by Andur
Though I am not exactly sure that our government isn't doing this intentionally. It's much easier to manipulate the normal humans since they are using a downgraded version of our technology.
By manipulating their internet, we have access to almost everything they know. Only the facilities with the highest security are a little harder to get in and that's mostly because their computers aren't connected to the internet.
I admit that in a shrewd way Gideon is right, but it doesn't mean that anyone could do the thing he did. After I took a look at the programs he wrote I had to admit that he has skill. I am so proud of him. “If I remember right Saden said that she has arranged that you get half of the profit you create with those optimized programs?”
Gideon's expression turns sour, which looks kind of funny. He is trying to adapt a set of different expressions, but he fails horribly when he is displaying them deliberately. “Yes, but I don't get it. This stupid sheet of paper says that I got the agreed upon sum of money, but there are those other numbers, which I suppose are taxes? So which amount of that money do I really get?”
“Let me see.” I reach for the paper and take a look at it. Isn't there a zero too much on this?
“Is it much?” Gideon asks. “Actually I am not too sure of this society's money. My original plan involved to trade by barter. Can I buy a spaceship when I leave school?”
“You still want to fly around the solar system in your own ship?” I ask, making a few calculations in my head.
Gideon is probably earning two times as much as me! It's comparable to what my husband earned until he sold his freighter to settle down with me! I want to cry!
“Grandma, you look sick, please sit down. Am I that underpaid? I have to talk to Paul and ask for a raise! I knew that I am being bamboozled.” He folds his hands in front of his chest. “That guy just doesn't look trustworthy. Who would wear a suit at his age?”
I shake my head. “No, don't do that. You are earning a lot of money. I was just baffled. If you continue this, you can buy one of the best ships once you finish your education at twenty.” Or ten cheap ones I suppose.
“Not many techno-mages achieve that at this age.” I myself piloted a ship for a few years, but I quickly found out that it isn't my thing, so I ended my contract once I had enough money. Then I started my own little business, which was dealing with data analysis.
After a few years my husband was offered the opportunity to run for a public office and since then our family is stuck as one of Aether's seven officials.
It's hard enough to be the representative of a colony like Aether. That one of my own daughters went rogue didn't help at all.
Gideon tilts his head and a flashing light appears in my vision. It's alarming me that he is using his ability to access the net.
He nods slowly. “I guess that might work out. Maybe Saden's insistence on this job wasn't so bad after all. I can even pay my part to the mansion. If I work a little more I should be able to afford one of those space liners. I wish they would put price tags on those ships.”
I feel my left eye twitching. “Gideon, you don't have to pay us anything. We have enough money. You have to take into account that I already had two hundred years to hoard money. If you really want your own ship to take a tour around the system, I would have bought you one.” And taking money from a child at his age feels just wrong.
“But I want to do this with my own power. Let me at least repay you for the kitchen.” He takes my hand. “I blew it up after all.”
“Gideon, adults have something that's called pride.” I stop for a moment to formulate my thoughts. “And taking money from the children who are under their protection feels... wrong.”
Gideon looks genuinely confused now. “So that means no?”
I nod. “Why don't you put a part of that sum into a separate bank account and treat it as emergency reserve?”
“Emergency?” He asks.
“That's right, you know, for example if something unforeseen happens. Like illness or accidents.” I offer.
Gideon scratches his chest in deep thought. “You are right. I haven't thought about that at all. I suppose in real life you can't control all the possibilities. It's only smart to provide for all contingencies. I'll ask Saden to do that.”
Once again I feel my eyes twitching. “Saden? What does Saden have to do with that?”
He shrugs his shoulders. “Oh, since I have no idea of dealing properly with money, I decided to make her my manager. I've to admit that her negotiation with Paul impressed me. Apparently she is going to become a lawyer, at least she is taking the necessary tests. And she seems to be a hard party to deal with. I don't know who would be better to look after the cash.”
I know that my granddaughter is a greedy old man on the inside. Gideon will be lucky if he gets his money back from her.
I try to smile, but I feel that I am slipping my composure. “So you kids are having fun together?”
“Hell, yes! Even the brute seems to be a nice person if you overlook her lack of intellect.” Gideon nods vehemently.
“Gideon? Don't call your bigger cousin a brute. It's discriminating.” I reprimand him.
Gideon's expression drops. “Sorry, it's becoming a habit with Saden around. It's rare for her to call her sister by name.”
I pat Gideon's head. “Don't worry.” The next time I see Saden I'll scrub out her mouth with steel wool. She is having a bad influence on him. “That reminds me! How are your magical studies going? Do you want us to have another lesson?”
That gets me a genuine smile out of Gideon. “Oh, yes! Actually I wanted to learn more about teleportation!”
“Then you are lucky. It's one of my best fields.” I smile. “But first you have to learn the theory behind teleportation. That's including books and tons of maths. Do you know the theory behind wormholes?”
Gideon nods. “Isn't that the famous example with a sheet of paper representing the universe? Then you fold it together and stab a pen through it?”
