The Strategic Magic Command, or SMC for short. It is a government agency that handles the best magicians and magitechnicians in the Kalmar Federation. They do cutting edge magic research, inventing many of the technologies that people use in the KF today, along with ensuring national security. Only the best of the best in the country are initiated into the agency, and it is the dream of most aspiring magicians and magitechnicians to be accepted into the elite agency.
But their standards are some of the highest in the world. A potential agent has to have gone through a world class educational institution before they are even considered, and to actually be accepted in, you have to have achieved something significant.
But if you do get accepted in and end up working for the agency, the only people in the world who can boss you around are the director of the agency and the president of the Kalmar Federation itself.
Oslo, Kalmar Federation: 29/08/2070
"Is that so? Hmm..." The president leaned back in his chair after the girl's explanation. His senses were telling him that she wasn't lying, despite the outlandish nature of the story that she had told.
Another world without magic much like their own world, with some significant political differences. Had any other person than the president been given this girl's explanation, they would have dismissed it as the ramblings of a madman. But with the president's unique talent to analyze things, he knew that she was telling the truth. Not to mention one small thing.
"To give off so much magicule radiation, yet not have any significant amount magicules yourself... Safe to say I've never seen something like this before. With your rather unique situation, I believe that a little visit to the SMC is necessary, and may also sort out some of your issues."
The SMC!? Those guys!? For someone like me!? I mean, Isn't it a little silly for those guys to be called over for a seemingly ordinary schoolgirl???
"Uhh... Mr. President, isn't that a little overkill..?" Norah was a little surprised that the president was about to involve the SMC of all people in her situation. After all, any other person would react the exact same way. Not that meeting the president is any kind of ordinary event either.
"Hahaha, don't worry about it, kid. If what you say turns out to be true, then we might get a clue to a... Classified situation going on right now. Heck, you might even be joining them soon enough. Your engineering talent is quite clear, significantly improving current magic battery designs with barely any special tools." The president slowly shifted to a more serious tone as he talked.
"...Right." Me joining the SMC!? Ya, that would be great, but...
A few staffers came through the large door to the presidential office, interrupting Norah's thoughts. They led the two through the building, guiding them to the roof of the building where a helicopter was waiting for them.
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Outskirts of Oslo, Kalmar Federation
The helicopter landed at what seemed like a military facility in the side of a mountain. Beyond the helipad, a line of soldiers were waiting, saluting once the president disembarked his helicopter.
...I feel very out of place here.
The soldiers were all briefly peeking at her, curious as to why she was here. When they did lay their eyes on her, they felt a heavy presence coming from her, and immediately looked away. They figured that it was probably something weird the SMC did, and did not bother to think more about it.
"Welcome, mr. president. I take it that this is the individual you were talking about?"
A young looking man suddenly appeared, wearing the SMC Researcher's uniform. He was staring at Norah curiously, with no hint of being affected by her aura at all.
"Fascinating..." He said quietly, as he stroked his chin. A mildly off-putting smile began forming on his face.
"Indeed. Well, let's get going." The researcher signalled to one of the guards, who began leading them through the facility.
The three began walking through the giant facility, escorted by several guards. They went rather deep into the facility and had passed through a fair few security checkpoints and absurdly large hallways. They entered a room with a large circular machine that had a chair on top of it. It was standing in the middle of the room, with a mess of wires and pipes all connecting the chair machine to all sorts of things in nearly every direction.
Oh, ya. A massive chair machine thing with a boat load of pipes and wires. What could possibly go wrong? Norah was slightly worried about what the chair was going to do, but it wasn't going to be... that, right..?
"Right. I'll go ahead and warn you from the start, this thing will [Analyze] every single part of both your physical body and soul. Are you alright with that?"
Oh. Well, that's a lot more tame than what I was imagining. Not like anyone would seriously make something like that and put it in a heavily guarded facility. What was I imagining? Nothing important.
"Sure, go ahead." Norah walked up to the chair and took a seat. The researcher moved over to a pedestal with a laptop on top of it. The president stood next to the researcher with his arms resting behind his back.
