The estate or villa Connor found himself in was just east of Cuernavaca near a mining area. There were twenty guards on site. Six looked active on the perimeter, four were in the house, and the other ten looked to be in a barracks of sorts where they were sleeping. That didn’t include Juan Perez and Diego, who were zip-tied and gagged on the floor before him.
After reviewing all of the information that Juan had about him, it was obvious that there were competent individuals within his organization throughout the United States. That said, he needed the ability to get information from these two without worrying whether he was being lied to or not. Sure, he could go on a killing spree and take out all of these people, but he was still considering the possibility that he might cause a paradox, so he wasn’t going to go too wild if he didn’t have to. But there was one thing he wanted to try.
Connor activated Astral Pocket and threw Diego inside before he closed the door. He tried to will the door open again, but he couldn’t access the Astral Pocket once it was closed from this side. He moved to the other side of the room and activated Astral Pocket again for another 1,000 mana. Sure enough, a door appeared. When he looked in, Diego was still lying on the ground. So, he could put people in the Astral Pocket and then go somewhere else with them.
Connor picked up Juan Perez, Cartel boss and lowest of the low human beings, and unceremoniously tossed him into the Astra Pocket before he closed it. After he closed the door, he walked over to a computer and deposited it into his Inventory. Next, he went over to the wall safe behind a painting on the wall and cast Hack to unlock and open it. Inside, he found…holy shit, there was a bag of diamonds and another bag of various gems; rubies, sapphires, emeralds, opals, and a few gem types he didn’t recognize.
Then, he moved a cabinet and used Hack to open the safe on the floor. The second safe was a bit larger and contained two briefcases; each filled with 100 dollars U.S. A quick count allowed him to estimate that each briefcase contained approximately one million dollars. Both went into his Inventory.
Connor closed both safes. Now, the only evidence that someone had been in the room was the missing computer. With Flight and Stealth still active, Connor launched into the late afternoon sky and headed northwest toward the forested mountain. He found a place behind a tree near the peak in the nearby mountain range, activated Astral Pocket, and stepped inside for the first time. He closed the door behind him. Both Perez and Diego were looking at the opening with malice in their eyes as Connor closed the door and checked his Mana Regeneration, which was the whole reason he’d created this spell. Sure enough, his mana regeneration had returned to 160 mana per turn.
Connor deactivated Flight and Stealth and became visible to the two tied-up floating men, who immediately started yelling into their gags. Connor looked at them both with disdain before he cast Sleep on both of them again. While they were unconscious, he mediated and then activated Malleable Spells to create a spell that would make a sphere of sound suppression.
Congratulations! You had discovered the common spell “Silence.”
Silence
Required Materials: None
Range: Self or Touch
Mana Cost: 10
Upkeep: 10 Mana every 10 turns.
This spell allows you to create a bubble of silence centered on you or the individual you touch with a diameter of 10 feet. This spell will last for 10 Turns. The Duration can be extended by another ten turns for 10 additional mana. If extending Silence on another, the target must be touched before doing so.
Perfect! Connor cast Silence and then shut his eyes and began meditating. Now he wouldn’t have to listen to these assholes moan and whine for the next couple of hours while he worked on trying to create a spell or skill that would allow him to get the information he wanted from someone. He thought that a more intrusive version of telepathy might be nice, but another thought occurred to him as well. What if he drained his target memories into a crystal so that he could review them at will later? Such a spell might destroy the mind it was copying, or it could just make copies. He wasn’t really sure.
What he was sure about was that he could replace the 3,000 mana he’d just used in less than four minutes inside this Astral Pocket. He could also fill his Mana Reserve in one hour and forty-five minutes. This meant that over the next 10 hours, he could create up to four Advance-ranked spells or skills. The first thing he had to do was fill his Mana Reserve just in case a spell to create a memory crystal required 100,000 mana to make. As for the other two, they could stay tied up. In this space that made them all weightless, they wouldn’t be able to get the leverage they needed to get free, and even if they did, they couldn’t hurt him.
