“Are you ready for mass, Lavini?” Akita asked.

“Of course I am, Akita dear,” Lavini said.

“Awesome!” Akita cheered.

“Good luck, ‘Vini,” Cassie said.

“Thank you, Cassie dear,” Lavini smiled and gave the nun a kiss. She then climbed the stairs that led into the main chapel. Their church had been open for a full month now and so far, everything had been running like clockwork. Bridget, Lavini, and Akita were alternating between themselves when holding mass. Lavini usually took the mornings, Bridget held hers in the afternoons, and finally Akita took care of evening mass.

Alas, Akita, Bridget, and Cassie could all see that Lavini was still having to get used to everything that had happened on the night before the opening. The fragility of glass made the noblewoman a bit more careful and she seemed especially worried when hugging Bridget. Nevertheless, she seemed very much happy with her new form and she spoke highly of her new connection to time itself.

Since last month, Lavini had also come to realize some things. With her transformation into a time elemental also came a task that she realized by instinct. The flow of time could be just as fragile as the glass of her body. One small change could lead to huge consequences. It was now up to Lavini to ensure that the flow of time would proceed regularly. In order to do this, she was able to travel through time into the past in order to influence it. Of course, she could not simply do so all willy nilly. Instead, she would be going there only if it was necessary.

By instinct, Lavini knew what it was that needed to happen but she did not know what her actions would lead to. For instance, earlier this week, Lavini felt compelled to shove a trash can slightly to the right. She did not know why until later that same day when a burglar bumped into it as he was running from the guards.

Still what bothered Lavini the most was the situation with her mother. Due to her new instincts it had become clear that she truly was her own mother. Well not her birth mother but she would literally at some point in the future be traveling into the past in order to adopt and raise herself. She had also come to the realization that the household maid Rashida was none other than Cassie in disguise.

As Lavini vanished from view, occupied for the time being, Cassie turned to Akita. “Is it… ready?” she asked.

“Of course, Gigabyte! All the tests I’ve done have been positive,” Akita said, giving the maid a thumbs up.

Cassie nodded. “Alright… good…” she said softly.

“Hey, if you’re not sure about this, you shouldn’t do it,” Akita said.

“N-no! I want to do this. I’m just nervous, that’s all,” Cassie stammered.

“Heh, I hear you. It’s not really a normal procedure after all,” Akita nodded. “Well, if you’re sure, let’s not waste any time. Let’s get you ready before Lavini comes back.”

Cassie nodded as she could feel butterflies fluttering in her stomach. She had asked for this last week after Lavini had transformed. After all of that, Cassie felt that she couldn’t really stay behind. She wanted some kind of transformation as well. Thus, when she approached Bridget and Akita about it, they felt happy to grant this wish. Bridget did propose the possibility that Cassie, too, might be chosen by one of the leftover trinkets but the nun definitely did not feel worthy of such an honour and insisted on this artificial transformation instead. Of course, Akita went to work straight away and had just applied the finishing touches on it the other day.

Upon entering Akita’s lab, Cassie was greeted by Bridget who had already been waiting there. “Lavini’s gone?” she whispered, as if the walls themselves had ears.

Akita giggled teasingly as she entered the room, obviously thinking Bridget to be very endearing at that point. “Of course, my Terabyte,” she said.

Cassie gulped as she entered as well. “I’m really doing this…” she said.

“Are you ready for it?” Bridget asked.

Cassie nodded. “I am,” she said.

“Excellent. Then, hop on in the machine,” Akita said as she lowered her visor over her face. She then moved over to some holographic display screens where she proceeded to do several things all at the same time. She had really become quite good at multitasking.

Bridget took this moment to help Cassie into the machine's platform. “You’re going to love the flow of time, I know you will!” she said excitedly.

Cassie smiled modestly. “I’m sure I will,” she said.

“And I’m sure Lavini will love it as well,” Bridget added.

Cassie looked down at her feet. “I hope you’re right…” she murmured. Of course, becoming a part of time was going to be great regardless but her biggest concern was that Lavini would be against this happening. She was, after all, doing this primarily for her. Then again, this was Lavini. Of course she would like it… right?

Akita pressed some buttons, causing a glass tube to lower from above Cassie all the way down, now trapping the nun inside. Next up, a metal ring lowered itself down to the nun’s feet where it stayed.

