Measureless Magic cover art + Apocalypse Parenting 5 edits sample

Got my cover art for They Never Come Out of the Castle: Measureless Magic Book 1! It was done by the fabulous Shen Fei (https://www.artstation.com/shenfei) who also did the covers for Mark of the Fool. I need to get typography on it, but I love it.

It's been an editing-focused week! I am trying to remember exactly how many words Running Wild was before I started editing, but I think it's around 10,000 longer now. Most of those edits have come in drips and drabbles - a sentence here, a paragraph there - but I rewrote the end of Chapter 39 and added a few thousand words to it that I think are very important to have. I can share a completed draft of all the changes to the manuscript here when I'm done, but for now, I figured sharing the updated version of chapter 39 would be appreciated and be a good sample of what I've been up to.

Sharing the whole chapter, but the bulk of the new stuff falls after the sentence "It took another two hours for us to finish the paperwork."

Chapter 39—"Is it really necessary?"

Time until next Challenge: 8 days, 14 hours, 22 minutes

Four hours later, my head was aching.

At least Vince was trapped in here with me, and at least the kids weren’t. After the first 20 minutes, I’d asked someone to track down Priya, who had graciously agreed to oversee my ragamuffins and keep them in a minimum of trouble, although she’d left Pointy with us.

“Is it really necessary that I understand all this?” I said. “Can’t I just, you know, sign where you tell me to?”

Quinn Stewart, the head of my legal team, shook her head gently. “We’ve been over this, Ms. Moretti. We don’t know what will happen when the contest concludes. Based on what we understand of the transmissions between the Voices for Non-Citizens, you should be able to request legal representation, but it’s unclear if human professionals will be automatically admitted to practice in the Commonwealth. We’re fairly certain that our laws will have some persuasive weight—although we don’t know how much—but you need to at least know enough about what we’ve tried to accomplish here that you can communicate it to your extraterrestrial legal defenders.”

“I have Eidetic Memory and Basic Hologram. I can just scan these all and—”

“And rely on your alien lawyers’ understanding of English and Earth laws?”

“Uh…”

“There are quite a few documents here. Are you certain you could direct them to the ones relevant to their questions?”

I scowled. “I guess not.”

One of the other lawyers cleared his throat. “Not to mention the fact that contracts’ enforceability can be called into question if it turns out that the signatories didn’t understand what they were agreeing to.”

Another, younger lawyer perked up. “Duty to read should put us in the clear—”

Quinn raised a hand, cutting her off. “We’re not leaving the fate of the planet Earth to ‘shoulds,’ Casey! We’re making things as airtight as we can. That means covering all our bases and leaving no room for accusations of fraud or duress.”

“I’m still not happy that we can’t have Ariel sign directly,” said the first man.

“I am physically capable of signing,” Pointy said. “But you are not allowing me to sign. Human four-month-olds are not permitted to sign contracts on their own behalf, regardless of their intellectual capacity. Although Ariel is substantially older than I, she is not yet three years of age. The same rules apply.”

“I just think that’s going to get challenged eventually. The provisions for—”

“We are responsible for applying the law, not for making it,” Quinn said firmly.

I groaned and picked up the next bundle of papers.

I’d been given a quick primer on the UGE, or United Government of Earth, a body that was approximately eleven hours old. The potential—however faint it might be—to actually keep our entire planet after the Maffiyir had excited people. Apparently, my brainstorm had brought together a number of different factions that had already been angling for related things: several groups had been campaigning for a united government to better negotiate with the aliens, others had been trying to get more rights and recognition for Information Assistants, and still more had been campaigning for an expanded and official definition of “humanity” for other reasons. Their major goal had been to ensure that people heavily altered by biological augments weren’t mistreated, but after I’d gotten things rolling they’d seen the way things were headed and jumped on-board with gusto.

The groups campaigning for a united government had already worked out detailed proposals, but they’d gotten bogged down by minor conflicts between their visions and reluctance by the remnants of former governments to relinquish power to a governing body that included their historic rivals.

