The Inscribed Angle

by Andrew Bardsley

  --

  Freya entered the prison and started looking in to each of the cells. Many of the cells were large rooms containing several sets of bunk beds full of people. As she walked by the bars most of the people looked at her with interest but stayed quiet. In one of the cells, Freya saw her parents looking very bedraggled but were generally unharmed. Freya’s heart skipped a beat, but as she was in the persona of Annie Creed, she did not show any outward emotions.

  Freya spoke urgently to the group of prisoners. “Bethany and John Smithson, I'm here to rescue you and other members of the Markwell Institute.”

  He parents came forward as Freya opened the barred cell doors. As they expressed their gratitude, at the excitement of being let free, Freya wanted to hug them but restrained herself.

  Freya turned and spoke to her parents and all the prisoners who were now making their way out of the cells. “I need you to go throughout the facility and bring all the unconscious people into the cells and then lock them up. Free anybody that will help us and can be trusted. When you have finished locking all the people up. I need you to get every piece of information in the whole facility, no matter what it is about, and load the documentation onto a large vehicle outside. Does everybody understand these instructions?”

  As everybody nodded numbly, Freya urged them on saying, “We need to do this quickly, so move fast!”

  For the next couple of hours, Freya went around the facility breaking into all the safes and removing anything she found in them. She found a mixture of money, documentation, and magical devices with a range of inscriptions on them. The inscriptions she quickly memorized and loaded up on the vehicles with all the other documentation.

  When everything was done, Freya talked to the members of the institute, “I need anybody who is experienced in memory magic, to wipe all the people we leave behind of any recent memories.”

  Several people came forward with the abilities to affect memories, and so the process of erasing memories of all the facilities members for the past year. This was not a pleasant task, but Freya thought it to be the best of all options available to her. She did not like the thought of the other two options that had come to her mind.

  When all the preparation for escape was completed, and the members of the institute were ready to board the vehicles with all the documentation and other equipment, Freya said to her parents, “Firstly, I can tell you that your daughter is safe and well.”

  Bethany’s voice brimmed with happiness, “That's wonderful news, when can we see her?”

  Freya paused. “When you are in a secure location. And turning our attention back to other matters, you need to setup the institute once again in a more secure location. Here are the details of a farseeing account that you can draw money from. When you have a location let me know and I’ll send some security and administration along to help you set up. This will bring you under the protection of the company I work for.”

  The group of Markwell Institute members were shocked by the young lady's forward deal, but as the day had already taken an unorthodox tone, they accepted the offer for the moment. The terms could be examined later. Freya lowered the boundary shield as the vehicle with her parents and the rest of the members hovered over the ground, lifted off, and then slowly moved into the distance.

  Chapter 8 Setting up the Institute

  Freya had used one of the spare vehicles in the facility to fly back to her home. After using the vehicle, she sent it on a long trip to the middle of the ocean to crash and be lost forever. Though exhausted after all that had happened in such a small period of time, she was content. Not only were her parents free, but she had managed to damage the organization that attacked the institute and her family. She had plans to use the institute and hopefully find out what prompted the attack, from all the information they had gathered. When Freya was back safely in her house, she slept in late into the next day.

  Arriving at work, she went into the office and saw Beck at the desk, “How did the product event go yesterday?”

  Beck smiled widely. “Great! We had a lot of media airing the live demo and covering what the large crystal storages will be useful for. The university was pleased to be part of it, and we are already talking to some large magical manufacturing companies.”

  Freya said, “Good, I need you to start getting together a team that could help setup an institute, that am interested at the moment. There are already people finding a location to base it, and they will need help with mostly administration and security.”

  Freya described as much situation as she felt she could, and Beck got on to organizing the task.

  --

  It had been several months since Freya had attacked the facility with her parents captured inside. She was going to see her parents now as Freya at the new institute that had been setup with her help and money. Freya had made sure that her Marple Green persona had control over all aspects of the new institute. She was in a magical vehicle flying to the new location of the institute inside a small city. She looked like Freya but was now legally Freya Green, daughter of Marple Green. Also with her in the transport she had a large security division that were going to add to the already high security at the new institute location.

  The institute was on the edge of the university campus which gave it an added level of protection. The vehicle landed in a green grassy area, beside some old buildings and the new building that Freya was having built. As Freya walked out the craft, she ran to her parents who were standing waiting for Freya. For next few minutes Freya and her parents were all hugs and kisses, after their moment together calmed down, they retired into her parent’s accommodations.

  Later in the day, when everything had relaxed a bit, Freya talked to her parents about a pressing issue that had been weighing on her mind.

  Freya spoke in a subdued voice, “I will always consider you my parents but while I’ve been away from you, I found out what the institute did. And what it did to me. I just would like to know from you… why?”

  Her parents were silent for a while but eventually her father replied, “Would you believe us Freya, that it was mostly out of scientific interest at first? But when we raised you as our daughter, it was all out of love as time went by. Just know that we love you now and always will.”

