‘Good,’ said Rob ‘Mygrandfather gave you a job number. What was it?’
‘It is 337.’
‘Excellent. Now you dounderstand the prime reason you are here is to teach me how tocontrol this new shape change ability that I have inherited. Inturn, I will make this item of yours as payment.’
‘Agreed,’ saidFacit.
‘Good. From now untilthe conclusion of the contract you may talk feely, but after bothcontracts are fulfilled neither of us will remember whattranspired.’
Rob sent a mindspeakmessage to Alpha.
‘Unlock my discreet jobmemory please Alpha,’ and closing his eyes he silently chanted amantra to induce in himself a state of autohypnosis. Alphacomplied, unlocking hidden memories within Rob, and when hereopened his eyes a different, darker Rob looked out, one that knewmany secrets.
‘Now tell me, what doyou want me to make?’ asked Rob.
‘A new body shell,’said Facit.
‘Good. This should beinteresting.’ replied Rob. “Tell me about your current body shelland what you need in the new one.’
Rob and Facit spent tendays in the workshop, stopping only to eat and sleep or when somepart of Rob’s body impeded the work. Several times his hands wereunusable, and once his eyes disappeared, leaving him blind.
He had a tail twice;once like a horse which he managed to step on and nearly trip over,and another more like that of a dog which wagged as he walkedaround, and got in the way when he sat down. Each time, the angerappeared with the change in his body, and when he blocked it, itsubsided.
He learnt many secretsabout the Logicons. First and foremost, they were intelligent slimemoulds that used their external metal body shells as a mobile home,much like a snail. The polyhedral shape of the body shell was amark of status within their society.
Rob had only ever seencubic Logicons. These were the worker class gatherers that walkedon skeletal metal legs. The higher status professionals had eightor ten sided body shells and the older ones with even greaterstatus, twelve and fourteen-sided body shells that used magicallevitation and flight to get around, rather than metal legs. Theirsupreme leader had a twenty-sided polyhedral shell.
Facit was actually awizard Logicon whose status rated a twelve-sided body shell, but hehad been hiding in a worker’s cubic shell as a disguise. He had Robbuild him a new twelve-sided shell with all the latest innovationsso that he could attend a meeting on his home world with suitabledignity. When the job was done, Facit vacated his old body shellfor his new home, and thanked Rob, profusely praising hisworkmanship, agreeing that it was now his turn to fulfil his sideof the contract.
‘Firstly, I am not atrue shape changer as you seem to be. I employ polymorphic magic toshape change. I am an ambassador and agent for a particular factionof the Logicon government. I use this magic to change my shape whenoutside my body shell; otherwise I would be very restricted in howI could get around.
‘The magic allows awizard to temporarily mimic the look of another creature. It isoften used by wizards to allow them to adopt a body shape thatimproves their ability to fight, move or spy. While they resemblethe new body shape, they still think as if in their own bodies.
‘Hence, a newman wizardfighting as a bear might use his arms to claw an opponent butforget to use his teeth, as wizards don’t usually bite in a fight.A newman wizard wishing to fly as an eagle might be scared ofheights and afraid to leave the ground. Few wizards use polymorphicmagic to spy, as they are poor actors and they don’t pay attentionto details.
‘A true shape changeris an actor and the world is his stage, and like an actor he mustpractice to perfect a character and make it believable. Unlike anactor, if a shape changer performs poorly it can be fatal. The artof the shape changer is deception. When you can perfectly foolmembers of the species that you are imitating, then you haveperfected that shape. Consequently, it is wise to develop one shapeat a time.
‘Polymorphic magic onlychanges you to look like an average member of the species. To seemmore real, you must consciously make small changes so that youappear uniquely different from the average, but in a mannerexpected by those whom you wish to deceive. The magic does notchange the way you think or behave or give you any specialknowledge of their habits.
‘I have developed manybody forms over the years, several of which are newman. Each onetook a considerable time and effort to perfect. Each one hasspecific details that remain the same each time I use them, such ashair colour and style, minor adjustments to the face or body,clothes they wear, postures, the way they walk and talk, andpersonalities and demeanour. It is very important to behaveaccording to your social group and status, or you will drawunwanted attention to yourself. You must blend in with thecrowd.’
‘If you are consideringmimicking another creature for any length of time, you should alsogain local knowledge as to territories, social groups, clans,tribes, gangs, friendships and the like in the area that you arein, as these may be relevant in maintaining your deception.
‘We are going to changeplaces. You will become the Logicon and I the newman. Our job willbe to fool your family members. My job will be somewhat harder, asyour family know your mannerisms, but I have been studying themover the past ten days and will see if I can duplicate them. Youwill help me by acting and talking like one of my species, whichmeans you will have to try and think like me.
‘I believe that you cancreate mindlinks like your grandfather. If you could link ustogether then we will have continual communication.’
Rob agreed that thiswas a good idea and created a mindlink between himself and Facit.When Rob did this, if he closed his eyes he could see a spiritaura, which looked a little like a candle flame that representedFacit in his mind. The shape, colouration, intensity and finestructure of the spirit aura gave an indication as to the species,temperament, magical ability and even identity of theindividual.
Facit appeared asmoderately magically powerful,