The researcher typed something into the laptop, and the machine began to move. Beams of blue light shone from robotic arms as they moved around scanned every part of Norah's body. After that, the robotic arms moved back to place, and the machine, along with Norah, began glowing a light blue color...
...And it continued glowing. It was glowing for quite a significant amount of time. Uhh... Is it supposed to glow for this long?
The machine produced a low hum as it glowed, which was very audible in the otherwise quiet room.
"Well, this is taking quite a bit longer than it should..." Just as the researcher said that, the machine began powering down after glowing for a minute straight. After the mild surprise of the machine suddenly finishing it's task, the researcher took a look at the laptop, and his eyes went wide.
"...Well, that's unusual." He began stroking his chin as his face returned to an expressionless state, processing what exactly this strange data could mean.
The researcher looked over at Norah, and with his explanation now formulated, he began explaining what exactly the machine was telling him.
"First of all, your magicule frequency is completely different to what it should be. Every single thing in this universe has a basic magicule frequency, but yours is different. How exactly, I have no clue. Well, at least it lends credence to the whole "reincarnate from another world" thing... Second. Your source is completely missing. It supplies your body with the necessary magicules for it and additional magic to function. How you are even alive without a source remains a complete mystery to me. Third. Despite not having any magicule supply to speak of, you have a rather powerful aura. Though that one can be remedied right now."
Right. According to what I've researched, the magicule radiation emission, or aura, is caused by your internal magicule supply, and can cause effects on the people around you... It has been my prime suspect for why other people find me so intimidating, but he says remedied... Does that mean..?
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Norah stared at the researcher for a second. "The aura... Can it have an intimidating effect on other people?"
"Yes, that is a way that it affects people, I suppose. The radiation holds a little data, which people can sense. This can change how someone perceives y-"
"I'd like that remedy, please!" Norah's eyes glimmered, despite her expression still being rather unpleasant.
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"...And that is how I've improved the efficiency by up to 10 times just by growing the crystal structure in these particular patterns."
After her checkup with the researcher, she had been brought to a meeting room. Now she was presenting to the two most important people in the country, the director of the SMC and the president.
And here I am, some random girl presenting her little hobby project. They talked about the possibility of me joining the SMC, and then asked for me to present about the improved magic batteries I made. Now they are suddenly talking about recruiting me at the president's recommendation.
While it is an extremely rare occurence, the president has been directly involved in recruiting especially talented individuals a few times in the past.
And now I am one of those few picked by the president... Ya, life is crazy sometimes.
In a country of 140 million, only 1000 people were members of the SMC. So the chances of even being considered are astronomically low... And yet here she is, an otherwise normal-ish gymnasium student.
This is really nerve wracking... Suddenly being plucked from my normal-ish life and being stuffed into a giant facility of some kind... Then again, normal isn't exactly the right word for someone who died and reincarnated in an entirely different world. And that whole super battery thing definitely ruined my chances of living a "normal" life at all.
Despite the immense pressure of all the important people she had been shuttled around to meet, she had still managed to keep her composure. She had been invited in here to explain how she had improved the efficiency of her magic batteries, and given the reaction of the two in the room...
"Amazing. This could revolutionize the magic battery industry..."
"Though it still pales in comparison to that."
...It seemed like they were impressed by her work.
That..? Oh, they are probably talking about the super battery. I wonder what happened to that thing...
The director chuckled. "That's for sure, haha. Should have some answers on that soon enough, though." He leaned over, a more serious expression forming on his face as he looked Norah in the eyes.
"We could use a talent like you. Not to mention the possibility of exploring inter-dimensional travel with data gathered from your... Unusual soul. Even just your engineering prowess already puts you among the best. How about it?"
Norah thought for a moment. Was she getting way too deep into something she shouldn't..? No. This was her chance to do something more with her second chance at life. Why had she ended up here? Why was she given a second chance? Perhaps it all led to this exact moment?... Then again, accepting this offer was a no-brainer. Joining one of the most elite organizations on the planet just like that? Hell ya! That's luck if she ever knew it! Having nearly limitless funds and a giant team of the country's best to help out on her little research projects is a dream come true!
But even if I didn't want to join for some reason, the whole super battery incident would definitely affect my life in a bad way without some protection from the government. The SMC would definitely solve that.
