Chapter 11 - An Answer but More Questions

I stared at the nude Vanessa's back for several long moments as I tried to admit to myself what I was seeing.

"Seems you found out my little secret." Vanessa commented while the second Vanessa looked over at me with a nervous smile.

I didn't bother acknowledging her I just stared at the rune heart. It was a spell I had seen before in Runic Shift, it was the Succubus Heart, a love charm that made those affected by it more prone to comply to the users suggestions. It also increased the sexual interest the target had for the user. At least that was the normal Succubus Heart. While the spell could was able to be scaled causing less or more of an affect, this one was just botched.

"That's the problem." I muttered to myself when I noticed the issue in the spell. Normally the spell was supposed to be like an electric circuit the energy flowed into the target did what it needed too then flowed back out reporting the changes that had happened to the spell framework, if changes needed to be made to meet the demands of the spell the energy sent out was altered. This spell didn't have that last part so the framework had no idea what was going on and was just pumping out more and more energy into me.

"Yeah sorry. I was nervous and had an expert place it before I came here." Vanessa admitted to me. "The idea of being stuck on a world all alone with a complete stranger, no matter how well you reacted with your ex, scared me, alot."

"You got fleeced." I retorted, I felt a lot calmer now than I had just a few minutes ago. I knew what the problem was, the fact that I knew I wasn't becoming a monster, at least not without external stimuli, reassured me immensely. The desire was still there, but knowing what the cause was made it easier to control myself. It was indefinitely harder to control your mind when you yourself were afraid you were falling apart at the seems.

"What do you mean?" Vanessa asked both Vanessas staring at me as I moved to stand behind the nude Vanessa. She looked really nervous but didn't move away from me.

"This is the work of an apprentice at best, and they still botched it." I replied.

"You know Runic?" Vanessa asked seeming surprised.

"Of course he knows Runic, Runic Shift is popular on his world." the nude Vanessa retorted.

"Not everyone plays." the clothed Vanessa replied defensively.

I reached out to trace the part of the spell I thought was the problem, it couldn't resist caressing her skin as I did so. She shivered under my touch but didn't pull away from me. "This spot." I said aloud now that I was sure. "They didn't form the runes completely and they are misaligned." I told her.

"Umm, I don't know Runic." the clothed Vanessa admitted. "I could never understand any of it when I tried Runic Shift."

"What can we do?" the nude Vanessa asked.

I could fix it myself if I had access to mana, but I didn't have…. I had attribute points and a status page.

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Name: Jason

Level: 3

Available Points: 10

Strength: 10

Agility: 11

Vitality: 11

Fortitude: 10

Intelligence: 11

Wisdom: 11

Perception: 13

Dexterity: 11

Luck: 13

Charm: 9

Resistant to negative status effects

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Mana wasn't listed anymore than health points were, but in every game I had ever played before Intelligence and Wisdom were always related to magic. Making a decision I dropped four points into each intelligence and wisdom and the last two into perception.

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Name: Jason

Level: 3

Available Points: 0

Strength: 10

Agility: 11

Vitality: 11

Fortitude: 10

Intelligence: 16

Wisdom: 16

Perception: 15

Dexterity: 11

Luck: 13

Charm: 9

Resistant to negative status effects

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It might not have been the best idea, but if I could use the runes of Runic Shift here, then that changed everything.

Concentrating on the runes I tried to imagine drawing energy out to fix the runes. It didn't happen immediatly but after a few moments of concentration I was able to feel warmth flow into my finger, I had no idea where the warmth came from but that was irrelevant at the moment. My finger started to glow a pale blue just like how the character in Runic Shift appeared when he was about to draw or change runes.

Smiling happily I traced my fingers over the runes on the nude Vanessa's back i quickly fixed the runes that weren't drawn out correctly then shifted the ones that were out of place. I wasn't exactly sure how I was doing what I was but I had played countless hours of Runic Shift wishing I could do what the character was doing. I had memorized how the character moved his hands whenever he was doing something new. Following the movements of his hands I was able to imitate how to fix and move runes without harming them or the subject. It wasn't easy and I messed up a few times, but I persistently kept working to fix each of my own mistakes and those of the original creator.

As soon as the spell had been corrected the rune spell on her back flashed a light blue for a moment then changed back to the normal tattoo like appearance they normally had. A moment later I could feel the change as the circuit of energy was completed and the spell framework realized what it was doing to me and worked to correct it.

I sighed in relief as the overwhelming bestial desire started to fade slowly from me. Then I felt the fatigue I was incredibly tired now. It took all of my willpower to stay standing.

"Is it done?" Vanessa asked.

I nodded silently my eyes taking the opportunity to admire the nude Vanessa. Now that I wasn't scared I was about to force myself upon her I felt like it wouldn't hurt, plus in the end, she still was a very attractive woman. Before I could really see much the clothed Vanessa reached out and touched her double's arm then the nude copy disappeared like she hadn't existed.

I stared at Vanessa for a moment a bit shocked by everything that had happened, and just waiting to see how she would explain her way through this. Instead of speaking she touched the orb and selected something. "Lets eat, I can explain once we have put something into out stomachs. Plus it should help you recover your energy." she told me.

As if it was suddenly reminded that it had been a while since it ate, my stomach rumbled its consent so I nodded.

I sat at the table as Vanessa went to the bin on the counter to pull our meals out. She set my steak, potato and vegetable meal in front of me then sat down across from me with her own sandwich and soup meal.

"I'm sorry." Vanessa told me first before she started to eat.

"Company policy?" I asked as I cut into my steak.

