“Think you can replicate it?” Travis asked on the way out. They crossed the shield again, causing some tingling in their skin but nothing more, a sign of a clear escape. Now that they were out, there wasn’t much danger to them anymore.
“I don’t think so,” Michael replied.
He looked at the shield, its gentle curve lensing the light from the low sun. Around the two, a sound-dampening field of magic made sure that nobody could overhear them. Michael felt the minuscule trickle of mana entering some Air stones in his pocket, being converted into elemental energy to fuel the magic. He could have done the same with direct manipulation in at least three different ways, but the cheapest of them would have been ludicrously expensive compared to the elemental stone method.
“It’s a complex piece of magic. If you want to replicate it, I would need to see some blueprints. I know the magic making the shield can’t be that complicated, but the magical circuitry has to be horrifyingly complex. Take skill fractals for instance, even a simple one is actually infinitely complicated.”
“Aren’t magic circuits different?” Travis countered, moving his hands about. “I remember Johanne talking about them, trying to explain how they work to me. They didn’t seem all that complicated.”
“Then you know more than I do,” Michael said. “I didn’t really delve into that. I have my ways of doing things.”
“Right,” said the man, “how is progress on Formless Casting?”
Michael grimaced, “better to focus on Aura manipulation. Trust me. Anyway, listen. The shield… I doubt they had the chance to study magic scientifically at the OA. Its effects, perhaps, but magic itself? Hmm…”
“Then what, they did it with rituals here? Chuck some random things together and shit happens?”
“Could be,” Michael shrugged. “Magic is weird like that.”
“That would be what, the fourth way to do things?”
“Fifth. You forget mandala-like spells. Not to mention all the person-specific ways like Cards and Tomes that can’t be mixed and matched with other systems.”
“Shit… well, if you get a nighttime stroke of genius or something, let me know,” Travis grunted, no longer as interested. “Having a shield like that around Site 00?”
“With our magic?” Michael exclaimed. “Revolutionary, yeah. Too bad we don’t have it. I should have thought about it earlier, I feel like we are defenseless.”
“Pff,” Travis scoffed, “don’t be ridiculous. As if I’d leave Site 00 without proper defenses. I know you have a lot on your plate, man. That’s why you have me. Let’s just say that there is some heavy ordnance, not-very-legal stuff in there, hidden.”
Michael smiled, “glad to have you on my side. You really do make a difference.”
As the land transitioned into hills and woods, thus began the long and boring journey on the winding roads of Kentucky, leading everywhere and nowhere. Rural Kentucky soon made them wish they had ways to teleport around rather than being forced to pass through yet another small town.
As the looming peaks of the Appalachian Mountains began to show through the dense crowns of the trees, far in the distance whenever the road took them high enough to see, they knew they were getting close to Site 00. To home in the middle of nowhere. Passing through the towns, some of which felt hopeless and worn out, so remote only a small subset of people would ever truly enjoy living there, Michael understood why the others in his company were so sure that people were going to move and come to live at the Site once the houses were ready.
He sent a text to Old Dave, asking him to begin similar efforts to what was being done in Redbud Ridge to support the nearby towns, moving radially outwards in a requalification effort that would involve the whole fabric of the society of the rural towns and homesteads.
Silence followed then, with the road growing increasingly dark.
“What now?” he asked idly. “The meeting went sort of well, didn’t it?”
Travis grunted in affirmation. “They are struggling,” he elaborated. “Kavanaugh all but confirmed it.”
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Michael hummed. “You think?”
“They can’t deal with magic anymore, not now that it’s no longer just a remnant of ancient magic. Magic is awakening, isn’t it? But they don’t have a dungeon to power-level their people.”
“What if they are hiding the big guns?” Michael said. “Just like how they somehow got the shield even though their mana is shit. They could have some ancient relics hidden somewhere.”
“You said they only have ancestral magic there, right? Not even a single normal aura?”
“Nope.”
“Then it’s probable that some ancient relics is all they have. That goes for mages too. And the thing about ancient powerful things? They soon become outdated, they are finite in number and they can’t really be adapted to fit new environments,” Travis said confidently. “My gut tells me that they aren’t hiding their mages at all. More like they don’t have them. Ancestral magic is quickly losing ground against real magic, and it shows. They might have an ace up their sleeve or two, maybe ten or a hundred, but they no longer want to use them against small-fry anomalies. All of this is not just extrapolation from our chat with the doctor, of course, I have my sources.”
But, Michael knew although he did not say it, there are many flavors to magic. There could be one of them that’s not dependent on a dungeon to thrive. He hoped the OA didn’t have anything like it.
Then he thought about Travis’ sources of information, and crossed his arms as his face darkened. “How did you know about the chest? Same sources?”
“That’s right,” Travis confirmed. If he got a hint of Michael’s displeasure, he did his best not to show it. He was, after all, temporary head of the Spy division or whatever its name was, and even after he found a suitable candidate it wasn’t like he was going to let himself be pushed out of the loop. More like the candidate would handle the boring stuff while Travis called the shots.