Connor set himself up to pay the upkeep cost for Silence every 10 turns and then closed his eyes to meditate. While he meditated, his Mana Pool and Mana Reserve were filled by his natural regeneration rate of 160 mana per Turn.
***
Liza looked out from the Suite Sam had rented in the Wynn Las Vegas Hotel and Casino. The last couple of hours had been a bit of fun as they went shopping, and she bought a few outfits so she could dress nicely for dinner. Each of their rooms had its own bathroom, which she’d used to take a luxurious shower before putting her hair up and putting on the light summer dress she’d found.
As she leaned on the balcony looking out over the Las Vegas Strip, she watched Sam get dressed in his room, as well as everyone else within 100 feet. Her Skill Eyes of Eris was something else. She knew what was going on everywhere within 100 feet of herself. She felt slightly embarrassed about seeing Sam naked, then realized that Connor and Sam would both be able to see her and any other woman within range. She’d never seen Connor act embarrassed, which led her to believe there was a way to filter what she was viewing directly. As she started to practice with the skill, she realized that unless she specifically focused on something, she could ignore the specifics of what was going on.
Liza watched Sam step out of his suite and walk up behind her before he asked, “Are you ready to head down for dinner?”
Liza turned to look at Sam, who had put on a nice pair of pants and a light blue polo shirt, “Sure. How do you think Connor is doing?”
Sam laughed before he said, “Did I tell you how we first met? No? I shot him in the head during the tutorial.”
“You did what?” Liza said, shocked.
“Yeah, I thought I had the drop on him. I should let you know that Eyes of Eris is not all-seeing. If someone is moving in the open, you will see me, but if someone like me is also hiding within cover, Eyes of Eris doesn’t detect me. It’s because of one of my abilities.”
“Truly?” Liza asked.
“Yep. That’s how I got the drop on him. Once I was visible, though, he had me.”
Liza nodded, “Good to know. Let’s get something to eat.”
Liza walked toward the door to the suite with Sam close behind. It would be nice to sit down and have a proper meal. Today had been exhausting.
***
Agent Smith tried again. Neither Mr. Diego nor Mr. Perez answered his calls. He’d come back to the office to find out what had happened on I 93 and walked right into a clusterfuck, as his fellow agents liked to call it. Yes, the target was dead. No, the secondary targets were not dead, and now, anyone that he could ask was missing. Well, he knew Lopez, and if Diego had any say, Lopez should be at the property in Boulder City.
Agent Smith logged off of his computer and stood. Before he left, he checked out and listed the destination he was going to. Once he was back, the information would be scrubbed. If he didn’t come back, though, his fellow agents would know where to start looking for him. Though, if the shit hit the fan, he did not doubt that they’d never find his body, well, not intact, at least.
He left the nondescript building in western Las Vegas and drove down to Boulder City. The Sun was going down as he pulled into the driveway and walked up to the door.
Agent Smith rang the doorbell.
When no one answered for five full minutes, he pulled out the key Diego had given him and entered the house. As he walked into the house, he looked down the hallway to the garage door and noticed that there was blood spray on the ceiling.
Agent Smith drew his weapons and began looking around slowly and carefully. Afterward, he searched the garage, where he found indications that something had happened, but no bodies or even a vehicle, though…it was weird. The little bit of blood splatter he found showed where the blood stopped as if a car had been there but behind where the wheels would have been parked, where he did find blood splatter, it had not been run over by tires when the vehicle left, yet there was no vehicle in the garage. It was just weird.
Another weird thing he noticed. He could see where it looked like six people had died in the garage, but there were no bodies. While some footprints seemed to walk around in the blood, where the bodies had fallen showed no signs of being dragged. It was like they’d been on the ground, and then they’d just vanished. It was peculiar.
Agent Smith went into the basement and found the partial remains of someone in a stainless steel tub who had been erased from existence. Again, the people working here had vanished. What the hell was going on? He knew from the files that he’d read and the conversation he had with Diego that the girl and the guy should have been brought here, but there was no evidence of them or the car that had been sent to get them.
He made his way upstairs and pulled out his smartphone. He sent a quick text to their Standby clean-up crew.
