Chapter 246.
PART 1.
Sapna is looking at the results of the party's pole survey. Unlike the surveys shown to the public which usually peddled the narrative of how strong the party in power is, this one is authentic and displays real results, as much as a survey can be trusted that is.
The introduction to magic is being received well, though there is some trouble with some charlatans pretending to be the avatar of one God or another, causing problems with their claims over magic. It is horrifying how quickly people fall for this shit, even in the 2060s.
Her approval rating is doing well, and the entire deal with Avinash is also doing well in certain circles. However, the merchant houses are worried about how this might impact their profits, as they do not have any stake in this game at all currently. Normally, Sapna agrees with their concern, but for once she is happy with this situation. Their nonexistent claim over magical solutions in the economy means that for once she has a free hand in making policies, and doesn't have to deal with their whining or lobbying.
Speaking of whining, she has another problem on her hands. Write when she thought she was done with the day's tasks, a group of five shows up at her office. They do have an appointment, but she deliberately gave them a time late in the night, hoping that they would be discouraged. That is how she deals with her political allies who are inconvenient. She thought it would work on this group as well, but apparently, they are quite motivated.
The group consists of five men. Two of them are bureaucrats, their names being Akhil Malani and Aseem Sharma. Unlike the other bureaucrats, these two are quite motivated and abhor laziness. They also have their sense of idealism still intact, even though they have been in the service for twenty years at this point.
The other three men are scientists employed by universities across the country, and they have also contributed in various ways to one think tank or another over some time. They have actual experience to show, having helped in implementing some newer policies to combat the changes in the environment. They are Raj Parulekar, who is the most senior among them, and the other two of them are Ravi Nayar and Arun Kumar, who are about the same age and have the same amount of experience.
"So, what brings you gentlemen to me?" Asked Sapna. "Hurry up and leave already." Was went unsaid.
"We saw the implementation of magic in the Chandigarh on the power grid, and are all impressed by it." Said Akhil. "We want to try this new... Thing, to solve some long-standing problems as well."
"And what those problems might be?" Asked Sapna, already having an idea of what they would ask for.
"The problem of plastic in the Indian Ocean, of course." Said Aseem. "That island needs to go."
"It is quite ugly, I admit. But it is not like it is the only one." Said Sapna. "Besides, you've tried solving this issue before. It did not end well."
"Yes." Said Raj, taking over the conversation. "But this time, we are certain. From what we understand magic, it could help us turn around this situation in our favor entirely."
The arguments raged on for an hour like this. The group of these five men was not willing to budge, and Sapna didn't want them to divert one of the magical experts offered by the king to this project. Having finally enough of this, she huffs and tells them to leave. "You can go to Hatori. I'll give you his address. Go talk to him. Don't come back crying to me when he doesn’t help you though."
Realizing that is all they are going to get, they all leave her office after wishing her a good night, in a tone as if they were not arguing for the past hour with her.
'I hope he'll kick them out. Even a flat refusal will be okay by me.' She thinks, before leaving the office. She is going to sleep and forget about this entire incident.
PART 2.
Hatori is relaxing in his house. He got back after taking his children on a trip, where only four of them were going. Apparently, their mothers were worried about their safety, since Hatori didn't have the sense to keep the children safe or something.
'Showed them. They enjoyed the trip to Nihon.' He thought smugly.
Garuda impressed him the most. Though he is quiet compared to his siblings, he is adjusting to the dangerous environment of the Academy. Granted, having his older brother and sister also helps, but it can only take you so far. Hatori was amused to hear the complaints of Sushima. Apparently, he had trouble making friends, while Garuda, despite being a quiet and shy one among the trio, made friends easily in his first year.
His reverie is interrupted by a message. He motions for the message to appear in front of him. It appears in the fiery letters in front of him, just to be dramatic. Hatori acquired the most powerful computer available in the market currently, and after some enchantments and giving it access to the spirit of the house, it is operating like the central yantra back home. This gave Hatori the ability to handle emails and other communications. It also meant that Naresh wouldn’t come and bother him for every simple thing. Not that he visits him very often. Hatori is thankful for it. Dealing with him is quite tense.
