the outer layer, then to Ray's layer, and finally sucked up within my core. Once in my core, I can then cycle the energy, use it, and eventually push it out to Raygunnr, who then pushes it out to the ground and thus restarting the cycle of the energy getting pushed out far enough that it will once again be sucked back to the center.

Tingle-pulse.

There was a moment when I felt a jolt and then an echo of that same pulse of energy mirrored in Raygunnr. That was the moment I noted that we had likely unlocked a skill related to this process, but I didn't stop there. Instead, I kept going, focusing on the process until it became like breathing. That is if breathing could only be done through one lung and while trying to force that lung full of air out through a layer of water, but still breathing nonetheless.

Finally, feeling that I have the rotation and process down enough that I can let my body sort of automate the effects, I open my mind and with it, I see that all of my students are now staring at me. That's when I realize that I did it, well we did it. Raygunner and I are now meditating so fiercely that we are literally floating in the air, due to our intense cultivation patterns. Still, I can't let my students start slacking off now, not with Regionals being so close, as such I decide to encourage them to succeed.

"What you think just because I am focused on my own task that you all can slack off?" I ask, my tone sharp and carrying, mainly due to an odd warbling effect of me talking through a cultivation funnel, that does make your voice sound deeper and therefore angrier.

"Wha?" The students all cry out in a panic before many shake their heads and immediately drop their faces, as they pretend to be working.

With that, I focus once again on this ridiculously complex cultivation pattern, fixing any possible irregularities before they could cause issues.

"You know, you could go a bit easier on them," Ray flashes in Mana Language. I'm impressed as at first he could not multi-task in such a way, that is using Mana to talk, and Qi to cultivate. Now look at him, doing both. Letting me cultivate through him, while he tries to chastise me, my how much he has grown. "Oh come on, I'm not chastising you. But look, these students are all working extra hard. This is beyond your normal class time and who can blame them for taking a moment to see a giant killer robot cultivating in the sky."

I just roll my eyes at that comment, not wanting to encourage him, even though I do agree he is right. It must appear pretty cool, I mean I'm impressed, but then again it is my own work here too, so maybe I am a bit biased.

Taking a moment, I focus on the skill notification we got and am moderately surprised. Not only did I get the dual cultivation for finding a way to cultivate with Raygunnr, but I got an individual version for cultivating first by myself.

New Skill Gained! Vortex Meditation has reached level 1! Vortex Meditation is a Strength X2, Dexterity X3, Endurance X3, Appearance, Perception X2, Intelligence X2, and Willpower X3 based skill.

New Skill Gained! Dual Vortex Meditation has reached level 1! Dual Vortex Meditation is a Strength X3, Dexterity X5, Endurance X5, Sociability X3, Appearance, Perception X3, Intelligence X3, and Willpower X5 based skill.

Those are some epic tier level skills. After seeing them, even I am impressed. After seeing the increases that these skills offer, I make sure to thank Raygunnr.

"Thank you for letting me try new things like this with you." I make sure to tell only Raygunnr.

"No, again it is I who should be thanking you. Not only do I get to see and experience this world in new and interesting ways each day, but I also get skills that are amazing! No, this is by far and away the best case of having a controlling parasite living within your body for days on end, to make you stronger than ever in the process."

I pause at that, realizing that I just got compared to a parasite.

"A helpful parasite." Raygunnr adds, clearly reading my surface thoughts, which only irritates me more.

At that, I give the class one more scan, making sure everyone is making progress. I mentally pause as I see her diligently working as always.

"Whoa there," Raygunnr shouts, drawing my attention back to the matter at hand and with it, I realize I almost lost track of the Vortex Meditation that we were currently engaged in. I'm not certain how abruptly stopping would go, but I assume it would be similar to being stopped while running at a full sprint by casually slamming into a metal pole.

"Sorry." I reply and mean it as I quickly look away, even though I know she is close to finally having that last breakthrough. A feat that I want to make sure to witness firsthand.

"Oh no, you don't need to apologize to me. I know what, or rather who you are staring at," Raygunnr chides playfully.

"What, it's not like that!" I reply.

"It's not?"

"No, I just," then I cut myself off not wanting to argue as it is hard to tell someone that doesn't know, that something amazing is about to happen. It's almost the same thing as looking into traffic and expecting to glance at the right spot at the right time, and see a collision. But that is how I see the world.

At first, I didn't understand the thresholds that the world put on skills, capping the need to get to level 50 in a skill to get a degree. Yet, now after seeing so many students all working on the same skills, it is easier for me to see the differences that a few levels make. Yes, I can apparently see skill levels, which is why I know she is close.

I try not to root for her, as I know it would come across as biased and that I might be partial to one particular student, but it's kind of hard to root against her. She is the nicest person I know, and most importantly she tries her absolute hardest each and every day without putting anyone else down around her. And now with these stupid parental controls off my mind, I can feel just how much the system was repressing my mind when it came to feelings, when it came to her.

Splitting my consciousness I do two things. First I continue to practice this new form of Vortex Meditation with Raygunnr, while making sure I keep the rest of my attention on her, and wait for her to make the next and final step needed.

Almost as if she can feel the weight of my consciousness on her, she stops from her intense focus on the spell form she is crafting before her, and looks up towards me. Then she does something I find way too cute, she smiles, pushing a tuft of hair behind her ear before blushing and focusing back on her spell work.

Exhale.

With her gaze now gone, I feel a slight tension leave my body as emotions that I had not felt in close to a decade come back and seem to wrack my body.

I can feel my control slipping as I try to dissect these new emotions that are finally allowed to enter my mind, when Raygunnr breaks the magical spell that had been gripping me in quite possibly the most immature way possible.

"Ahh, Cass has a crush. Cass has a crush!"

Sadly it works, as I quickly work through my surge of emotions and go back to cultivating through Ray. Only after a second of being once again balanced do I take the chance to glance over.

Then as if she can again feel the weight of my blind consciousness focus on her, she again looks up and smiles, as if waiting for me to turn back to her. That's when she holds her hands out wide and does the impossible.

Flash!

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