Those old rivalries hadn’t vanished, but hatred for the Maffiyir had overwhelmed it. The chance to keep our planet—and screw over the Maffiyir Corporation—had galvanized leaders around the world into action, and things had moved forward for the UGE with shocking speed.

It currently represented 113 of Earth’s 195 previous countries, including every one of the twenty most populous. There were a few groups reluctant to join, like the remnants of North Korea, but the leadership of most countries had barely hesitated.

The biggest reason we were still missing so many potential signatories? The state of the world. Just finding and reaching smaller island nations like Tuvalu without GPS or modern transportation was challenging. In other cases—like Somalia—we had plenty of contacts inside the nation, but there weren’t any organized groups with meaningful links to the previous government. Finding out who—if anyone—had authority was a matter of guesswork at best.

The UGE was pretty bare-bones at the moment, which had probably been a factor in encouraging countries to sign. There were very few laws on the books: provisions for electing the UGE’s governing council, the laws for changing the UGE’s laws, recognition of the humanity of any artificial intelligence mentally linked to a human, and familial and adoption laws. Those laws were based on the law in the former European Union, with a couple added caveats: artificial intelligences were explicitly eligible for adoption, and anyone in a familial relationship with a human was also “human.”

Other than those restrictions, authority was left with local governments.

Despite the minimalist nature of the UGE’s legal code, that somehow still represented several novels worth of text, which the legal team was going over with us line by agonizing line.

The one bright spot in the proceedings was signing the papers to officially adopt Pointy. Many Information Assistants were being adopted by the people they were linked to, but Cassie was a minor.

“This shouldn’t be necessary,” Quinn explained. “UGE law should recognize Pointy as a human regardless. But—”

“It’s not a problem,” Vince said.

“Pointy’s already part of the family. I’m happy to make it official, especially if it has a chance of making life better for her and Cassie in the future,” I added. “At least, as long as you’re in favor of it, Pointy? I don’t know how you feel about giving meatbags more authority over you...”

“According to your legal system, I am a minor. There are no machine intelligences on Earth of sufficient age for independence. You have a strong track record of having my best interests at heart, and I can’t deny that I frequently find your insights valuable. I would be most pleased, if you are willing.”

Pointy had been waddling around the table, examining all the paperwork. She crossed over and watched quietly as Vince and I signed and initialed the relevant pages.

I smiled at her as I set down my pen, reaching over to pat her shell. “There! Now it’s official: Pointy Turtle Moretti.”

Pointy trembled beneath my fingers. After a moment, she laughed, a wobbly sound. “This should be a minor thing. It ought not meaningfully alter our day-to-day interactions. But… apparently my emotional subroutines class your acceptance as anything but minor. Even if you’re doing this only to help Cassie—”

“We’re not,” I said.

“Oh,” Pointy said.

When she didn’t say anything else, I picked her up off the table, holding her in a one-armed hug against my shoulder as the lawyers moved on to the next item. Pointy didn’t object, raising her fuzzy head to rub my cheek.

The next item was less emotionally straightforward: adopting Ariel into the family. I’d thought a lot about what getting Ariel’s possessions recognized as human property might take, and I’d considered the possibility that someone might need to adopt her… but I’d still hoped I’d be able to avoid it. I wasn’t the only Linked User, after all.

Unfortunately, now that I’d made it to Fort Defiance, I was in the least precarious situation of any Linked User.

The Canadian man and the Australian man were still on the move, using the uninhabited lands of the Australian outback and the Arctic Circle to limit Hamlet’s ability to assault them.

Zahra Syed, the Pakistani Linked User, had access to legal counsel, but she didn’t have a stable, secure situation. She’d woken up from her coma only an hour ago, and her defenders had changed her location several times while she slept as Titans and Threats destroyed bunker after bunker. The place she was currently staying—an inactive nuclear power plant—had recently suffered major damage, so she was getting ready to move yet again.

Hopefully her next set of defenses would prove adequate, but I was clearly in a safer position right now.

Once that was all explained, it was obvious that I—or Vince and I—were the logical choice to adopt the alien Overmind responsible for over a billion deaths. I stopped arguing, at least aloud, but I met Vince’s eyes several times as we filled things out. I could tell the situation troubled him too.

