by Daniel Ruth
“So you're saying humanity had immortality and a good dose of invulnerability, and gave it up.”
“Mostly.” Okay, now I knew he was doing that on purpose. “We have medical treatment that can give a fair approximation of immortality. Regeneration and cloning therapy can heal almost as well as the supernaturals that revealed themselves recently, but they aren't nearly as portable and often it’s a race to get to the hospital.” He sat in thought for another moment. “Although they are doing really impressive things with resuscitation treatments. Still, if anyone is really desperate to live forever and be able to regrow limbs without cloning or being changed into the undead, they always have the option to move to Mars. Nanites and research with nanites are legal out there and they haven't had a catastrophic disaster... yet.”
“Fair enough.” I sat quietly in thought and wondered how I hadn't noticed the immortal humans wandering about. Sure, almost everyone looked young... Okay, I should have noticed that the only older looking people I have seen are the vampires and the shifters but it didn't register. Actually, I think I have seen old people in the Blight and of course Eddie Prince looked pretty haggard. I suppose the rebels and the social drop outs don't get free health care. There was probably a story behind why Kingston looked how he did.
It crossed my mind why in a non-aging society there wasn't a population problem, and it occurred to me to wonder if a low birthrate offset it. Did the sheer number of the near end-of-world apocalypses account for the apparently average population volume?
I had given up my contemplation when we reached our destination. Jeremy parked his vehicle in a convenient location on the almost barren street. I suppose the floating hazard lights and the condemned holographic signs floating around the entire block discouraged people from getting too close. How about that?
“So if this magical room of horrors is going to go critical in some unknown time in the future, how can you be sure it won't pop while we are down there?” my human companion asked in an overly patient tone.
“I'm psychic, I can usually tell when the world going to end,” I replied flippantly as I climbed down the ladder into the sewer system. Yep, it still stank.
“Well then, I don't suppose you can buy me the next winning lottery ticket,” Jeremy asked as he settled next to me. He took two sets of nose plugs out of his pocket and handed me a pair.
“Only if the world will end if we don't win,” I sallied back as I stuck the plugs in my nose. They became soft from my body heat and sealed seamlessly against my skin. I took a deep breath and enjoyed the lack of stench. Did I mention that Jeremy is my best friend? The plugs are one of the many things he does all the time to earn that title.
“Won't the police have set up surveillance?” he asked, as we retraced my path to the large underground chamber that had been set up as the circle matrix.
“I am sure they tried as hard as their little hearts allowed, but with the amount of magic floating around down there they won't get anything working, unless they train a monkey to turn a film reel.”
“I thought you said they were going to set up some force fields?”
“That's what I suggested,” I said as I rounded the bend and came to a glowing blue wall that had not been there previously. I held out a hand to stop my companion from breaking his nose on the field in front of us. “And it looked like they set it up. It's pretty far from the circle barrier. Also, they almost certainly called in the military to do it. The military has pretty good shielding. Set up right, it's pretty resistant to magic, as long as it's not right on top of a node. Sensory systems though... it doesn’t take much disruption to turn order into chaos.”
Jeremy kicked a bit of dried sludge at the barrier and fat sparks erupted from where the matter was repulsed. Not vaporized, just kicked back with a bit of energy. Nice to know the authorities in the city took into account someone accidentally wandering down here. In the deserted sewer. I was actually surprised they hadn't placed a human down here. Perhaps they were short staffed or had actually taken my warning to heart.
“So if there's a force field here, why exactly are we down here?”
“You’re my backup plan. Do you remember when you first met me?”
“How could I forget? Your clothes were almost completely charred off and you were staggering out of an alley way.”
“Yeah, those were the good days,” he just looked at me. “Okay, maybe not. Anyway, do you remember where that alley is?” Again he simply looked at me. I suppose that was a stupid question. I think he has something very close to a photographic memory, though I am not sure if it's natural or from his implant. He comes from a family of geniuses, so I suppose it may be natural. “There exists in that alley, on the ground, a large rune. When I use certain abilities, I am shunted directly there.”
“Is that what happened last time?” he asked in a measured tone. He had first seen me drunkenly meandering out of the alley looking like my clothes had been burned off, but what he didn't realize was I had actually spent several hours laying in a pile of trash with my skin and everything down to my muscles vaporized into nothing. I hadn't known you could be so paralyzed with agony until I was huddled there waiting for my skin to grow back. That had been my first and only attempt to use my native ability to move between dimensions, and when I had gotten a tiny glimpse of how thoroughly I had been trapped in this city. Supernatural creatures have a huge pain tolerance, but I think I had reached my maximum that night.
“Yes,” I quietly replied. He didn't need the details. If it gave me nightmares then it wasn't good to dwell on.
“How does that effect this?” he nodded towards the force field.
“Well, hopefully not at all. You're my backup plan in case the shit hits the fan.” While I was saying this I tried to clear the muck away from the sewer wall by scraping my shoe on it. I would need a place to sit. “I can separate my spirit from my body...”