But this time, this message is from the Prime Minister. Apparently, she sent a "group of idealist idiots" his way. She didn't realize what it meant, but now she is sober in the morning, she is warning him in advance. Hatori's first instinct was to send a scathing reply, but then he realized that as a dual citizen of the magical Subcontinent and India, he needed to keep his temper in check.
"How annoying. I'll wait for them then." He sighed.
Being an adult is tough. He can't blow people and expect someone like Zeko to smooth things over for him. Or they give the excuse of how they are tormenting him or something, or how their recruiting strategies suck. He still gives the noble families grief about that.
The spirit appears in front of him. "Understood."
"What do you mean?" Asked Hatori. He has not given any orders yet.
"I know some guests are coming. I will make preparations." Said the spirit.
"But--" Hatori tries to argue.
"But nothing. You just sit and relax; I'll take care of everything." Then the spirit of the house disappears.
"Just like mother." Sighed Hatori.
The group showed up in the afternoon. They are shaken by the journey to the house. That creepy forest, all those voices telling them to return, has savaged their confidence. And yet here they are, sitting in front of Hatori, ready with whatever demand they have.
"Alright, gentlemen. Tell me, why are you here? The mail by the Prime Minister was really vague." Asked Hatori, once they were all seated, and they introduced each other. The author chose to skip that part to save digital trees.
"We are witnessing the adaptation of magic into various projects. All five of us have served in various capacities to create different policies. And we wanted to discuss with you some possibilities." Said Aseem.
"Okay?" Said Hatori, who doesn't get why they have to be so vague. "Do you have a specific issue in mind? Because if you want to discuss magic in general, then I'm afraid that you won't get much of an idea."
"Well, we do. Tell me," Raj leans forward a little. "Can magic help us with the problem of recycling?"
"Of course." Said Hatori. "It is an easy application of transmutation."
"What is transmutation?" Asked Ravi.
"The process of turning one material into a different material." Said Hatori. "Including nonliving to living and vice versa."
"What?" They all asked in surprise.
Hatori motions and the table turns into a snake, and all the empty plates and cups resting on the table turn into small birds. With another motion of Hatori, everything turns normal, like nothing has happened before. "Mind you, it is very difficult to turn a living being into a nonliving object. Too much energy. It is pointless to perform that task, even for the strongest of mages."
"We're only interested in the nonliving matter though." Said Arun, regaining his composure quickly. "We want to turn all the waste material which we can't recycle into something else."
"Why can't you recycle properly? I seem to remember it was huge back in my childhood." Looking at their confused looks, Hatori clarifies. "Around 2017."
"Ah yes. It was considered promising, but it also takes a lot of energy, and it really doesn't solve the pollution problem." Said Akhil. "Not to mention, some materials cannot be recycled at all."
"The rise of technology has also added to this problem." Added Arun. "The electronic waste contains batteries, and these batteries cannot be recycled, even though they are spent."
"In that case, transmutation can help you. However, if you want to implement that on a large scale, then you need to consult someone else. Maybe my old professor Amarjit can help you? He is free, and often complains about not having anything to do in his free time." Said Hatori.
"Yes, we would like that. But we also want to discuss with you something else." Said Aseem, bringing out the map. "This is the Indian Ocean, and the red marks around India are the plastic islands."
"The hell? I heard about one when I was young. And it wasn't even around India, if I remember correctly. How the hell did you manage to create multiple of those?" Hatori then changed his mind quickly. "Don't answer that. Didn't you try to solve this on your own?"
"Well, we couldn't recycle in the middle of the sea. Too much energy would be needed for that." Said Raj.
"We tried creating a bacterium that could eat and digest plastic, and turn it into nature-friendly material, kind of like the Earthworm. But that whole thing backfired on us," explained Ravi.
"Did that create some kind of epidemic?" Asked Hatori.
"No." That was all they said.
"Okay. What exactly do you have in mind?" Asked Hatori. "I can easily turn this pile of garbage into whatever you want by myself. But if you want to implement some kind of automated solution, then it will take a while. Also, scaling would take time. Again, you are better off talking with Professor Amarjit."
"Do you think we could turn it into some kind of natural fertilizer for the ocean?" Asked Arun.
"Also, do you have a way of creating some kind of isolated place where we can restart the coral reef system?" Asked Aseem.