He continued, “the other agencies are keeping an eye on the OA, because of course they all want even a tiny piece of what the OA has. The agencies aren’t a united front, and this plays in our favor. Remember Michael, agencies are made of people, people who can get sick or whose families can go missing. Wonder who can heal them in exchange for a favor or two? Who can find their missing person all of a sudden? People who can be bought, blackmailed and threatened. Not that we’d ever do any of that, of course.”
“Of course. What if they have something like my oaths?” Michael inquired.
Travis shrugged.
“What’s the plan now?” Michael repeated his original question.
“Get the OA in a position where they have to rely on us for everything. We start small. Jobs like this one. We investigate a bit, tell them about our findings. Suppose we find a source of magic? Well, that gets omitted from the reports, of course. They are gonna know we are up to something, but unless they decide to act, they can’t do shit.”
“What if they do?” Michael pressed.
“Then we defend ourselves, of course. Pretend. Say that we felt attacked and retaliated accordingly. Then, based on the outcome, other things follow naturally. Now, that’s if we find magic sources: dungeons and the like. The anomalous shit that pops up around them is another story. The more stuff happens that’s beyond their control and too expensive to deal with unless they pull out their limited stock of artifacts and mages, the better. They will be forced to ask us for help until, in time, they won’t be able to function without us.”
Michael was impressed. “Won’t they investigate us in the meantime?”
“Sure. But we have Johanne who can detect auras from farther away than even you can. She will see if mages come close to Site 00. As for mundane means, well… guess who is among the chief suppliers for the government agencies?”
“Who?”
There was a glint in Travis’ eyes. Pride. “Naoshida Industries. Whose CEO and owner owes us favors. Whoever dealt with the guy did a fantastic job of it.”
“Wait, isn’t he the guy I healed back then?”
“Yep. A couple of his friends and family are in Saint Hernest, and Candle Light is helping grease the wheels in a few deals they are making. Our new Operators need to stretch their new magical muscles, after all, and we got a few abilities that are rather useful in the modern world. Did you know that one of them can hack computers with his mind? From a distance?”
“I had no idea.”
“That’s,” Travis looked at him long and hard, “because you don’t read the reports. Anyway, while this is going on under the radar, Unity is leveraging its growing international weight in the open. With all of our projects around the world about to start, we are building the kind of reputation where if Unity says something, the public believes it. Our PR strategist is leveraging everything we are doing, at a loss because who fucking cares, to help the planet and the people in it to make us look like the saviors of humanity itself.”
Michael hummed. “How? It’s only been a few days.”
“If it was longer, you’d already see Unity everywhere. In the news, people’s windows instead of the stars and stripes. All in due time. For now, what’s important is that in the right circles news travels fast, and people know what direction the wind is blowing. They have been told we are developing new AI technologies. They know that we are—as Johanne’s team said—cooking, with semiconductor technology. It’s bullshit, by the way, they are using mana crystals to cheat their way into computronium or something. They are squeezing free computation out of magical rocks that need no electricity and produce no waste heat. To put it short, people know that Unity is joining the big leagues. Unless we fuck up, which we basically can’t do, with the ironclad control we have over the company, we can’t lose.”
Michael looked out of the window, pensive. There were multiple ways they could fuck up, plus a myriad more potential problems that could really ruin the day for them. He did not speak.
“With PetroLink under us, I would put us at top 500. Of course, considering we can’t pull too many resources from PetroLink unless we can plug the hole in our finances somehow, it will take a while before we can leverage that power. But then again, it’s not all about money anymore, is it? The dungeon made sure of that, and despite our secrecy, David and I are making sure the right people begin to suspect something is afoot.”
Candle Light: CL-027, “Technopathy”
Magic Class: Copper
Danger Rating: Gold
Containment:
Description:
[redacted]. This ability, tentatively designated “Technopathy,” does not appear to conform to any previously documented magical systems, including the SKILL, DECK, or TOME systems encountered thus far. The origins of this ability are attributed to exposure to the Infinity Dungeon, although the exact mechanism and motive of this enigmatic bestowment remain unknown.
Known Effects:
- Remote Access: CL-027 can remotely access and control digital devices, including computers, smartphones, and security systems. The range of this ability is unknown but is speculated to extend significantly beyond line of sight, as evidenced by the subject's alleged involvement in activities beyond a reasonable physical radius from their recorded location.
- Data Manipulation: The subject can manipulate data within digital systems, including altering files, deleting information, and potentially even creating new programs. The limitations of this manipulation are currently undefined, but initial observations indicate a high degree of precision and control.
- Bypass Security Protocols: CL-027 has demonstrated an ability to bypass conventional digital security measures, including firewalls, encryption protocols, and password protections. This capacity raises significant concerns regarding data security within Candle Light and potential vulnerabilities within critical infrastructure.
Potential Applications: Despite the inherent risks, CL-027's abilities present numerous potential applications for Candle Light. These include intelligence gathering, counterintelligence operations, data security enhancement, and offensive cyber warfare capabilities.
Addendum CL-027.01: Following a series of interviews overseen by Level-2 Operator “The Cynic” and by Level-0 Operator “Owner”, CL-027 has been bound by oath to serve the interests of Candle Light and Unity Corporation. Specifically, the oath compels the subject to refrain from utilizing their abilities to inflict harm or sow discord within the organization. Regular monitoring of the oath's integrity will be maintained.