by Andur
I place the plush toys beside me. “So what can magicians do?” I ask, not sure on how to react.
Melan smiles again. “You and I are techno-mages. It's an advanced branch of electro-magic. There are several different branches of magical affinities. It means that someone's mind has a disposition towards certain spells. We cast them easier than others.”
The wheels in my mind start turning. “Does that mean that I can throw fireballs?”
A while ago I played some fantasy M.M.O.R.P.G.s and I enjoyed it for some time, but my mind was too fast for them. The stupid grinding game advanced simply too slowly. After a while I got sick of it.
“Well, you can. If you put effort into it. Essentially a mage can learn every spell in existence, but that's more suited for a fire-mage. We techno-mages excel in areas like manipulating technological and magical artefacts. Other areas we are great at are teleportation, gravity magic, telepathy... obscure stuff like that.” She shrugs her shoulders.
“Those spells generally take a long activation time. That's why pure techno-mages are regarded as weak in battle. We also have this issue with accelerated minds, which can be quite problematic. Some tend to lose themselves in their ability and turn into addicts.”
Obscure? Weak? Teleportation? Gravity magic? That's even better than fireballs! “I can learn that, Melan?” If her words are true, then my cruel reality just turned into a wonderful fantasy world with people like myself!
“First you have to get better. I am supplying you with healing magic since quite a while. And call me Grandmother.” She smiles at me.
That's fine with me. If she is really the same as me, then I'll call her anything she wants. My old family wasn't worth to be called a family anyway.
Only then I realize that she was touching me since quite a while. Her hand is shining in a green light and somehow I feel better than before. “It has been a long time since someone touched me without hitting me.”
Grandmother's expression changes. “Don't get your hopes up too high. If you do something with ill intent I'll have to punish you.”
My high expectations suddenly drop into a deep valley. “But my... previous... father said that I am evil, Grandmother.”
“Why did he say that?” She asks.
I hesitate for a moment, but then I decide that talking alone won't get me punished. And Melan won't hit me because she is like me. Probably.
So I explain my problems with understanding humans and their strange reasoning to her. It took a while, but in the end I think I got the point across.
Grandmother nods. “That's a problem most techno-mages have to deal with, though you seem to be a little more problematic than others. We will work on that.”
She takes the cushion away from me and lifts me up. “But the first point on our list is to train your body. The first task is to walk to the door on your own.” She puts me down, but thankfully lets me hold her hand to steady myself.
“Can't I learn gravity magic and fly where I want to go?” I look up to her and try to do this thing which she called smiling.
Grandmother shakes her head. “No magic, no virtual reality until your body is fine. We have to work on your display of emotions. That expression looks like you are a rabid dog. Don't look at me like that! No, tears won't work either.”
Damn! Maybe dying is the better choice.
4. ~Truth and Lie.~
“The USA belonged to the nations which suffered the most from the resource wars. As a country which relied heavily on exploiting the resources of second world nations, the USA entered a time of conflict and civil war.
Especially the loss of easy access to oil caused great unrest and the ready availability of weapons made it impossible for the government to keep the revolting citizens under control. Some say that the demonstrations and revolts were staged by outside parties, but the truth is that the mass of armed citizens was bound to get out of control sooner or later. All that was needed was a trigger.
Russia used the utter chaos to claim Alaska and great parts of Canada. This happened with almost no resistance from either nation because their governments were completely incapable of action and had to worry more about their own populations.
Up until this day the remains of the USA are regarded as a lawless assembly of independent nations, which play no important role in comparison to the big national powers.”
History Lesson III
Aether, The floating City, above the Atlantic Ocean
Melan
“I always wanted to have a brother! Oh, this is so exciting. I'll take it upon myself to teach you everything I know. I am very good at electro-magic. Yesterday during lessons I summoned a class three thunder elemental.” Galia looms above Gideon, patting his head while being in her own world.
The poor Gideon is just sitting on the floor and eyeing her like some dangerous beast. I think he sensed somehow that she isn't like him. When I brought him with me he said that he won't need the plush toys which I gave to him. But right now he is holding them like they could protect him.
My granddaughters are very interested in Gideon, but I fear that they only regard him as a new form of entertainment. Galia is fourteen and wears her dark, brown hair open. Saden has it tied to a pony tail, which makes her resemble her mother.
Saden offers Gideon a hand. “My name is Saden and the big, intimidating brute is Galia-”
“Hey!” Galia interrupts Saden's little speech.
“Don't worry about her, she isn't dangerous. I can imagine how you are feeling, I am a techno-mage too. It's a bit disturbing to meet someone who looks older, but is on a lower mental level. We can't hold it against them, just imagine that she is someone who has yet to learn a lot of things.”
Gideon places his hand carefully in Saden's. “My name is Gideon.”
“Grandmother said that I should help you with human interactions. The first one I want you to get accustomed to is...” Saden starts smiling. “A hug. Because I'll do that a lot.”