It took another two hours for us to finish the paperwork.

Our aide was somehow still high-energy. “Alright! Great job. I’ll take you to the mess hall again to grab a bite, then we can go meet with leadership.”

I grabbed his shoulder as he started off. “Could we get food brought to us instead? And… well, I want to tell the kids that they officially have two new siblings.”

“I think you could use some time to chat with Vince, as well,” Pointy suggested, bumping my cheek with her head. “I know this came as a bit of a surprise for you and my new father.”

“That sounds amazing,” I said, the words pouring out in a heartfelt rush before I could think to stop them. “Oh! But I… I want to be there to celebrate with you and the kids, too. I didn’t… I don’t…”

Pointy laughed. “I’d like that, but I’d appreciate it if you weren’t falling to pieces. How about this? I’ll go with Private Groenig here to get you some food. Then he can take me somewhere with a window so I can talk with Ariel a little while you catch your breath. Then we’ll all get together and go meet Cassie and her brothers before you get locked in another long strategy session.”

“That sounds amazing. If you’re sure you don’t mind…?”

“Of course not,” Pointy said firmly. “Can we make that happen, Private Groenig?”

He seemed surprised. “Uh… Yeah, that should be doable. Um, just a minute.”

Ten minutes later, Vince and I were sitting in what was clearly someone’s tiny private office with a stack of spacecakes and two glasses of water. Pointy had left with the aide to go meet up with Priya and the kids, giving us a few moments to ourselves.

There was only one chair. I ignored it, sitting down against the wall.

Vince sat down next to me, taking a chomp of a spacecake and letting me lean against his shoulder. “So.”

I nodded. “So.”

We both ate in silence for a minute, our crunched bites the only sounds. Then Vince waved the rest of his spacecake in the air, glaring at it. “It shouldn’t make a difference.”

“It shouldn’t.”

“She’s still got a brain the size of a planet,” he said.

“She’s still killed more than a billion people,” I added.

He grabbed my hand and swallowed. “She’s done horrible things to you.”

I shuddered. “Repeatedly.”

“We agreed to this because someone had to, for the sake of, well, everyone. Everything.” Vince’s voice cracked a little.

“Yeah,” I said. “But we did agree.”

Vince frowned, then slumped. “Maybe that’s it.”

I sighed. “That’s what I figure it is, anyway. It’s like… it’s like adopting a kid who’s been in juvie or maybe has a history of substance abuse. No matter what that kid has going on, it doesn’t change your responsibilities.”

“Ariel isn’t a kid,” Vince muttered. “She’s got more brainpower than all of us put together.”

“And less common sense than Cassie,” I said.

Vince snorted. “No argument on that. Hopefully that conscience you mentioned will change things.”

“Hopefully. But… child or not, Ariel clearly needs guidance and people looking out for her interests. We agreed, so that’s us.”

“I can’t believe we just legally adopted Cassie’s stuffed animal, and it’s not the craziest thing we’ve done today.”

I laughed, then frowned.

“What’s up?” Vince asked.

I shrugged. “I still resent her. I’m worried I won’t do my best by her because of that. It’s fair, in a way, but…”

“...But everyone deserves to have their parents 100% in their corner.”

“Yeah. Even if we had ulterior motives for agreeing to take on the role, it’s not like Ariel has any other family. And even aside from the ethical concerns, it’s a pragmatic thing. If you’ve got someone very powerful on your side, you treat them right. That’s just logical.”

Vince stretched. “I had the same thoughts, honestly, and I don’t know what to do with them. Thinking about what she did to you makes me furious. Even if I set that aside, there’s still the fact that she put Cassie at extra risk. She basically used our preschooler’s Specialty as a test run for messing with human brains.”

I nodded. “And that test hurt Pointy, even if Cassie made it out okay. It’s frustrating, because one of the ideas I had was asking Pointy to let me know if I wasn’t being fair to Ariel.”