“Astral projection? It's real?” he interjected somewhat startled. I looked at him. “Right, of course it's real.”
“Yes, of course it is,” I mimicked him with a smile. “If it all goes well, I can move through the field and circle barrier and take a look at the wards and circles inside, and pop back to my body.” The circle barrier was questionable. It depended on how the creator had defined it.
“What if things don't go so well?”
“I haven't tried this since I was... stuck here. There's a chance that once I am not anchored by my body I could be drawn to that alleyway you found me in. If that happens I won't be able to get back in my body until it takes up the same space as my spirit.”
“Which will be glued to the rune in that alley.”
I shrugged uncomfortably. “Yeah. That.”
“I am glad you're trusting me with this,” he said with a slight smile. “How will I recognize the rune?”
“Oh, come on! How many runes do you think there are in the damn city?” I exclaimed indignantly before I saw his smile widen. Ah, a joke. I hate being on the wrong end of them. “Right. Ha ha. For your reference, it will look like a larger version of one of the symbols on my chest. You may remember from that night.”
He frowned and nodded. Likely he was still trying to connect the dots. He's a smart one, but he doesn't have all the pieces and I really didn't feel like discussing it. I sat down on a slightly cleaner area on the floor and closed my eyes. Gathering my concentration, I forced my sense of self to move without actually moving. It really is as strange as it sounds, and you may have to be a teeny bit crazy to get it to work. After a moment of resistance, I felt myself break free, and it immediately felt like I was caught in a strong current. Looking around, I found I was in the tunnel with my body sitting on the floor and Jeremy standing over it with a concerned look on his face. Everything more than 20 feet was lost in a fog, blurred beyond recognition.
I was slowly moving backward despite my feet not moving. Travel on the astral plane is more a matter of perspective. In theory, you can will yourself an
ywhere you want instantly and not have to go through the distance in between. In practice, even though you have no physical body, it's safer to force yourself to think that you do. Those of us that evolved inside a body tend to dissipate when they forget that. Of course, there's a fuzzy line in between tricking yourself into believing you have a body and spreading out to kingdom come. Between these extremes lies the part where the astral plane is useful.
Seeing the world move around me, I realized that the anchor rune must be drawing me out, and I did my best to firmly concentrate on the concept of a physical body. Because, of course, a solid body did not float away on its own. As I forced myself to believe this, I gradually stopped drifting and came to rest next to the wall. I sighed with relief and made a point not to notice that this very action was impossible. If I had gone through the wall, it would have been very difficult to convince myself that I was solid enough not to feel the pull.
At this point, Jeremy was out of my limited visual range but I was through the force field the city had set up. In fact, I didn't even see it from this plane. That was good; it told me that the police barrier was purely a physical phenomenon. I turned down the tunnel and headed toward the circle master's sanctuary. I made a point to pretend to feel the ground beneath my feet as I moved. I needed as much reinforcement as possible. Keeping to the physical body concept limited me, but it also protected me. Unfortunately, it was also going to be pretty tiring to play pretend without a break until I was back in my body.
I could tell when I stepped into the large chamber as the walls gave way to the ever-present fog. It didn't have the same impact as before simply because I was cocooned within the fuzziness around me. No matter how large the room was, my personal space was a twenty foot bubble around me. Moving deeper into the room, the circle barrier was barely visible as little more than a shimmering bubble. I took a deep breath and stepped through it. Only a faint resistance met my stride. The fact I made it through told me that the circle had been defined as a purely physical effect. It wouldn't have taken almost any effort to fortify it against magic and spirits. If that had been the case, I would have had a terrible time getting through. If it was possible at all. Ironically, the wards I had in my home were the complete reverse, barely able to give a vampire a rash but should be completely solid versus the less than physical.
The world started to move around me once again, telling me that I had let my attention stray. Letting myself imagine the feel of the ground beneath my feet and the air through my lungs, I came to a halt once more. I had to hurry before I began to drift off.
I crisscrossed the area inside the bubble, getting a feel for the area. As before, I noted the matrix of circles were all linked and the central circle had a hastily inscribed trigger effect attached to it. I could tell it was done in a hurry, because when compared with the perfect symmetry of the other arches and circles etched on the floor, the trigger was slightly off-center and the depth varied slightly. Still obviously done by a master, but apparently one who was in a hurry.
I strode down the rows of circle, categorizing them. Fire, death, energy, over in the center next to the control circle was the now defunct dimensional circle construct, and on the other side was the barrier circle with a neat little circle that seemed to be directing the ambient energy into the entire matrix. I took note of the symbols that denoted the coordinates. I was a little at a loss. I could try to catch the psychic scent of the circles. Draw out images of their creation and hope to backtrack through experimentation to learn how to recreate them. The problem was that I wasn't very good at psychometry, and even if I was, it would take a large amount of concentration. Concentration I couldn't spare without being pulled away by the tide I could vaguely feel even now as I studiously ignored it.