I roll with my eyes. “Yes, just that the stabbing through it with a pencil is an idiotic idea from the normals. You can't punch a hole through spacetime.”
“Just imagine what would happen if you remove an object from one position and let it appear somewhere else. At the point of departure you would have empty spacetime. At the point of arrival you would have to replace the already existing spacetime with the one you just transported, resulting in a very unhappy ending for everyone involved in the experiment.”
“So how do you do it?” Gideon asks with a troubled expression.
I grin, happy that he isn't a genius on all levels. It's so satisfying to teach younger ones than yourself. “You switch them! You create two equal spacetime-bubbles and exchange them with each other at the same time. Hence you don't violate the laws of physics.” I raise one hand and point at the cake which we just made. Then I snap my fingers and a marble-sized piece of cake appears between them. “There, I exchanged the air filled space between my fingers with a part of the cake.”
Gideon's eyes widen. “That's awesome! I want to do that too! Teach me the runes and the mathematics!”
I eat the piece of cake. “Don't freak out. You won't be able to do that overnight. It took me a hundred years until I had that level of control over teleportation.”
But Gideon doesn't listen, being completely absorbed in his own world. “Just think about the offensive and defensive capabilities! If you teleport your opponent's heart... no, his brain out of his head, it's akin to an instant kill!”
I stop chewing, appalled by the idea. It might be better to take care of his social skills first. Teaching him such a spell too early could end... ugly.
13. ~Ed.~
“Today we have to report an accident on Orbit One. Luckily it seems like no lives were lost during the breach of an apartment’s window. How the window's glass could simply break is up to investigation.”
-News-Channel: Aether I
Orbit One, Lu
nar Space Station
Ed
I lean back in my chair and continue to study the files which I found in the terrorist's room. Who would have thought that following the assassin's tracks would lead me to one of their cell leaders.
And the bastard was sitting right above Aether the entire time. He even had the audaciousness to pose as an agent for a mining company from the asteroid belt, renting an expensive apartment on this space station.
We decided that I would go alone to arrest him. If we had visited the station with and entire group of faceless, we could have alarmed him. I didn't want to risk that.
“I never would have thought that I would find you sitting here after your assassination attempt failed. Why didn't you run?”
The man who is on the ground and leaning against the room's walls looks up to me. “I didn't think that you would be able to track me back. The command was given through a chain of five people. What did you do to them in order to get me?”
I shrug my shoulders. “They are in our custody. It's not up to me what happens to them. That's a matter of the law. But they were involved in attempted murder and several other crimes, so the least they can expect is a major re-education. Possibly with a new personality being installed.”
The man who is bound by my 'Chains of Light' spell tries to free himself. He only causes the energy chains to glow a little brighter, it's a vain attempt. The amplifier around my neck makes me stronger than most natural mages.
He spits at me, but I raise the papers to avoid being hit in the face. “That's not very civilised of you.”
“Don't you realize that a new personality is equal to a death sentence? Which civilised society does such a thing? Maybe you should ask yourself if you are working for the right people?” He growls at me.
I nod slowly. “Every social structure has its dark sides. Your anger is just. But do you have the right to expose us to the normals if the overwhelming majority is against it? Who gives you the right to decide?”
“Who gives them the right?” He calls out.
“They took the test and proved themselves to be worthy. Nothing more, nothing less. If you were worthy of making such a decision, then you would be an elder right now.” I answer.
“The elders are just emotionless robots. And you faceless are just chosen for your power and mentality of following orders! The system is wro-” But I interrupt him, pointing the stash of files in his direction. I've heard their ideology speech already too many times. “So? Would you explain this to me?”
The man chuckles. “Can't you read it yourself? Our leader wanted to make a statement about our devotion to the cause.”
I read the headline of the file aloud. “Project Coeus.”
“I've read it all, but I find it hard to believe. Maybe you stayed here to make the evidence more trustworthy? It is much more believable if we find the file with you and not simply lying around in an empty room. I can even feel Sadina's power on it. It's evident that this was in her hands at some point.”
“It can't be turned away as a fake. Right? Doesn't it feel mortifying that we'll still get what we want? And you will be the one who will enforce the law. Human experiments are illegal after all. It would have had more impact if one of our men killed the abomination, but this will also do. Once Sadina hears about it she will surely come out from under whichever stone she hid herself.” The man starts laughing.
I run a hand through my hair and look at him. It's a mystery to me how the Revelation Wing finds people like him. Maybe they have their own re-education camp somewhere. That would be a possibility. Somewhere hidden out in the asteroid belt. Most of them are coming from there.
“Sadina is a different type of villain from you people. That's why she isn't working with you lot. Other than you, she was forced into her position by an unfortunate set of events. I doubt that her first experiment was meant to kill someone. The only problem is that she lost her head afterwards and got deeper and deeper into trouble.”