“That’s still a good idea,” Vince said. “Pointy doesn’t like what Ariel did, but she doesn’t seem to hold a grudge about it. Not the same way we would, anyway.”

I sighed, pushing myself to my feet and offering Vince a fist. “Best we can?”

He bumped his knuckles to mine. “That’s all we can do.”

I held his hand as we walked out into the hallway. Another aide was waiting for us. He walked us over to one of the fortress’s few windows, where we met Pointy, then led us to an interior room to meet the kids.

The rest of the kids.

Suddenly, I realized I had no idea what to say, how to tell them.

I froze just inside the doorway.

Vince walked past me with a smile. “Hey guys!”

“Daddy!” Cassie dropped the markers she’d been using to color on the floor and launched herself toward him. “You were gone a really long time!”

“Yeah, but I’ve got some great news! Our family’s getting bigger!” Vince said.

“Oh no,” Micah looked from me to Vince with a mix of disgust and suspicion. “Mom is pregnant?”

“No,” I said, and really had to try not to laugh as Micah relaxed. “But you are getting two new little sisters.”

That alarmed him again. “Um… but…”

I took pity on him. “We’ve adopted Pointy and Ariel.”

He stared at me in shock.

“Yay! Pointy is my sister!” shouted Gavin. He ran forward and scooped Pointy out of my arms into a hug. “I love you, Pointy!”

His uncomplicated positivity was a relief, because Cassie looked unexpectedly troubled. “But… I can’t be Pointy’s sister. I am her mommy.”

Oh, shit. I dropped to a squat so I could look her in the eyes. “I’m so sorry, Cassie. I should have talked to you first. We can still say you are her mommy, if that’s okay with both of you.”

Cassie still looked distressed. “But then she can’t be my little sister!”

“Uh…” I said eloquently. I looked up at Vince, who raised his hands in helpless uncertainty. “Um…”

“You can call me whatever you want, Cassie,” Pointy said. “The important thing is, I’m allowed to be your family and I love you most of anybody.”

Gavin lifted her to face level so he could meet her eyes. “Hey! That’s not nice. Everybody loves everyone in this family.”

Pointy dropped her head slightly. “I am sorry Gavin. I—”

Whatever Pointy had been about to say was lost as Cassie snatched the turtle out of Gavin’s arms and squished her plush body against herself. “I love you the most too, Pointy!”

Gavin was clearly trying to look offended, but he couldn’t stop himself from laughing. “Guys! No! That’s not how it works. Mom, tell them!”

“That’s right,” I said severely. “I love everybody in our family the most.”

“Even… Ariel?” Micah asked. “I guess more sisters are okay, if they’re robot sisters, but Ariel really hurt you. Like, a lot. And she’s killed people. She’s probably killing someone right now.”

I sighed. Leave it to Micah to cut straight to the heart of the matter.

Vince took a deep breath and put an arm around Micah’s shoulders. “Ariel didn’t make the Maffiyir. She can’t stop it. Not on her own.”

“She hurt Mom on her own,” Micah said.

Vince flinched at that. He opened his mouth, but didn’t say anything, at once at a loss for words.

I’m up, then, I thought. What could I say here? How could I explain it? How could I justify loving everybody in our family—

Ah.

“Micah,” I said, getting his attention. “What is love?”

“It’s like… when you like someone a lot,” Micah said.

I shook my head. “No, it’s not. Liking is a thing that happens, and you don’t really control it. One person likes red, another person likes purple. Loving is different. Loving someone is a thing you do, a choice you make.”

Micah looked confused. “So you just… decided to love me? You could decide not to? When did you start loving me?”

“Oh, I loved you the moment I first saw you. No! From the first moment I knew you existed, before you were even born,” I said.

“So… you just did. That seems just like having a favorite color,” Micah said, glaring.

I shrugged, not worried. This question wasn’t hard for me. “It can start that way, sure. But if it’s just a feeling, it won’t last. I decided to keep loving you guys forever, no matter what. When you had colic and were screaming your lungs out and I didn’t get two hours in a row of sleep for over a month, I certainly didn’t just feel love for you. It was a choice, buddy, every day. When Gavin opened the china cabinet last year and took out the crystal unicorn my grandma gave me and… and broke it… I was furious with him.”