"Sure. Pick a suitable area, and we'll start on that." Hatori agreed. "But again, I'm only going to help you in the testing phase. I can't help you in the entirety of the project."
"That is fine. Just get us in contact with interested people, we would be happy with that." Said Raj.
"Also, I will keep that transmuted material for myself. I need it." Said Hatori.
They looked at each other and agreed. Losing some material is nothing when the entire planet is filled with the garbage of the past century.
Once the five men leave, Hatori contacts Professor Amarjit, who is retired from the Academy now and tells him the entire situation. He agrees to help them and comes to this side so he can speak with the five men by himself.
Hatori showed them the transmutation of the several islands, and what it would look like. He also helped them create some acid-free water zones for the corals. It was a few hours of rune work for him, to design the whole system in his own runic language, and then translate it into the standard system. He then took the material to his own dimension and used it to fertilize his own ocean systems which were getting stagnant recently.
PART 3.
When the news of the success of Raj and his colleagues reaches Sapna, she is annoyed. 'How the hell did that unfriendly bastard agree to help them?'
After Hatori helped them set up the prototypes of their projects, transmuted the island of garbage, and took the material for himself, they started to work with Amarjit and created a system to filter out such particles from the water entirely. They then go a step beyond and filter out all the toxic elements they can, both in the rivers and in the ocean. The whole thing became a business for them, where the ownership was divided between the seven of them. Amarjit made them agree to bring Hatori on board because, given his advanced age, he is the only one who would be able to help them out in the event of his passing, due to his expertise in the runes and magic in general. Hatori agreed to it, because he wouldn't have to get involved, and it is essentially free money for very little effort on his part.
Sapna quickly capitalized on it, taking credit for starting them on this path and easing the hurdles in their way. "That bitch! Who does she think she is?" Complained Aseem to Hatori.
"Keep your temper in check. She will make things very difficult for us if she is upset. It wouldn't impact me, but it will kill this venture of ours." Said Hatori. They agreed with his advice and brought her to the opening ceremony, where she cut the ribbon, and started the first machine.
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Soon, the time of elections approached and passed, and Hatori lived under a rock for the most part during those times. Apparently, Naresh has also managed to become the Chief Minister in the state elections. He sent him his favorite sweets as a congratulatory gift. What these people do now, is none of his concern. Hatori is out to shop after the results are declared, and crying a river worth of tears and loud celebrations are over. He wants to buy something for Sushima.
"Well done, my boy!" Said Hatori with a proud smile, as the elemental spirit disappeared in smoke. Sushima has just beaten his first elemental spirit, that being the spirit of fire. He nearly passed out, but Hatori was there to catch him. He then dropped him in the pool of Yaksha so he could recover, and told Ravina and Daphne that he was going out to buy a reward for him.
At first, Hatori thought that he could just take him to some favorite place of his to eat or spend time. But then, the boy surprised him even further by showing the first signs of developing flight. Hatori had to do it on his own, but Sushima had his guidance. So, it is not so strange that he is developing these skills so quickly. But flight is a special thing to crack, and it will take him some more time before he can fly at will like Hatori. For starting on this path this early, Hatori decides that he deserves something special.
So, now he is here in the market on the other side, trying to decide what is the best gift for his son. 'I must do the same for Daphne and Garuda.' Thinks Hatori to himself. Can't have them feel jealous. Jealousy is the cause of power struggles in the family. And he will not have his kids fight among themselves for something so stupid. He will encourage them to gain the skills of their parents and develop something of their own so they won't fight for every scrap in the future.
'Hmm. He's insisting on getting a computer for a while now.' Thinks Hatori, after walking to a computer shop. 'Maybe one of those which he can play with?'
So Hatori buys a computer that is not strong but would allow Sushima to play with the hardware and software, including enchantments. He stores this small machine in the storage runes on his wrist and then leaves the shop. However, as soon as he takes a step outside of the shop, Hatori hears a large explosion. Due to the modifications he did to protect himself against loud sounds, Hatori is not overwhelmed by it.
"Dammit. Is some idiot starting another bullshit celebration?" He grumbled.