Location 3, Sanitize
Once the message was sent, he locked the front door and left. As he drove back to his office, he tried one more time to contact Diego or Perez. At the office, Agent Smith did a quick search for Conrad Baker or the two people that driver Jason picked up off I93. Mr. Baker had vanished. The last anyone saw of the man was when he went up to his suite at the Hoover Dam Casino. The other two had been spotted at the Wynn Las Vegas Casino. They checked in under the names Sam and Lisa Wick. The names didn’t mean anything to him, but they were in the hotel and were currently dining in the VIP area.
Agent Smith went to his locker, pulled out a dinner coat, and put it on. Next, he updated his destination before heading to the Wynn Casino and Hotel. Once there, he made his way into the restaurant and immediately noticed the woman he was looking for. She was gorgeous. Even with her hair up, she was beautiful. He was actually thankful those morons hadn’t caught her. Now that he’d verified they were here, though, he needed to call in an abduction team.
Agent Smith took his seat, ordered a drink, and then made his way to the bathroom. Once he was sure the bathroom was clear, he dialed the office.
“I need an arrest team at the Sky Lounge restaurant in the Wynn Casino and Hotel.”
“Target?” his counterpart asked.
“Sam and Lisa Wick,”
Sam felt the air move at his back just before the phone was plucked from his hand. As he turned to see what was going on, his phone vanished, and Lisa Wick looked at him and said, “Well, hello there.”
A moment later, the bathroom door crashed open, and Sam Wick crashed through the door into the bathroom.
Agent Smith started to reach for his weapon. Before his hand moved an inch, his wrist was gripped as if by iron while a similar grip grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off the ground slightly.
Agent Smith started to reach for the sheathed blade he had stored at his waist with his left hand when he froze as the grip on his right hand squeezed and his right wrist felt like it was about to break, even though he didn’t think wrists could be broken.
***
Liza looked at the man she was holding with disdain. She’d been enjoying her meal when the names Sam had checked them in under were used from the male bathroom. Her attention had focused on the man and his phone conversation. Once she realized he was calling for someone to come arrest them, she looked across the table and whispered, “Bathroom,” before she vanished with a Shadow Step into the bathroom behind the man who had just spoken their fake names.
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He'd reached for his sidearm; then he’d reached for his blade at his waist, which had caused her to squeeze his right wrist while she held him up by the neck. Just then, Sam came through the bathroom door.
“What’s going on?” Sam asked.
“This guy just called the police on us?” Liza said with the hint of a smile.
“Really?” Sam asked.
“What is this? Do you have any idea who I am?”
“I do believe he’s going to tell us that he’s either FBI, CIA, or some other member of the Government and that we must do as he says?” Sam said with a touch of sarcasm that was most definitely noticeable.
“Hmmm, still, I don’t see how that matters,” Liza said thoughtfully.
“If anything happens to me, the government will hunt you down…”
“This is tiresome,” Sam said, “The only way you know who we are is if you are working for the assholes that tried to snuff us earlier…or…you are part of a government agency that knew of the terrorists within the border of the United States and did nothing to step in and help two of its citizens.”
“You're not American! You're not in any…” the man Liza held tried to say before she squeezed just enough to stop him from talking. When she allowed him to breathe again he stared daggers at her but didn’t say anything.
“What is your name?” Liza asked.
“Jack Smith”
“Well, Mr. Smith, You have ruined our chance to have a little fun, so we’re going to ruin your night,” Liza said as she pushed him up against the wall with a shove and activated Stealth while Sam did the same. Liza activated the Shadow Step and appeared outside of the bathroom within Sam’s range of perception. A moment later, Sam appeared beside her. She indicated for him to follow her and walked out of the restaurant. When they were close to an empty closet, she pointed, and then Shadow Stepped inside. Sam followed her in.
“Okay, what’s the plan?” Sam asked.
“We need to know who this guy is working for. We also need a place to stay off the grid until we figure out who he works for.”
“How are you going to do that?” Sam asked.
“Easy enough. I’m going to stay within 100 feet of him and follow him for the rest of the night.”
“And what am I supposed to do?”