  Freya thought about all the love her parents had shown her over the years compared with the fact that she was the result of a magical experimental program. She also remembered the thoughts she had, since she had known what the institute had done to her and the confusion that this had caused in her heart.

  After a small moment of reflection, Freya said in a small voice, “I love you too, and will always need you to be my parents. And everything that had happened, we should leave in the past.”

  For the rest of the day they renewed their family bond by just being together.

  --

  After Freya had visited the institute as herself, it was now time to get along with the business of developing the institute. So, she left and reappeared as her Marple Green persona. This time as she left the craft, she was all business. Her parents were there again to meet her, but this time were very nervous. This was their sponsor’s first visit in person, and they knew that there would be a lot of questions.

  Freya greeted them in a strong manner, “Good to meet you Bethany and John Smithson. I have large plans for the institute. Let's go to a private location to talk about it.”

  Freya was led to the and office conference room within outer rooms from the institute. The other members of the institute were waiting there around a table. The members of the institute, recently freed, appeared nervous about what their future held.

  Freya addressed everybody in the room, and said, “First of all, I want you to continue on with the research into magical inscriptions and interfacing them with the body. But and let me make this absolutely clear, no unauthorized experimental tests. The institution will be expanding and starting up new lines of research. Also, I be moving some of the wor
k we do into high energy crystals to this campus.”

  Freya talked about her plans for the next few hours with excited discussion from the members of the institute about some of the possibilities. Once everything was on track, her last task was to talk to the detectives who had been combing through the data taken from the attacker’s facility. There was another long meeting with them summing up their findings. It all boiled down the that the facility was a subsidiary of one of the largest companies in the world, who had their fingers into every pie. Freya realized that with her present strength she would not be able to fight against it. She needed time to get bigger and more powerful.

  Chapter 9 The Life of the Rich

  Freya was no longer a eight-year-old child, but she had just turned twenty. Over the years, she had nurtured her research company and the Institute, until they were at the centre of a large worldwide company. Freya no longer had to use her several personas for work, as a few years ago she had made the transition to her real personality being the head of this large network of companies.

  Freya woke up early in the morning in the same house that she had bought many years before. She had never really made it fully hers, she was still sleeping in the same bed room she had used when she was young and didn’t spend much time inside except to sleep and work. As she woke up, she looked at herself in the in the mirror in the bedroom. Looking back was a tall dark-haired young woman, with an athletic body that most people considered as the standard for beauty. Freya dressed for the day’s activities in a utilitarian outfit that allowed her quick movement but still looked well-dressed and acceptable in the business world. On the way out of her property, Freya grabbed a nutrition bar for her breakfast, as most of her meals were on the go. She left the house and entered her garage, where she entered a sturdy and powerful, magical vehicle. This was no ultra-expensive fast sports magical flying vehicle liked often by the ultra-rich, but it was to Freya’s taste, as it was good in combat situations.

  Freya sped quickly to her original offices, across the expensive housing, and onto the university campus. Freya walked into office, which she rarely visited any more. She now worked out of the cooperation offices in the high-rise city block she owned, so it was an occasion every time she stopped by.

  Freya spoke the receptionist as she strode in, “Freya Eos, to see, Brian Smith head of research.”

  The receptionist fumbled her greeting, after doing a double take, “Ms. Eos a pleasure to meet you, I’ve heard so much about you. I’ll take you to Dr. Smith straight away.”

  Freya was led to the same office that had been hers years ago. In the office Brian was working at a presentation for some of the university staff. As he noticed Freya enter, he stood up and greeted her with a smile, “Glad to see you, how are things with you at the moment?”

  Freya’s face brightened up with a smile, “Well, excited would be the best way to describe my mood today. After all these years of hard work and money the company has pumped into the development of these devices, it’s now time to find out if it will all pay off.”

  Brian said with a smile, “I’m sure it will. I was just finishing up my presentation to the university, about the story of the computer’s development from its beginning to today. To think that it all started with the high energy crystal output signal fluctuation and we have been able to develop it into a magical computational crystal, several orders of magnitude more powerful than any computer system on the planet. Of course, the fact that it will unite the mundane physical world with the magical system we all use gives us endless possibilities.”

  Freya nodded with excitement and smiled broadly, “I set up several company subsidiaries, to work on different developments already, and I’ve been involved in some personal projects too. But anyway, I’m here to give you a lift to the corporate offices for the announcement.”

  Brian picked up a brief case of notes and walked with Freya outside to her vehicle. On the way she kept up the polite pleasantries. “How are the children doing?”

  Brian chuckled, “Young Sarah was panicking today since it was her first day of proper school, but she’ll be fine. The baby is starting to sleep through the night as well, which is great.”

  Freya said with a smile as they got into her vehicle, “I thought you were sounding less tired.”