Then she suddenly embraces Gideon, who freezes up and I notice his pupils widening in shock. His eyes wander towards me, but I just signal him that it's okay.
I leave the children to playing on the room's carpet and concentrate on the people around me.
Hedeon, Rhiannon and Arend already introduced themselves to Gideon. Though I noticed that he was very wary towards Rhiannon and Arend. I don't think that I can blame him for it. From his point of view he was abducted by them.
“So what is your judgement on his personality? You spent the last three days with him.” My husband asks, eyeing the three children.
“He is strange.” I stop for a moment to gather my thoughts. “On one side you get the feeling that he is a very rational being, just by talking to him. But on the other side he clearly displays some emotions, despite claiming that he doesn't have them. I think he is somehow able to subdue them mentally, but his body betrays him in the end.”
“A split personality?” Rhiannon asks with a saddened expression.
I shake my head. “I don't think that it's that easy. He never showed signs of something like that. That's why I decided to take him out of his room and to introduce him to the rest of the family.” My eyes wander to the children. “Just to see how he reacts under stress.”
“Stress? What do you plan to do to the poor child?” Arend asks shocked.
I shrug my shoulders. “I am already doing it. Don't you think that having to deal with Galia and Saden is stressful enough for someone who shut himself for years inside a single room?”
Arend's expression turns embarrassed and I continue. “So what did your investigation of Sadina yield? It took you two days of sneaking around between the normals. I hope it was worth the risk.”
“It was hardly a risk, Grandmother. We are trained in missions like this and we keep ourselves updated about their society.” Arend answers.
I close my eyes. “Every interaction with them endangers us to be involved in their petty fights. Our people manage
d to have two thousand years of peace since we retreated from earth and hid ourselves. I'll admit that we didn't do so without shedding blood, but I don't want my family to be the reason why their attention returns to us.”
“You are right, our people will stay forgotten.” Rhiannon answers. “We turned around every stone and interrogated the Oberon family, but the only thing we are sure of is that they aren't related to him. There were clear signs that someone manipulated their minds, but it happened so long ago that it's almost impossible to tell who might have done it.”
Arend continues. “We also unearthed the corpse of Gideon's supposed mother, who died in a car accident. The doctor says that neither she, nor his father are related to him.”
My hands start trembling in rage. “To think that my own offspring dumped off her own child with some mind manipulated people, letting him end up in an asylum to slowly wither away. If I ever come across her, she will answer for her crimes.”
A long time ago Sadina conducted experiments to change our society. She attempted to create the ultimate spell circuitry to enhance her own abilities.
A mistake in her calculations caused her magic to run wild and got a lot of innocent people killed. When the authorities tried to apprehend her she fled. “I see now why she managed to evade the faceless for so long. She must have hid among the normals. Yet another crime on her part.”
Hedeon grabs my hand. “But it also seems like she had help from our people. Who is Gideon's father for example?”
Rhiannon nods vehemently with a conflicted expression on her face. “We won't find that out without involving the elders. And I am not sure if it's the right choice to ask them for help. Who knows what they might do to Gideon? I want to get my hands on my sister, but I am not sure if it's worth the price.”
Our conversation gets interrupted by the buzzing of the doorbell. I log myself into the feed of the security camera to take a look at our visitor. A person in a long, black mantle is standing in front of our door. His face is completely covered by a white, oval-shaped mask. A faceless, a member of the magical police. “I already thought that it's taking them abnormally long.”
Rhiannon starts playing with her fingers. “Ahem. I might have delayed my report a little bit.”
Hedeon glares at her. “As the head of our family I don't want the faceless snuffing around on our property! Don't do anything that could cause their mistrust! You know how it goes. Piss off one of them and the next day they are peeling the dirt from your shoe to find out if you placed your foot somewhere where it shouldn't be.”
My daughter gets up. “I just got the address of my report a little wrong. It may have taken them a little longer to relay it to the correct office. They can't blame me for messing up the numbers of their departments.” She hurries out of the room to receive the inspector.
I stand up and head over to Gideon. Saden and Galia organized a tabletop game from somewhere. They are playing on the floor and it looks like Gideon and Saden joined forces against Galia.
Gideon looks up to me with an exhausted expression. I kneel down and cast another healing spell on him. “Are you tired, Gideon?”
“No. Just a little drained. My body isn't accustomed to moving.” He answers.
“Good, we have a visitor. He is from our version of the police and means no harm.” I stop for a moment to formulate my intentions right. “Just tell him what he wants to know, but not any more than you need to. There is no reason to hide anything.”
He nods, forcing himself to smile. “Okay.”
I am not entirely sure if he should smile like that at the inspector, but I don't get the chance to tell Gideon otherwise. The door is slammed open and a faceless strolls into our living room. He takes a look around at the people who are present until his searching head stops at Gideon.
A few purposeful steps take him to us and he raises his hand to show us the golden seal which identifies him as a faceless. The seal is a golden amulet with three intertwined infinity symbols and magically tied to the owner. It's a magical amplifier, which makes him probably ten times as strong as a normal mage. Nobody is able to take it from him, or use it for that matter. The seals are created with a secret method by the council.