“We’re ready to begin as soon as we have your okay,” Akita said while still pressing several buttons. “Remember that this will be your new normal form. A transformation of this nature will alter your very soul. You’ll still be you, only with the added benefit of, well, becoming partially temporal.”

“I understand that,” Cassie nodded. She couldn’t lie, she was starting to sweat. It was strange to think that soon, the body that she had always had would no longer be her normal form. But she had wanted this.

“Are you ready to start?” Bridget asked.

Cassie took in a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. “Yes… I am,” she said.

“Alright then. Starting the conversion… now,” Akita said.

Instantly, the machine around Cassie hummed to life. A field of light appeared within the metal ring by her feet and sure enough, Cassie could feel it affecting her. Her toes and the soles of her feet tingled quite a bit as they transformed in some way. It was hard to tell what was happening exactly since they were hidden from view by her shoes.

“Remember to stay standing still in there,” Akita said as the ring rose over Cassie’s ankles and into her legs.

Only now was it obvious what was really happening. Cassie’s skin was turning a pristine white. Cassie could feel her regular human skin turn into a synthetic version. It still felt soft and squishy as it was before but it felt fake somehow. An imitation of her former skin.

“Why... is my body changing like this?” Cassie asked. She knew that she was going to transform in some way but she did not know in what way, let alone why.

“Simply put, we have yet to find a way for humans to connect to the flow of time. Therefore, in order to prepare your body for the flow of time, we need to turn you into a synthetic replica,” Akita explained.

“Don’t worry, you’ll still be you, and you’ll still look mostly human,” Bridget added.

“I… hope you’re right about that,” Cassie said as more of her legs turned white and fake. Each new part of her body that passed through the field of light transformed. Even under her clothes, Cassie could feel the transformations. Her hips, her hands, her arms, her chest. Nothing was spared. But there was no time to truly grasp what was happening for the holographic field simply kept going up, transforming everything along the way. Soon enough, even her whole head had transformed. When it was all done, Cassie just stood there, dazed.

“Conversion completed,” Akita called out.

“Cassie? Can you hear us?” Bridget asked.

Cassie blinked, trying to comprehend all of these new sensations she was feeling. “I… yes I can…” she said, trailing off a little. She at least still sounded like herself.

“How are you feeling, Gigabyte?” Akita asked as she stepped away from her screens for a moment.

“I feel funky…” Cassie said. It was the best she could describe it. With her hands, she started feeling herself up. Everything about her body was white now. Even her hair! Luckily, it only seemed to affect her body and not her clothes. She’d be pretty pissed if it had turned her clothes white, after the tailors had worked so hard. Her body still acted as it had. She was still standing on her legs as before. She was still breathing and her heart was still beating. However, rubbing over her skin revealed that it was certainly different. It no longer felt as smooth as it had been.

“You’ll get used to that,” Bridget said reassuringly.

“Otherwise, you can still go back at this point,” Akita added.

Cassie thought about that. She could still go back to being human. If she wanted to, she could still call all of this off and forget it had ever happened. However, there was only a small part of her mind that thought this. The bigger part of her mind thought about Lavini. About how much she wanted this. “No… I’d like to keep going,” she said.

Bridget and Akita nodded to each-other as the latter went back to her screens. There, she began pressing a few buttons again. Since the screens were holographic, Cassie was actually able to see what was happening on them. She could see an image of herself and a whole bunch of information and stats. “The process of attuning yourself to time should be smooth sailing from here. All you have to do is accept it,” Akita explained.

“How do I do that?” Cassie asked.

“Just close your eyes and focus,” Bridget said.

“Okay…” Cassie said as she did so. Nothing was really happening yet of course but seeing as Bridget and Akita were time elementals themselves, she knew they must be experts on the subject.

“Focus on the constant flow of time. Realize that it’s always there. That it’s always flowing. Never stopping. Each tick of the clock is another second that passes,” Bridget explained.

Well, that much was true. Hanging out with Bridget, Akita, and Lavini had taught Cassie as much. Each new second was a treasured moment of time. There was not a single second that could be missed.

“Time is a constant stream. Let it flow through you. Let your body become a conduit for time. Let it become a part of you,” Bridget continued.

Cassie frowned as she tried to do as Bridget said but she didn’t really feel any different. How was she supposed to do this? She tried counting the seconds as they passed. She tried thinking about the sands of time flowing through Lavini, or the ticking of the church. Try as she might, she could not feel time as her three friends described it.