The fanatic across from me furrows his forehead. “By the gods! A faceless with compassion! How can you even do your job? It doesn't matter. This time we'll get what we want. Her betrayal will cost her dearly. She isn't a poor girl which can be redeemed. She's a snake!”
I nod. “You are right. I am not saying that she's free of guilt. I am just saying that somewhere in here-” I point at my heart. “There is still a spark of goodness. Though you may be wrong in regards to her son. I don't think that she cares what happens to him.”
I flip through the pages of the file while I try to collect my thoughts. Sadina wants to free all techno-mages from being regarded as weak. She fell in love with a man who didn't want her because of her magical disposition. That caused something inside her to break. Techno-mages already have a lot of mental problems on their own. Experiencing a one-sided love pushed her over the edge.
She started experimenting with new spells until her powers went out of control. Many people died on that day and she fled. If she had simply stayed and taken the punishment, she would have gotten away with claiming that it was a terrible accident.
But in hiding she continued to pursue her goals, getting ever more brutal and ruthless with her attempts to become stronger.
If this file is true, then she gave up on turning herself into a more powerful mage. She turned to other means and had a child of her own blood. Sadina manipulated her own child's genome to create the ultimate techno-mage. But if this file is true, then she regarded the outcome as a failure and simply dropped him like a bad product.
“Coeus? The titan of intellect. That's a fitting name for him. Don't you think?” I grin upon remembering how he defeated the assassin. “I suppose she created him during her time with the Revelation Wing. Did she tell you guys that he would become your messiah? Or didn't you know what she was working on? It must have been a shock when she revealed how the funds were used.”
The man shakes his head. “She failed and ran away, but not before emptying our bank accounts. The child is a failure. But she has to feel something for it. Otherwise she wouldn't have taken him with her to hide him on earth. That's why we want him dead.” A grin appears on his face. He seems to be very sure of their plan.
Probably Gideon's fake parents weren't the only ones whose minds were bent to Sadina's wishes. She surely wiped her son's memories too. I sigh and shrug my shoulders. “You know... if all this gets public, then I honestly don't know what the elders would do. The law is very clear about human experiments. Probably the elders would sentence him to death.”
“I am glad that this mission is not on their radar. We feared that you would run if several faceless enter the station at once. This makes it also easier because I don't have to burden my comrades with this task.”
His expression turns insecure. “What are you talking about? You are a faceless, a dog of the elders! You enforce the law!” Once again he starts thrashing against his chains.
I stand up, having made up my mind about the situation. “The test chooses the elders for their skills and ability to make wise decisions. Probably it would be wise to kill the boy. You were right on that point.” My eyes wander to the windowed wall and the stars beyond it.
“How much did this apartment cost? Free sight out of a space station is rare.” I step to the huge window and scratch my finger along the molecular crystal which was used to create it.
“No!” The terrorist shrieks. “You wouldn't!”
Then I turn and walk to the door of the terrorist's apartment. “But you are wrong about the faceless. As a faceless you aren't chosen for strength, not even for devotion or loyalty. We are chosen because of our own heartfelt principles. The only thing you need to be to become a faceless is a good person. Our society didn't exist for over two thousand years because the faceless only follow orders. I am very glad that you seem to be the only one who knows about this report. And I doubt that you have a second one with the necessary energy print to connect it to Sadina.”
Outside the room
I look left and right, confirming that there are no witnesses on the corridor in front of the apartment. Then I turn around and point my finger at the window. “So all I need to do is to stop you here. As a good person it's my sincere belief that laws have to be followed, but there are exceptions and the faceless exist to judge what's right and wrong. I think that all it takes for the world to turn into a worse place is one good person doing nothing while something bad happens in front of him.”
Without further delaying I fire a simple kinetic spell at the window. The crystal glass shatters and the terrorist's unbelieving face vanishes from my sight as the door slams shut upon detecting the pressure loss.
He didn't scream till the end. Probably he couldn't believe it even as the glass shattered.
I rub my medal in deep thought. Then I activate it and address the station's artificial intelligence. “Station?”
“Yes.” A melodious voice answers throughout the corridor.
“There was an accident on level three at my position.”
“I detected a breach of the outer hull. The affected room was sealed. Rescue sprites are on their way. There is a low probability to save the individual who got sucked out into space.” The station answers obediently.
They really need to install a smarter sprite up here. Even the examination sprites from the schools are smarter! “Station. Abandon the mission. Incinerate all the trash which got sucked outside with the anti asteroid laser before it can leave the station's information barrier.”
The station answers with an artificially troubled voice. “But the humans don't have technology to-”
“Override 94684-Ed Pass erc924kilo43, execute. Your sensors are malfunctioning. There was no person sucked out into space. Follow the policies for minimal exposure.”
For a few moments the corridor is filled with silence. Then the station answers dutifully. “The drifting trash has been incinerated.”
I nod and start walking down the corridor. On my way I drop the Coeus-File into one of the trash recyclers where it is immediately dissolved into its components. “If that boy deserves a punishment, then he'll earn it himself and not because of what he is.”