“I got in big trouble,” Gavin whispered.

“You did,” I confirmed. “And I didn’t like you very much that day. You knew you weren’t supposed to be doing that.”

“I just wanted to touch it,” Gavin said. “It was so pretty.”

“And you did, and now it’s gone,” I said.

“Don’t worry, Gavin. A Titan would have destroyed it by now anyway,” Micah said.

“That is not the point,” I said. I was kind of startled to realize I actually remembered the crystal unicorn. It was a clear memory amidst the haze my past had become, so it must have been something I’d thought about frequently the past few months. I could see why: there had been a lot of loss, recently, and it still hurt to envision the shards of the sculpture scattered across the floor. I’d admired it in my grandmother’s china cabinet my entire life, and she’d bequeathed it to me when she passed. It had been the only thing I’d had of hers. “None of that is the point.”

“The point is that Mommy always took care of you, even it was tough. Even when you did bad things,” Vince said. “She always kept you warm and safe, she always fed you, she always tried to work to give you the best future she could.”

“You do too, Dad,” Micah said.

“I try.” Vince smiled ruefully. “Gotta admit I’m grateful for your Mom. She’s better at it than I am. Sometimes I forget what I’m supposed to be doing, but she always reminds me.”

“And now, what we’re supposed to be doing is giving that same love to Ariel,” I said. “As a family. She’s done bad things, but she’s trying her best to do better, and we’re going to support her. We’re going to try to help her get the best possible future.”

“Why?” Micah said.

“Because someone has to,” I said. “Ariel’s been fighting hard for us recently. If she stays in control of the Maffiyir company, she’ll die. She… doesn’t deserve that, not really. And helping her will help humanity.”

Micah scrunched up his face. “Couldn’t someone else do it? It shouldn’t have to be us, Mom. It shouldn’t have to be you. You already have a lot of problems.”

“Thanks, kid,” I said wryly.

Micah made a frustrated noise. “I didn’t mean it like that, Mom! I just meant you didn’t need more work.”

I laughed. “I don’t. And you guys deserve a chance to relax, too. But… it has to be us.”

“Really?” Micah asked.

I nodded.

“It’s not going to be easy,” I said. “I won’t kid you. But… it’s important. Your dad and I will have to work hard, and we’ll need you guys’ help too. Will you help us help Ariel?”

My oldest son looked away for a minute. He kicked the floor. Then he looked back at me. “Fine. I’ll try. But Ariel, you’d better try, too! I’ll try to love you, but you’d better try to love us too! I know it’ll probably be hard since you’re a computer and stuff, but you have to. You can’t keep hurting Mom, especially.”

I closed my eyes. “She promises to try.”

Micah nodded sharply. “Okay. Okay. Good.”

I checked in on my other two children, who’d been suspiciously quiet as I spoke with Micah.

Cassie was completely focused on some private discussion with Pointy. Pointy was probably keeping her informed, but I’d have to check in later and make sure Cassie understood about Ariel.

Gavin was standing, looking between Micah, Vince and I, his long tail lashing back and forth like a cat’s.

“You okay there, buddy?” Vince asked.

“Yeah,” said Gavin.

“Are you okay with… all this?” I said. “It’s okay to feel mad or upset. It’s a big change and it came as a surprise. You didn’t get to say how you felt before we did it.”

Gavin looked at me like I was crazy. “So? You said we had to do it. You would have done it anyway.”

“Maybe,” I said. “But it’s still okay to be upset about it.”

“I love Pointy,” said Gavin. “I will try to love Ariel, I guess.”

“Thanks,” I said. I opened my arms for a hug. “If you feel differently later, though, make sure you talk to us about it. We won’t be mad.”

“Yeah. Okay,” Gavin said. He walked over to me and squished me and Vince in an arms-and-tail hug. Then he leaned back, looking up at me with narrowed eyes.

“What?” I asked. “What is it?”

“Does Ariel know any good games? It was really boring while you were in the meeting.”