“You’re being too tense about this, Gigabyte,” Akita said. “Just relax and go with the flow.”

Cassie looked over and on Akita’s screens, she could see that one of the bars next to her own image had become red. “It’s not as easy as you seem to think it is, you know. I’m trying to do my best,” she whined.

“Well, there’s your problem,” Akita said.

“What?” Cassie asked.

“Trying hard is the opposite of relaxing. If you want to give yourself into the flow of time, you should just… let it happen,” Bridget said.

“Your body is ready to receive the flow of time. You could say it is now tailor-made for it. All you need to do is accept it,” Akita said.

“I… see,” Cassie said. Easier said than done! Oh well, she tried giving it a shot. She closed her eyes again and just… waited. At first she tried thinking about time again but she stopped herself and just let her mind flow into any direction it decided to go. She thought of Lavini and the first kiss they had shared. She thought of her journey from a homeless woman into a nun of time. She thought of all the fond memories she had come to treasure along this journey…

And then it happened. She felt the sudden, gentle flow of time. It flowed past her, over her, next to her. She just had to let it in. She started visualizing time as a stream. All she had to do was reach out for it. It seemed so easy. She stretched out her hand to touch the stream and sure enough she could feel it. It was there, passing through her hand. Retracting her hand, she could still feel time ticking inside. A smile formed on her face as she stepped into the stream and she could feel it washing over her. She could feel it flowing right through her, from the future into the past.

She accepted it. She let it in. She wanted this. She was happy with this. She was satisfied with this. Her body was a conduit for time as Bridget had said. She was now a part of time.

When Cassie finally opened her eyes again, she was in a haze. She could still feel the gentle flow. It hadn’t just been a fluke. She had truly done it.

“Well done, Gigabyte!” Akita said, who had put her visor back over her face again. Apparently, she was able to tell what Cassie had done from her screens.

“Great job, Cassie!” Bridget cheered.

“I… really did it,” Cassie mused softly.

“Are you feeling alright?” Bridget asked.

“Yes… yes I am,” Cassie said as a modest smile appeared on her face. There was something so magical and intoxicating about all this. She felt happy. She felt satisfied. She felt relaxed. It felt like she was a puzzle piece that had finally been placed in the correct spot, fitting right in.

“Your stats are looking good too,” Akita said. She pressed a few buttons again, causing the glass tube to start lifting up, finally freeing Cassie from the machine.

“Lavini will be overjoyed, I’m sure!” Bridget cheered.

Cassie gasped. The sensations that came with time had almost caused her to forget about her original reason for doing this!

“Time be with you all,” Lavini said to the chapel full of church goers. She was so happy to still see so many people attending this church. After opening a month earlier, there was a part of Lavini that feared that most people would only really attend the opening and then ditch the church afterwards but that was definitely not the case. The church had attracted a lot of attention and it showed no signs yet of stopping at all.

Most of the guests lingered for some time longer after Lavini’s mass had ended. Some were just talking with themselves while others started admiring the craftsmanship of the various clockwork machinations of the church. There were even some who appeared to be attempting to feel the flow of time for themselves. It was all very great to see.

With a smile, Lavini moved over to the stairs leading back down. Cassie usually attended each mass to help out or to direct the guests. This time, however, she had said that she had something else to do, though she wouldn’t say what. Perhaps now she was ready to spill the beans?

Lavini descended the stairs, wondering about what this mysterious task could be when she noticed a figure standing at the bottom. Lavini halted as she inspected this mysterious woman. She wore the same nun’s clothes that Cassie wore and she had the same physique. However, her skin and hair was entirely white. Could this truly be…

“Cassie…?” Lavini asked.

“... Welcome back, Lavini,” the woman stammered. It was definitely Cassie’s voice.

“What… happened?” Lavini asked.

Cassie twirled her hair with her finger nervously. “I… had Akita transform me… into a partial elemental,” she said.

Lavini gasped, placing a hand over her mouth. “You… you did…” she stammered as she continued her descent.

“I wanted to surprise you… I… do you like it?” Cassie asked.

“Like it? My dear Cassie… I love it,” Lavini said as a tear of sand left her eye. Cassie had done this for her and she couldn’t be happier about it.

A smile appeared on Cassie’s face as well now as she started walking up the stairs to meet her lover. The two embraced each-other into a passionate kiss, happy to have found each-other.

And for that moment, all off Lavini’s worries simply washed away from her.