Reroll

I check the news on my phone as we drive. Seems there was a terrorist bombing downtown… a rather large bomb in the trunk of a car.  Hmm… well, if we count the Bureau as a terrorist organization… eh, pointless to speculate.

I also check social media… a lot of the videos of me turned out well… that little girl sold it great. I mean, there's a LOT of accounts screaming “FAKE!!!” at the top of their lungs.  Hmm… for giggles, I check the profile of ten such screamers… five of them have join dates from the last hour, four had been around for quite some time with very few posts (and almost exclusively saying something-or-other was false), and one… oh, that one actually looks like a legit account, what with all the family chatter and pictures of food.  And of course, lots of "woot!” on the responses saying it’s all fake, and lots of “boo!” on the ones saying, “No, really, I saw this IN PERSON dudes!”

I guess we have the… Spinners, I think he said? …working overtime.

“We should do this again,” that's Ed, in the back. “Does Sunday sound good?”

I shrug, “I don't have plans… why wait so long, though?”

“Couple of reasons…” Ed starts counting on his fingers, starting with his pointer, “One, disinformation: You can have the ‘angel’ back tomorrow, sure… but if we tie the rebirth to some specific schedule, they'll come to think that's your actual limitation, and them being wrong is good for us.  Two,” he adds his middle finger to the set, “that gives me more time to draft a ‘this is going to happen' message and still get it out earlier, which gives more legitimacy to the account I'm using… which we'll need.  Third,” he adds his thumb… that's a very feminine hand… “it'll give us time to plan better.”

“Getting shot does hurt,” I admit, “Betty, for next time, do you mind running a full sensory illusion while I heal invisibly?”

“Sure, no problem,” she pauses, “I can even add some shadowstuff to it so it can carry weight.”

“Great,” I consider, “So Ed… what are you planning to say?  How'd you do it last time?”

He shrugs, “Oh, well… last time, I just had Betty whip up an illusion with a simple ‘Healing will visit the children's hospital tomorrow’ with the name of the place, recorded it, and uploaded it.  I can make a longer script this time… healing again, obviously, but what should we say?”

Betty considers, “We want to expose what's going on, right?”

I nod as the Autopilot drives us home, “That's right. Even professionals have limits to how much they can sway the court of public opinion, and ultimately these guys are a government agency and subject to rules handed down upon them.”

Betty sighs, “Well… we're going to have to tell people what's going on. That the angel is not an angel, but a regular person who went through an event that empowered… sorry, her.”

I consider, “I get it. Spilling that I'm a guy might be a bit much for some folks, and isn't the primary point.”

Betty nods, “Yeah. Magic will be a tough enough sell.”

Ed considers, “Especially given that we’ll also need to say it's not a singular event, but nobody's heard of it because of the organization that hunts down folks that had such events happen to them, killing most, engaging in involuntary servitude on pain of death for the rest, without any court convictions.”

I crinkle my forehead, “Why not just call it what it is: Slavery?”

Ed chuckles, “Because terms are important.  To the best of my knowledge, they're not talking in terms of ownership of people, and they're not keeping the affected constantly. Both are forbidden by the same constitutional amendment, though.”

I nod, “Got it. Where should we do the healing?”

He considers, “Oh… a few folks picked up on the fact that we called the time and location before it happened, so the subscribers on the account are… well.  Let's just say a rather lot of people will know where we're doing it. How do you feel about booking a park shelter next to the hospital?”

I consider, “Hard for the seriously ill to get through the crowd… I'd prefer doing it at a hospital again. How about we make a representative to negotiate with the hospital about disrupting their routine?”

Betty giggles, “I suppose it's only polite.”

I nod, “All right then.  So just to be sure I have this right: Plan is that you two will handle the video announcement, saying we're working to book a visit with the hospital, letting people know that I am NOT divine, that we are hunted, and something about why.  Meanwhile, I will have an illusionary proxy speak with the hospital about scheduling so we can be a bit more efficient this time.”