“I am inspector '94684-Ed'. You can call me Ed and I have a few questions for you, Gideon.” The man kneels down and I get out of his way. “Please give me your hand, then I can test if you are saying the truth.”
Gideon looks towards me and I nod. He reaches out and the inspector takes his hand, placing the golden seal on the back of his hand. “Say only the truth. I'll know otherwise.”
“What's your name?”
“Gideon.”
“You never had contact with these people before they found you in the asylum?” Ed gestures around the room.
“No.”
“Do you know who your real mother is? Or her whereabouts?”
“No, I don't know who she is.”
I stop breathing for a moment. I definitely told him about his real mother and her crime. It can't be that he forgot about it?
“Are these people treating you well?”
“Yes.”
“Hm.” The inspector rises to his feet. “It seems like this is another dead end. I'll excuse myself.”
He turns and heads towards the door, but not without stopping in front of Rhiannon. “And I hope your next report isn't addressed to the archives! Unfortunately I am not allowed to truth-read you, since you willingly provided a signed report, but make sure that there aren't any further delays.”
“Yes, it was an unfortunate mistake!” Rhiannon bows down, feigning innocence.
“I'll let myself out then, goodbye!” The inspector leaves the room.
Stunned, my eyes wander slowly to Gideon, who is sitting on the floor beside me. “You lied to the inspector.” I state matter-of-factly.
Gideon looks up to me and distorts his face into that horrible smile. “I just wanted to test his magic. Normally I don't lie, but this was a good chance. This truth-read thing doesn't seem to be that great. As long as you convince yourself of the stuff you say, you can apparently say anything.”
He returns his attention to the table top game, oblivious of the fact that everyone's attention is on him. “Saden, what can you do with this figure?”
5. ~Test.~
“The only country which wasn't affected by the resource wars was Australia with its outlying geographical location.
Australia’s government also practised a policy of neutrality and self-supply during that time. They didn't take action. Neither for nor against any party. May it have been regarded as good or bad.
History shows us that their decision was the right one.”
History Lesson IV
Aether, The floating City, above the Atlantic Ocean
Gideon
My eyes wander from the doctor's strange tool to his eyes and back again, then towards his aide and my grandmother. It's the same old man who stung me with a needle when I first awoke after Rhiannon and Arend found me. The room we are in is also the same. Grandmother brought me to the hospital in order to get my recovery checked.
My first encounter with the doctor and his staff was unfortunate. Imagine yourself waking up in a hospital room with strange people all around you and then your eyes fall onto a set of surgery tools. Of course I activated my ability and thought long and hard about the situation.
From the information I had back then, I deduced that they had somehow found out about my unique ability and decided to use me as some kind of lab-rat.
I came up with seven methods of self defence. Unfortunately all of them were futile, given my body's state. If I were in possession of a functioning body back then, I could have killed them in twelve different ways.
I check the small table with the surgery tools at the bed's side, but this time it's empty. Minus one means six methods of self defence.
The doctor throws an accusing look at Grandmother. “He is clearly thinking about ways to harm me
and my staff! You said that he isn't dangerous!”
She pats my head. “You just surprised him. Gideon has a very peaceful personality for a techno-mage. Right, Gideon?”
I smile at the doctor and his staff. “I am sorry, back then I thought that you wanted to harm me.”
“You don't have to force yourself to display emotions. It's a very bad attempt by the way. I know of your circumstances.” The doctor answers and gestures with the tool in his hand. It's flat and rectangular, almost like a smart phone, but there are many wires coming out of one side. “Please lie down. This is a medical scanner. It's absolutely harmless.”
I eye the thing with interest and follow his orders.
He comes closer and holds it above me, but without touching me. “I see. Your recovery is well under way. It seems my treatment is taking effect. Good. You are giving him the medicaments which I ordered to?”
Grandmother answers in my stead. “Of course.”
The doctor does something with his instrument and nods. “There is still small case of malnutrition. You are eating properly?”
“I eat until I feel sick, then I stop.” I answer. Dinner time with the family became a dreaded event for me. While they are eating like horses, I can take only a few bites until I can't go on.
“Hm. I took extra care to get your stomach into a working state, but it seems like it isn't enough. Your body won't develop correctly if you don't eat enough.” The doctor opens his long white coat, which is filled with pockets on the inside. They are full of tools and small boxes, it's like he is a wandering pharmacy!
He chooses one of the boxes and gives it to my grandmother. “The normals are still barbarians when it comes to medicine, no matter what the upper echelons say. Give him one of those shortly before mealtime and he'll be able to eat normally.”
Rummaging through his pockets once more, he produces another item. This time it's a small golden amulet. “There is also another method of treatment, but it's costly. This is a regeneration charm. It automatically draws energy from its surroundings and uses it to add a passive healing effect to the one who is wearing it. The only problem is that it isn't a cheap item, since a silver and copper alloy is needed to create the necessary effect.”