“Head to a different Casino, blend, and if the cops show up, remain free until Connor gets back. I’ll stay in touch through Party Chat. Alright, the first thing I’m going to do is change my clothes. I suggest you do,” Liza said as her clothes changed to tennis shoes, jeans, and a cute blue blouse.”
“How’d you do that?” Sam asked.
“Play with your inventory a bit; you can assign outfits and then swap them as needed as long as you have an empty inventory slot or slots, depending on how heavy the clothes are.”
Liza watched Sam concentrate for a moment, and then his clothes changed, “Cool!”
“Yes, it is. Now, get going. I’m going to remain out of sight up here and watch through Eyes of Eris.”
“Alright. Don’t have too much fun,” Sam said.
Liza checked the room for cameras and then deactivated Stealth once Sam was gone. Then she watched,
***
Agent Smith was still rubbing his wrist, which he knew was going to bruise, when the police arrived. A moment later, two policemen burst into the bathroom with their guns raised. When they saw him, they relaxed and lowered their weapons.
“Agent Smith, The maître d said you’d been in here for a while and that the woman had vanished just before the man you wished for us to pick up rushed in here. Where is he?”
“I do not know. No one saw them leave this room?”
“No, sir. Ben, the maître d, was adamant that no one had come into or out of the male bathroom since the man rushed from this table to the bathroom.
Agent Smith pulled out his phone and dialed 911. After Identifying himself with Identification and authentication codes, he said, “We have fugitives on-site at the Wynn Casino and Hotel; lock it down.”
Six hours later, the building had been searched from top to bottom. They were gone. The security camera footage from the hotel and every nearby camera that pointed toward the Wynn Casino and Hotel had been reviewed. The two had vanished, just disappeared like that Conrad Baker guy.
When everyone was done and packed up, Agent Smith returned to his car and made his way back to the office. Once inside, he sat down at his desk and began filing a preliminary report. What had started as a follow-up on individuals that had something to do with the disappearance of Cartel/CIA assets had now turned into something out of the X-Files. He had the bruised wrist to prove the woman had been in the bathroom. The surveillance showed the woman disappearing from her table and then the man standing and moving at some estimated over sixty miles per hour to the bathroom. Then they’d just vanished. He’d even had the team check the walls of the toilet to make sure there was nothing behind the walls.
When he was done filing the report, he left the office and headed to his apartment on the north side of town. By the time he walked into his living room and then into his kitchen, it was after 2:30 a.m. He poured himself a glass of Whiskey and sat down in his recliner as he turned on the news to unwind. As he finished his glass of whiskey and put the glass on the stand beside him, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He felt as if he was being watched. Like someone was in the room with him, he started to rise to his feet and pull his gun as everything started to go dark. Just before he fell into unconsciousness, he realized that he was falling back into a comfortable recliner.
***
Connor looked down at the sleeping agent as Sam and Liza stepped in from the balcony. They all remained Stealthed as Connor talked with them through Telepathy.
“Let me check for hidden cameras or mics,” Connor said through their Telepathic link.
“Okay,” Sam said.
“As you say,” Liza said.
Connor cast Control Technological Device, which allowed him to take control of any device he could perceive within 100 feet—a nice synergistic effect he’d discovered. With Eyes of Eris active, any hidden devices within 100 feet were automatically detected. Every device popped up in his notification window and asked if he’d like to take control of it. Since he could only take control of one at a time, all of the electronic devices within range were listed. After a quick check, he could see if there were any small electronic cameras or microphones. There weren’t any. Connor chose Perez’s Smartphone, took control of it, and then picked it up as he reset all of the security settings to himself before he placed the smartphone in his Inventory.
This next part was going to be very nice. Once Conner had finished filling his Mana Reserve and regular Mana Pool, he created a new skill, Memory Download, Rare.
Memory Download, Rare
Required Materials: None
Prerequisite: Telepathy II
Range: Dependent on Telepathy II
Mana Cost: 1,000
Duration: Permanent
Memory Download: Rare is a supplemental skill to Telepathy II. If your Intelligence, Wisdom, and Willpower attributes are high enough, this skill allows you to quickly download the memories of a target into your mind. You may download the memories of those whose Intelligence, Wisdom, and Willpower attributes are 1,000 or less. Once activated, the target is rendered unconscious for a number of Turns equal to their age.