  The rest of the journey was passed with small talk, about what was happening in each other’s lives. While Brian was juggling having a family and working as head of research, Freya only had work and didn’t have much of a social aspect in her life. She was starting to want more from life than just running a large corporation. Even with her parents, and some good friends, she was often lonely, and wanted more. Today would only make this worse as she was emerging from her privacy to become the public figure of the corporations she had been running for years. She was doing this for several reasons: primarily to market the new magical computational crystal and secondly in part of her battle against the large corporation that caused the attack on her parents.

  As the flying magical vehicle settled on the office landing pad, Brian and Freya got out and walked into her corporation building. The reception area had a large spacious ground level that was decorated and filled with art work that Freya had picked out. There was a bank of magical elevation shafts for staff to ascend to their assigned floors.

  As Freya walked towards the directors' level elevation shaft, Brian said to her, “I’ll see you at the press conference, there are a few things that I need to do before I head up.”

  Freya nodded in acknowledgment and stepped in the shaft. She exited into a reception area for her offices. Beck was there to meet her with an agenda for the day. As she started to fill in Freya about what was needed to be done that day, she started to notice that Freya looked forlorn.

  “It’s all about getting ready for the press conference this morning, I’m afraid. We need to change your image, so you look like the owner of a large corporation. We’ll go through your correspondence while we work on that though.”

  As Freya was guided by Beck to a hairdresser and makeup artist, she was quickly put into a chair with a white sheet put around her body. Freya tried to ignore the hairdresser as she moved around her body, making her hair look respectable. She normal kept her long dark hair in braids, mostly for convenience, as she was often found in a lab or practicing combat. As this was her first experience with the media, Beck had insisted that she look the part.

  Beck read out the correspondence while the hairdresser worked, “We need you to go over the paperwork for our new acquisitions in the last couple of weeks. And some of the marketing people want to meet with you about some of the campaigns they will be running after this press conference.”

  This waterfall of information carried on pouring over Freya as Beck covered all of the companies she owned. Freya didn’t care for the micro management of the multiple companies she owned or controlled but there was always a large list of things to do. As Beck went through the list of tasks, Freya gave concise instructions on what she wanted done. One of Beck’s many assistants was taking notes on a pad against a never-ending list. After her hair was done, Freya was given her smart but elegant business suit that had been selected for her, to wear. Before putting it on, she gazed into the mirror at the slightly shining inscriptions on the surface of her skin. Over the years she had modified and developed more powerful magical symbols that were now on her body. As Freya had grown older her magical power output had also dramatically increased, which was good for cash flow, but meant that she always carried significant number of empty high energy storage crystals. Freya had managed to keep this aspect of her life secret from everybody, even her parents.

  When Beck and her team came back into the room with the makeup artist, the list of items needing her attention continued. Once the makeup artist finished, Freya turned around for Beck to see the full look.

  Beck paused mid-sentence, “You really are elegantly beautiful Freya, it’s a pity that you are always hiding yourself in nondesc
ript outfits. But since we’re finished here, we need to be moving to the press conference. Remember what we practiced, and you should be fine.”

  With that statement, the nervous Freya was led through the building until she and the entourage entered a large hall of wall-to-wall glass panelling showing a scene of the city buildings surrounding it. It was filled with the media representatives and a row of cameras at the back of the hall. Freya walked with Beck to the front of the hall onto a large stage with a podium on it. As she walked on, the cameras at the back of the room flashed, causing Freya to be a bit dazzled. Both Beck and Freya sat down together with a panel of other people, which included Brian. Beck indicated to the head of marketing to start the presentation.

  A man with a smart business suit with a healthy dose of glamour inscriptions, got up to the podium and flashed a smile at the collection of journalists. “I would like to welcome you all to the ‘Eos Corporation’ for this special presentation of a product that is going to change the world.”

  The head of marketing went along for a while, talking about the past developments and successes of the ‘Eos Corporation’. If Freya had not been so nervous, she would have been impressed by the wonderful things her corporation had done over the year, but all she could think about was her up and coming presentation.

  Snapping her out of her stupor she heard her name being introduced. As per her instructions from Beck she stood up and worked to the podium. Standing there she looked on a sea of people, and flashing cameras.

  Looking at the teleprompter, Freya started to read her prepared remarks, “It’s with great pleasure that I start this presentation. We at the ‘Eos Corporation’, have been developing magical crystalline computational devices for several years now and today we are glad to be able to sell them on the world market.”

  In Freya’s mind, she was slightly disconnected from what she was saying, but she managed to get through the rest of the prepared text. She gave a general overview of what the computational devices were and what they would be capable of. After she finished Brian got up and gave a detailed technical description of the crystalline computational devices, elaborate enough to impress the journalists, while vague enough to avoid letting anyone else in on their secrets. Freya noticed that half of the media was mesmerized by what Brian presented and the other half’s eyes glazed over. Freya laughed to herself how it was easy to tell the more technical journalists from the non-technical.