But it is clear to him that it is no mere celebration. It is a full-fledged attack. The police present on the ground informed the stations nearby, and a large force quickly came to take people to safety and tackle the attackers. While they are succeeding in the first task, they are badly failing at the second.
At first, Hatori thinks it is none of his business. He might be a citizen here, but he has no rank to speak of, and no reputation either. So, he decides that he will let the police handle it. Until he observes the attackers use the magitech. The police are unprepared to handle this, and the four attackers are overwhelming them quickly. Deciding that things will not end well if he does not interfere, Hatori appears in the middle of the fight in a storm of fire.
"Halt! Go back, civilian!" Instructed the officer.
"Civilian?" Said Hatori, bringing a golden shield to protect himself and the officers from the blast of magic sent their way with a gun. "Tell me, can a civilian do this?"
The officers recognized him. "Sir, you are not authorized to fight here." They tried to argue.
A few more blasts come their way. These are smaller than the one from which Hatori shielded them. He redirected these to the sky, where they explode harmlessly. "Your toys are useless here. Go and help the public." When they refuse to leave, and Hatori senses the buildup of that big gun once again, he adds magical pressure to his voice and orders them again. "Go now!"
They quickly scramble out of the way to avoid this big blast, and Hatori sends it to the sky as well, where it glows brightly. It overpowers the lights from the city for a moment before the energy of the blast runs out. Hatori sensed, and it appeared there was no one left in the market. There are a large number of people still fleeing from ground zero, but his immediate surroundings are absolutely empty.
"Well then. let's see how you stand up to me." He said, not selling the smaller blast. He made another show of taking the larger blast, which also failed to harm him. "Pathetic."
With a fiery blast of his own, the large gun explodes and the metal melts due to the intensity of the fire. It also took out one of the attackers. The other three attackers spread out and tried to escape, but Hatori didn't allow them. Appearing in front of one of them, he claps him on the shoulder like an old pal. But this was a concussive spell that sent them flying into a snack shop. The wall breaks and the attacker gurgles and dies, unable to stand the impact of this spell.
While Hatori was doing this, two of the attackers regrouped, and they boxed him in between them. In their effort to take Hatori out, they did a lot of damage to the shops but failed to kill him. "Enough of this." Hatori flicks his hand to the sky, and the man firing at him from the front is carried to the sky and explodes.
The other one tries to hide behind a car, and when Hatori comes, he blasts the car to hurt him. But the mage just sent the energy back at him, overwhelming him and killing him on the spot. "Boring. Didn't even need an elemental spell. Well, apart from taking out that gun." Hatori notes to himself.
He needed to take out that big gun because it clearly had range. And if they escaped with it, they could do a lot of damage in the city. Hatori hears the crackling of the flames and smells the smoke. He extends his hands over his head, and between them, a bubble appears containing water. This water is alchemically modified to take out the fire faster than the regular water. He used this to put out the various fires, and then the police showed up.
PART 4.
Hatori is attending an online conference. Naresh is by his side, having achieved the position of Chief Minister in the recent state elections right before the national elections. Since he was the only mage available at the place of attack, he was invited here.
"Many people have complained about the property damage." She is saying to Hatori. "Why did you get involved anyway? Couldn’t you let the police handle it?"
"Your officers would have died." Said Hatori, without any sugarcoating. "Those attackers were using magically modified technology. The police were flailing helplessly, they didn't know how to deal with this attack. If I didn't step in, people would have died, instead of just getting away with some light injuries."
"Mam," Said one of the staff members. "Most of the property damage was done by the attackers, it is clear by looking at the video footages of various CCTV cameras which remained intact."
"Fine, we can put the blame on them." Said Sapna. "Salman, do you have any info about the group?"
"I do." He spoke. "A chip was found after analyzing the bodies of the attackers. It is a group of rogue cyborgs, led by Salima."
"Who?" Asked Naresh and Hatori together.
"An international criminal." Explained the Home Minister. "About thirty years ago, she attacked and stole a space station. Ever since she has coordinated terrorist cyborg activity from there. Many countries tried to take her down, but the station has been modified. It is a fortress in space now, equipped with weapons and trained cyborgs. The group operates by taking advantage of the discrimination against cyborgs in society and usually makes them do their bidding on the ground. Such as this attack we have just witnessed."