You may hold the memories of the individual or transfer them into a memory crystal. The choice to Retain or Transfer the memories is made when the skill is activated.
NOTE: This Skill is synergistic with the Spells “Create Memory Crystal, Common” and “Create Memory Crystal, Uncommon.”
If the memories are retained, they become part of your mind and will fade over time, as all memories do.
If the memories are to be transferred into a memory crystal, they are drawn out and transferred into the crystal immediately.
If retained, the memories are your memories. You can recall any knowledge and technical skills available to the individual. For instance, if the person you downloaded the memories from were a pilot, you would gain the ability to fly aircraft precisely like the target of this skill was able to. The memories will remain vibrant for a number of days equal to your Wisdom Attribute. After that, they will begin to fade as normal unless the knowledge is reviewed or used regularly.
Creating the skill cost him 10,000 mana.
Next, he’d used Malleable Skills to create Telepathy II at the Rare rank for another 10,000 mana.
Telepathy II
Rank: Rare
Mana Cost: 1,000.
Maximum Range: 1,000 Feet. The target must be within the Line of Sight or Perception Range.
Unlike Telepathy I, permission from the target is not required. Telepathic Contact can be made with any Target within range. Once connected, you may listen to the target's thoughts, which includes all sensory input.
This skill is automatically successful on anyone with a Willpower Attribute less than yours. This skill does not affect anyone with a willpower equal to greater than yours.
Once a connection is established, supplemental skills and spells may be utilized.
Once he was done creating the skills, he verified that he had 11 Skill Slots remaining. Then, he used his skill Malleable Spells to make the spells Create Memory Crystal, Common, and Create Memory Crystal, Uncommon.
Create Memory Crystal, Common.
Required Materials: Small Crystal or Gem
Range: None
Prerequisite: Skill or Spell: Memory Download, Common rank or higher.
Mana Cost: 100
Duration. Permanent or until destroyed. The Crystal is destroyed if it takes 100 or more points of damage. Damaged crystals will regenerate naturally at a rate of one hit point per day.
With Create Memory Crystal, Common, the caster prepares a crystal to store the memories of anyone who has Intelligence, Wisdom, and Willpower attributes of 100 or less are stored within the memory crystal. As the memories are being transferred from the caster to the crystal, the process is automatic. Crystals may be prepped for storage ahead of time.
Once created, the memories of the individual may be accessed with a touch. Unlike memories, which are downloaded and retained, the ability to utilize the associated memories can be utilized to use technical skills to perform technical tasks. You may use the information stored on the memory crystal to learn technical skills, but you will not immediately know how to do so.
The amount of time it takes to review all of the information stored on a memory crystal is equal to the individual's age divided by the intelligence attribute modifier of the individual reviewing the memories. For example, if someone with an intelligence of 100 were to review the memories of a 20-year-old man, it would take them approximately 81.1 days to do so. If, however, the individual only wished to review 24 hours of information stored within the memory crystal, that would take 16 minutes.
The spell Create Memory Crystal, Uncommon, required a medium crystal or gem and 1,000 mana to create. It could hold the memories of anyone with Intelligence, Wisdom, and Willpower attributes of 1,000 or less.
Connor had used the mana from his Mana Reserve, which brought him back to down to 80,000. At 160 mana per turn, it was only 55 minutes before the mana returned. Well, it was closer to 65 minutes because he created four of each type of memory crystal with the diamonds he’d recovered. The process had been enjoyable. As the spell was cast, the mana altered the diamonds and changed them until they were no longer diamonds but instead large clear crystals. The Common Memory Crystals were the size of a golf ball, while the Uncommon Memory Crystals were the size of tennis balls. Juan Perez’s eyes had bugged out when Connor cast the spell repeatedly.