“That's the plan, yes,” Ed nods.

“I should make the proxy due to duration…” Betty begins.

I shake my head, “Nah. If I do it tomorrow, I can have the talents to run them for long enough; you stick with Ed, making the video as convincing as possible is more important.”

“Fair enough… how do we want to spin your ‘resurrection’?” Good question, Betty.

I consider, “Probably a bad idea to let the cat out of the bag that regular bullets are just an inconvenience… how about saying I was magically whisked away by a prepared ally, and have spent the time recovering and healing myself?”

Ed nods, “Works for me, and fits with the 'not a singular event' narrative. That may fall apart under close analysis of the videos…  but then, you didn't leave a corpse, so teleportation fits the observed events well too, and the effect obviously updated your physiology… that should be fine.”

“Great,” I pause, “Oh, and now that we're at eighth, I can get us all proper Regeneration.”

“Ooh… how much and which kind?” Betty’s interested.

I smile, “just one point, suspended by acid ir rust effects.”

Ed considers, “So… Eternal Steel from Nature? How do you plan to make us valid targets?”

“Grant Spirit and Nature's Carapace; Grant Spirit let's me apply Nature's Carapace to others, and the Metal package with Nature's Carapace makes the subject ‘count as a creature comprised mostly of metal’, and thus fit the requirements of Eternal Steel,” I smile, “and of course, those requirements are only checked on casting, so the Permanent nature of Eternal Steel remains after Nature's Carapace wears off.  So… two days, and we stop needing to worry about most injuries.”

Betty nods, “Regeneration is great on that front, yes; heal a little every round and can't die from injuries as long as it's active… that is nice.”

I nod, “Great… I'll go work with the hospital tomorrow. For now, I suppose we all need our rest.”

I nod, “Yeah… I'll keep watch.”

We all have dinner from the rations in our travel cloaks, feed our pets from the same, and turn in for the night.

Well, after some ‘exercise’ anyway.  Betty LOVES taking it, and giving it in my cat's body sure helps my animal companion fall asleep.

I watch all night, invisible, playing on my phone.  Come the dawn, I prepare the talents I'll need: Illusion, Illusory Sound, Lingering Illusion, and Focused Imagination for the meeting; Nature, Expanded Geomancing, Bestow Spirit, Nature's Carapace, Living Steel, and Eternal Steel for the Regeneration; Finally Life, Diagnose, Restore Spirit, and Restore Health in case I need a demonstration… and that puts me at my current limit of direct talents known. If I need to deal damage, I'll lean on Create Reality from Hedgewitch's Umbral path or Primearcane's Miraculous Lore.  If I need to flee… well, I'm incorporeal: Walls are for other people.

And of course, we all eat (the cloaks are handy, what can I say?), feed our pets, and go over the specific script for the video.  We settle on the visuals and audios with a bit of back and forth, and I leave Ed to record it while Betty produces it. I leave my animal companion with them, with suitable instructions.

I have to get to the hospital, after all, convince them I'm legit, and negotiate for some time handling their facilities. I don’t really expect that to be too difficult: I have Diplomacy, a really high Charisma modifier, and plenty of magic available to demonstrate. I should be fine, really.

So I head out, naked in public again… not that I'm detectable… and run to the local hospital. It's the same odd layout as before; three buildings with expansions and really annoying pathing. I check the map, find the administrative area, and head over there.

The main reception desk has four stations, of which two are filled with women handling paperwork: On computers, but still answering emails, checking forms, filling out forms, and that kind of thing.

Considering, I cough to attract their attention.  Both look up idly, and while they look, I form shadow minion via Create Reality, filling an illusion of my own design with shadow-stuff to give it a semblance of life.  I go with something that looks much like my Eidolon: A woman with white feathered wings, long white hair... I go with a suit of shiny plate mail rather than a flowing white robe... and of course, a glowing forehead symbol in gold.

I figure having them watch her form will shortcut a few things.  I possess the shadow puppet, and approach the desk….