Putting off any decisions, I walked once more around the shimmer that made up the room’s main protection, paying closer attention to the walls. This time around, I caught sight of seams in the wall. A closer examination showed that this may be a door. Normally this would be good news, but I presently lacked hands solid enough to open it. This made it a tad tricky. With one last imaginary breath, I let myself realize that I really had no body and therefore lacked the substance that would make a door the barrier it should be. As soon as my hindbrain realized this, I felt the riptide of the anchor take hold and I began to move. This would have been good except it was in the wrong direction. I marshaled my force of will to propel my point of view towards the door and slowly came to a halt, and then even more shakily started to move in the right direction.
As I passed through the door, I noticed the colors of the world faded, leaving only shades of gray. Apparently there was no light in the next room, and only my exceptional vision allowed me to see. Go me. I studiously avoided thinking of my sheer lack of physical eyes. I stopped myself and once more began the process to trick myself into believing I had a physical presence. It was more difficult this time. The sensations I forced myself into experiencing came back one at a time. The floor, then the air in my lungs, and finally the feel of the clothes against my skin. I think I also had some imaginary sweat dripping from my nonexistent face. It was much harder than the first time. Apparently the mental fatigue was setting in. Not to mention that going through walls and doors made it harder to pretend you were solid.
When I could spare the energy to take in my surroundings, I smiled. I was in a small study. To one side I saw shelves set into the wall that was stacked with ingredients. Doubtless concoctions of gold, silver, mercury, blood and dozens more chemicals for use in drawing circles and wards. Wards like those that glowed softly in my sight on the walls and floor. Smaller and simpler in purpose than the large circles outside the room, they were similar in function. Fire, death, paralysis all triggered by physical movement on the door. The paralysis was new and the wards, although they functioned to bring into being the same phenomena as the circle, they were also very different. Runic shorthand invoking the fundamental entities tied to the bedrock of reality, the firmament. These wards could have an expression on the physical that my own primitive wards at home could never hope to. I was a bit concerned about powering wards through ties to unknown entities, but I knew enough to realize that this was indeed the correct way to create one. Supposedly, it was like using a solar panel to absorb energy from the sun. The sun never misses it and hopefully doesn't get pissed at what you're doing with it. In theory.
Forcing my attention from the wards, I swept the rest of the room with my eyes. The elaborate desk in the center of the room looked out of place. It was of far higher quality than the shelves and covered in scattered parchment, some of which had fallen to the floor. Against the second wall was a folding table with the various instruments of alchemy adorning it. They resonated with ideas and concepts deep inside me; my ancestors were masters of alchemy and I knew that if I just thought about it a little more, secrets I never knew or even occurred to me would be revealed. I blinked and looked away. Noticing I had drifted a few feet closer to the door, I firmed my resolve and looked at the final wall... and almost lost all my hard earned concentration. Books lined the walls ensconced in their sturdy little shelves. I forgot to breathe and had to force myself to remember my body. Why the heck were these still here?
Well then, Christmas came early this year. Assuming I could find a way to get to these before they were all burnt to ashes or the owners came back. I walked over to the imbedded shelves and scanned the titles. At first I couldn't read them, then, in a slightly disorienting wave of vertigo, the language resolved itself into coherence. A lot of books of general references. Apparently whoever owned this study had a mediocre memory and needed help to remember the details of alchemy. I shrugged; the person's mastery of circle and symbology more than made of for this foible, in my mind. There were many books that had titles that were promising, but ambivalent. They seemed to hint that they were arcane in nature, but not obviously so. And finally, what I was looking for: books whose titles included wards and circles. Far fewer than the
others. I can only suppose that a master at a trade wouldn't need so many reference books.
I sat on the desk and pretended to myself that it was supporting me. So many riches and I couldn't touch them. I couldn't see the entire wealth of books, but they didn't seem to be trapped with wards. I could only assume that the circle master believed that it was sufficient to ward the door, and he knew the final trigger would purge this entire area. Unless he thought he was coming back. After all, the barrier was almost impervious by purely physical means without destroying large portions of the city, and the self-destruct wouldn't trigger for a few days. Maybe he was coming back. If that was the case, I would have to leave a surprise in place.
Shaking my head, I stood up again and returned my attention to the desk. The papers were written in the same language as the books and I read what was visible. It mostly seemed to be a report from the zombie master, Baron Samedi. Apparently, they were two different people. Considering the sloppiness of the circles in the house of carnage the police found in the Blight, the owner of the desk and the lab was likely his superior. Talent doesn't always equal authority, but it's usually a good guess when it comes to magic cabals.
As I read of the parchment, my eyebrows rose. Evidently these fellows came from a dimension similar to my own. Too much magic in the world causing massive random holes to other dimensions. The reports the circle mage got from home were pretty grim. Lots of rampaging demons and many fatalities. The pages I saw that seemed from Baron were reconnaissance reports. No references were made to any gangs or crimes, which made me wonder if the fellow had his own side game going on. I would love to have heard the reason Baron Samedi gave for why the police were storming the base. If the crumpled papers on the floor and the chair standing tilted against the wall were any evidence, someone was upset.