After the memory crystals were ready, Connor utilized Memory Download on Diego to retain the memories. For a moment, he was Diego, but then his will shoved the memories aside. He could think about what he’d just learned later. Diego now lay unconscious. He tried to activate Memory Download again but received a different notification.
The Skill, Download Memories, Rare may only be utilized against a single target once per year.
Connor considered what was going on for a moment and then utilized Telepathy II and Download Memories, Rare on Juan Perez. It took a moment to recover. He quickly reviewed the memories coursing through his mind and realized that both of these men were complete and utter monsters. Some of the…Connor pushed those memories aside. There was nothing else he could learn from these two monsters. With a simple twist, he killed each man and deposited them into his Mana Composter. He wasn’t even going to bother questioning the morality of what he’d just done. The world was much better off without them.
Over the next three hours, Connor recovered the mana he’d expended and also used his Create Common Spell Crystal spell to create spell crystals for Liza and Sam. The spells he created for them were Create Food, Create Water, Light, Force Dagger, Hack, Magical Bolt, Wizard Hands, Detect Magic, Healing I, and Silence.
He also used the diamonds to create three Rare Mana Batteries and charged each with 1,000 mana. The Mana Batteries should help them maintain their Stealth for more extended periods. He also used the diamonds to create ten Common Mana Batteries and charged them each with 10 mana.
Once he had fully recharged his Mana Pool and Mana Reserve, he activated Stealth and Flight and stepped out of the Astral Pocket. Once he was above the mountains, he surrounded himself in a force bubble and rocketed north at his maximum speed of 2,498 miles per hour, or just over Mach 3.
Just under an hour later, at around 11 p.m. local time, he was over Mt. Kimball near Tucson. When he flew within range of the mountain, the facility was gone. He moved closer until he was right on top of where it should be. There was nothing within two miles of him that wasn’t human-made. The facility was gone. His Mana was regenerating normally as he landed on the mountaintop. As he looked up into the sky, he noticed that a few fighters were flying back and forth across the sky.
Connor considered their presence for a moment. They had detected the Force Barrier or the shockwave; he had been traveling quite fast. Just in case, Connor kept Stealth active but deactivated everything else. He rested for a few minutes while his Mana Pool was refilled. He also checked his Mana Composter. Everyone he’d thrown into it was gone, and all of their equipment and supplies were now in his inventory.
Connor activated Flight and jumped back into the air. This time, he stayed low to the ground and kept his speed at about 400 miles per hour. His body easily handled the speed, and it also gave him plenty of time to react to anything that might get in his way. An hour later, he was within range of Las Vegas, and he used Telepathy I to reach out to Liza and Sam to find out what was going on.
He met up with Sam, first creating a Force Barrier around both of them and then took him to meet Liza. They filled him in on what they’d been doing through Telepathy while all three of them watched Agent Smith as he made his way back to his office and then home.
Which brought him to now. He’d Shadow-Stepped in behind the Agent and hit him with Sleep. He knew who this man was from Diego and Perez’s memories. This was Agent Smith, A CIA operative and their liaison with the U.S. Government. He was the man who had passed on the target for today's operation that resulted in the death of a politician. Perez hadn’t known where the orders had come from, but Connor was sure that this asshole did. He probably also had a lot more information that Connor could use.
“What are you going to do?” Liza asked.
“While I was gone, I created a new skill that lets me download someone’s memories. I’m thinking that having this guy's memories would be very useful,” Connor said.
“Will the process kill him?” Sam asked.
“Nope, but he will be unconscious for a while.”
“Then do it. We can review what he knows and make plans from there,” Lisa said.
“Okay then, close the curtains and give me a moment,” Connor said.
Lisa closed the curtains, and Sam checked to make sure the door to the apartment was locked. Once they both gave him a thumbs up, Connor activated Telepathy II and then Memory Download. Unlike Diego or Perez, Agent Smith, whose actual name was Gregory Alan Foster, was not a monster. He was a patriot who could commit monstrous acts when necessary. As the agent’s memories flowed into Connor's mind, he wasn’t overwhelmed with the information. Still, he was a bit surprised when one of the memories he received contained a meeting with a female elf by the name of Silvana.