"How exactly did they get the magitech?" Asked Sapna. "Don't tell me your school is somehow involved in this, Hatori?"
"Sure. Put the blame on me." Said Hatori, citizenship be damned. "The students of my school can barely do the illumination spell. A few of them have managed to go beyond, but we don't have any access to the magitech you are developing with the advice of the military. If a leak has happened, then it is you who is responsible. This is why I told Raven not to get involved in it."
"General Raven." Said Sapna frostily.
"I have known the guy since I was seven. I'll call him whatever I want." Said Hatori.
"It is impossible!" Said Salman, unable to take this insult. "There is no way someone in the military would leak this tech to the enemy."
"It is quite easy." Said Hatori. "Just target some old engineer, lay a honey trap for him or her, and boom. All your plans are in the enemy's hands." Said Hatori. He is on a roll, and not about to stop any time soon. Naresh is enjoying the show too much to stop him anyway. The Prime Minister and her toadies need to be taken down a peg or two. "You don't even need to do that. Just bribe some bureaucrat. I'm sure they'll happily sell you if they could get away with it."
"Oooooh!" Said Naresh, unable to stop himself from reacting to that last burn. 'I'll use that in the future.' He makes a mental note.
While Salman is muted from the conversation of his continuous ranting, Sapna decides to close the meeting the only way she can. "We will coordinate with you. We need to plan protections, and look into what kind of things have been leaked."
"Sure." That was all Hatori said before the screen went blank.
"Do you think I went overboard a little?" Asked Hatori, as they leave the office of the Chief Minister.
"Nah, she deserved it. That Salman is a fool. Bribery is the easiest angle to consider and investigate. If he thinks no one would do something like that, then he doesn't deserve his position. How else is he going to keep the country safe from internal threats?" Said Naresh. "Anyway, I'll need to coordinate with the MPs of my party. We are going to use this in the parliament."
"Don't tell me. You do what you want. I suspect she is going to come crying to us once again." Grumbled Hatori.
"Probably." Said Naresh, agreeing with Hatori.
PART 5.
Sapna wasn't the only one who got to see the fight of Hatori. Salima also acquired the footage, and she is watching how easily this tall man is dismantling the four cyborgs who served as a pawn for her. 'I thought he was all talk, but there is clear skill behind the brutish appearance.' She thinks to herself.
This means that the school this man is running, will soon pose a threat to her. It also means that other mages are also a threat to her plans. Even if they are not as skilled as Hatori, they will still cause problems for her in the future.
"Connor." She called to her second in command. "Prepare the bombs."
"Yes, mam." He nodded. "Where should our target be?"
"Hit them where it serves as a warning. I want to keep the Delhi untouched for a little while longer." She instructed.
"It will be done." Said Connor, as he has permission to choose the target for himself.
'Let's see how you handle this, magic boy.' Thinks Salima.
PART 6.
Hatori steps out of the portal between the dimensions. After all the trouble was sorted out, he went back and gave the computer he bought to Sushima. He waited around for a while, hoping that maybe the Prime Minister might come to him with something, but since she did not, he decided to get on with his own life.
However, when he comes back, he hears the news. "Breaking news! Half of Bhopal, the capital of a state in central India has just disappeared. A bomb was dropped on the city, and it has destroyed the capital."
"Well, fuck." Said Hatori.
It appears that the audit was unsuccessful. They did not figure out that their bombs were also gone. Hatori didn't even know that they were developing something like that. The only thing he knew of were those elemental guns and some enchanted bullets.
A few days later, the government contacts Hatori on the recommendation of Avinash. They want to install the wards to protect against the bombs of their own making, and they want him to help them.
"Sure, I'll do that. But the country is huge. I can't go everywhere." He points out.
"Don't worry," Said one of the experts who is also working for the government on the orders of the king, "We'll handle those. Just help us with the design, and supervise the installation process as much as you can."
However, the bad news didn't stop. While Hatori is busy with the task of protecting the cities, the cabinet comes out for a conference with the Prime Minister. They want to assure the public that everything is going to be fine in these chaotic times and that they do not need to fear.
However, the cyborgs take a chance, and another bomb blast takes place. This was a suicide attack, which ended up killing the entire cabinet present there, as well as the journalists and other important officials.