Vanessa shook her head. "No, but it is recommended. The company will pay for it if we chose to go down that route. I chose too, the company gave me the option of using their expert or finding my own. I chose to find my own. I was trying to save a few extra coins for my family, obviously I got fooled." she told me then took a big bite out of her sandwich which was full of what looked like ham and a lot of melted cheese. She moaned as she chewed slowly.

"And the two Vanessas?"I asked.

Vanessa hesitated for a moment, well it was more she chewed her food for a moment before swallowing. "I am not human. I am a Gemini. I can split into two identical copies of myself. We share the same thoughts though, kind of a two bodies one mind type of thing." she explained. "The company hires my kind because we can satisfy the needs of the operators better than a human female. Though it was supposed to be a surprise for a while longer, something to add some spice into our fun later."

"So the flirting wasn't just your way of torturing me?" I asked.

"I already said it wasn't supposed to be like that." Vanessa complained. "I am here for the long run, when the company gives us our training they make sure that we understand that we are going to eventually end up in our operator's bed. It is just supposed to take some time, some harmless flirting, get to know each other for a little while, maybe caressing and kissing, then eventually we would sleep together. Not whatever this was on day one." she told me.

"So what we were supposed to live together while playing at dating, then what act like a married couple after a few weeks?" I asked a bit surprised that she had laid it all out like that. Then again after what she had caused there wasn't any reason to hide it any longer.

"What part of long run didn't you get?" she asked sulkily. "We are going to be here for years. Becoming a married couple is the best option for both of us."

I couldn't fault her logic, not really, we were here together, alone, any kind of support we needed would have to come from each other. However that was in the case that we were both really trapped here. I was less than willing to buy all of this now that I knew they had someone or something pretending to be my sister. For all I knew this was all a carefully crafted script she had memorized in case I figured something out early. Though if that was the case, they needed to hire a better script writer. My biggest issue at the moment was that I had no idea how to judge what information I was getting as true or false. I couldn't assume everything was a lie, I wouldn't be able to function like that, but it was also obvious that not everything was true. Vanessa had already told me they weren't using a charm on me, and look how that ended up. I could believe the idea that she did it of her own accord because she was nervous, but was that the truth? Did they have other back up plans since that one fell through?

I was silent for a while as I tried to think about everything unsure how to proceed. Per their previous statements I couldn't leave, so they couldn't offer me a way out of here since I didn't trust them. Unless it was in a body bag. Which I wanted to avoid at all costs.

"Any other surprises I need to know about?" I finally asked Vanessa as I finished my meal.

Vanessa hadn't eaten much, instead she had nervously picked at it while she watched me nervously.

Vanessa seemed to think about that for a few moments then shook her head. "No." she told me.

I frowned, if there wasn't anything then it shouldn't have taken her so long to reply.

"Is there anything that I don't need to know about yet." I asked curiously.

Immediately Vanessa nodded then her eyes widened and glanced over at the orb nervously.

I stood up and walked over to the counter where I dumped my dishes into the bin. The dishes came with the meal, but I didn't get to keep them unless I specifically bought my own, which I saw no point in doing. I hadn't liked doing the dishes at home and I doubt that had changed.

When I was done I walked back towards the table and stood so that I blocked Vanessa's view of the orb. "Are there things that you can't tell me?" I asked her quietly.

Vanessa nodded sadly.

"Are any of those things I need to know now?" I asked even quieter.

Vanessa nodded again as tears streamed down her face.

"Shhh." I said louder and moved closer to Vanessa then hugged her shoulder. "Its fine, I can understand you were nervous, nothing happened, so how about we just act like none of that ever happened." I told her. "We can go to bed and get some sleep then go back to how we were in the morning."

Vanessa stared up at me in confusion for a moment, then nodded. "I would like that." she replied.

"Good, finish up your dinner then we can get some sleep." I told her.

Vanessa nodded then turned to her meal only to stop and look back up at me nervously. "What about our sleeping arrangements?" she asked me nervously.

"Were you initially intending on sleeping with me tonight?" I asked in return.

Vanessa shook her head. "Momma always told me I needed to make my man work for it if I wanted him to respect and treasure me." she replied.

I nodded. "We can go with that plan tonight." I replied. I wasn't being altruistic, I needed the time to consider what she had told me, and even with that meal in me I was exhausted from fixing the runespell. I still couldn't be sure what to believe, but I couldn't think of any reason why she would need to lie to me about there being things she couldn't talk about, or the fact that I needed to know about them.

After finishing her meal Vanessa deposited her dishes in the bin like I did then made her way to the smaller bed where she immediately wrapped herself up tightly in the covers.

Seeing that I could help but laugh. Feeling a bit naughty I decided to tease her a bit as a form of punishment.

I walked quietly over to her bed and stood over her for a moment. I leaned over deliberately placing my hand by her so she could feel the bed shift under my weight. "Did you really think I wouldn't punish you?" I asked her quietly.

Vanessa turned her head to look up at me like a frightened deer in front of a ravenous wolf.

I leaned even closer with a wicked smile on my face then when Vanessa seemed about to panic I placed a kiss on her forehead. "Consider us even." I told her as I stood up straight and smirked at her.

Vanessa took a moment to process then glared at me then turned away. However I noticed that she wasn't clinging to the covers as tightly as she had before.

No matter why she was here, she was still the only other person here. While I feared what trouble she might cause me, I feared being alone again even more.

Walking over to the orb I set an alarm so I could get up to water the crops then turned the light it emitted down so I could rest. I would have to get up in the middle of the night to water the crops. I could think about everything I had learned once that was done, and I was sure Vanessa was asleep.