"That does seem pretty invasive, but now that we know how you're changing...less surprising."

"It's. Less that I'm changing and more that I have the capacity to change. Everything here seems to be stuff that I choose to - be able to do. Unless it's lying to me, which it might be."

"It could be. Is it safer to assume it is, since alien space gods? Or not. Also because that." 

"I - don't know. I think traditionally the safest thing to do is to not be noticed by the alien space gods."

"We don't have much lore about these beings. It's possible they've interfered before, but not by choosing a champion. It could also be that you're the first to take it seriously. Does the manual mention any previous users?"

"The book ignored the mountain ash. I think they're pretty different from other magic."

She flips through the book. "The implication I'm getting is that it picked a book form for me in particular? But that's just a guess, it's not directly saying it anywhere. No mention of previous users in any specifics, just the phenomenon of being a Cthulu embryo as something that sometimes happens. And - well, the book did, but I didn't. So. Take that as you will, I suppose."

"How open are you to experimenting with the book's properties? Does it seem like the sort of thing that could backfire? It seems responsive to you, but not quite what you want..."

"I'm open to experimenting with it. It - hasn't backfired, exactly. It's intuitive, but in a way that doesn't take into account how I might prefer to be approached to be given power. I worry more that it might decide that it's helping, in a way that's distinctly not, over it driving me mad with eldritch power. Not that I'm not concerned about that, too."

"If it starts helping, like that, is there something we can set up to catch that?"

"Most of the things I can do are to create barriers, taboos, restrictions: things that separate one thing from another. I'm not sure it's safe to try on something this big, given how generally limited the effects are, and how powerful and unfamiliar this seems to be." 

"What are some possible results of the barriers or restrictions failing, here?"

"If they fail, they fail gracefully. When there aren't alien intelligences with powerful magic around. I'm not sure I want to try doing anything if it might upset them."

"That's pretty reasonable. They - um. From what the book says, they're. Definitely resembling Cthulhu in power, not just aesthetic."

"What I might be able to do is things that don't aim to protect you from these entities, but give you other benefits. Help you heal faster, think more clearly...there are a few things I can offer that could help balance out other effects without seeming antagonistic, assuming that what they want is for you to be more powerful." 

She nods. "Are there downsides to the benefits? Including resource cost for you."

"I haven't historically dipped into my stores often. I'm retired." 

"That's not really an answer."

"In general, magic is weak or has downsides. I don't think I should use anything more powerful that may have undesirable effects. Don't worry about my resources; I have plenty, and regularly replenish them." 

"All right. Then - I mean I would appreciate having an upgraded head if it doesn't come with major downsides. I like thinking clearly, it's nice. It would be a shame if I started babbling madly in dark speech out of nowhere."

"How come you never offered this kind of thing before?" 

"I offered to Stiles. He wasn't interested. And it's not quite compatible with you. It may not even work on her- it should, if these beings are as foreign as they seem, but the mountain ash worked, so we could be looking at the system trying to fit Yvette however haphazardly it can."

"Why wasn't Stiles interested?" wonders Yvette, blinking. "Extra magical bonuses just. Seems like an obvious thing to have if there aren't any major downsides aside from resource requirements."

"You'll need to ask him."

"Fair enough. All right, uh - what magical bonuses can I get? They aren't exclusive, are they?"