"I'd love to join! if you'd accept someone like me, that is..."
The two men relaxed, and a smile formed on their faces. "That's great! Welcome to the team!.. Or at least I'd like to say that, but there is still a bit of an issue that needs addressing..."
The president continued. "The requirements for joining the SMC. The requirement for a significant achievement has been fulfilled, but you still need to be educated at a world class educational institution..." The two men sighed.
World class..? Oh. The only one in the country with that designation is the BMAU. Well, fuck.
The three sat and pondered for a moment, until the director came up with a proposal. "Well, there is an easy solution. How about enrolling her in the BMAU?"
Wait, they're going to enroll me in the BMAU just like that? I mean, I was planning to get enrolled there eventually anyway... Doesn't hurt to have the government force me in, heh.
It seemed like something clicked for the president as his expression brightened. "Brilliant! I'll have the details for that sorted later. Now, as for that other matter..."
"Right. We'll need your assistance for a few things, but since you are still a civilian, you will need a rather high security clearance for the things we need your assistance for... No, that can also be dealt with. Well, we will go ahead and sort out things on our end, and contact you later through our Bergen branch. We're done for now. Let's get you home so you can enjoy your weekend, shall we?
Norah nodded. But then...
"Hold on, I got a message from the research department..."
The director read the message he received. He turned to Norah with a smile on his face.
"How about we solve that aura issue of yours before you go home?"
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They already made a fix..? Damn, they work fast. Sure am looking forward to working with these guys.
Norah was currently standing in a room with the director and the researcher from before. The president already left, leaving Norah in the care of the SMC agents. A big mirror was set up in the room, and a bracelet of some kind was sitting on top of a pedestal.
"So. from the data I've gathered during your [Analysis], I've found that your aura's data is nonexistent due to you not having a source. An aura with no discernible data is something that the human psyche strongly dislikes, so any observation of you is distorted, both to other people and yourself. However, by writing to the data in the radiation you emit..."
The researcher put the bracelet onto Norah. Immediately, it felt like it had connected to her. She suddenly felt nice and warm, and turned to look at herself in the mirror. But what greeted her was not the usual unpleasant expression like she was about to stuff someone into a wood-chipper, but a neutral expression.
My face... Now that I look at it, I do look kinda cute... No... Ya... A faint blush appeared on her face.
Oh, right! Norah attempted to smile, but it was still barely anything resembling a smile. It felt forced. It was kilometers ahead of the "smile" she could muster before, but it wasn't comparable to an actual smile.
Oh. Ya, I should have seen that coming. I'm not all that expressive at all, am I? Norah sighed.
"Alright, I'll [Appraise] you now. Just to see if everything is working alright."
She could feel the uncomfortable feeling wash over her for a moment, until it disappeared. I'll never get used to that...
"Alright, everything seems good. Wear this for a month, and your soul should properly attune to the data from the bracelet. We will still need to do some rather invasive testing if we wish to figure out the deal about your missing source, but that comes another time. I'll see you around."
Invasive testing? Ya, I do not like the sound of that. Well, that's a problem for future me!
"I hope to see you again as well, kid. Have a good weekend!" The director added.
Norah was then led out of the facility, and transported back to the train station where she was put on the next available maglev to Bergen.
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Austin, United States of North America: 04/09/2070
"News on object alpha? Go ahead."
Sitting in a large chair, was the president of the USNA. He was one of the wealthiest people of the world, and had risen to presidency in the election of 2068. The country had once been built on the human being's desire for freedom and opportunity. A land where no king could arbitrarily take all that you own. A land of the free, as they say. And they were. They became the leading economy of the world, and over time, became the protectors of democracy. But that changed in the 2030s.
The country was the most divided it had ever been, and the leaders of political parties and large corporations, seeing an opportunity, made several back-door agreements. They had usurped the power of the government, and the country fell even farther into a hyper-capitalistic nightmare. They tightened their grip on North America with oppressive laws, and sucked the people dry with extreme taxes and exploitative labor laws. But that had some unintended consequences.
Over time, as resistance against the oppressive corporations died down and the population fell further into poverty, a large economic downturn began as the purchasing power and the standard of living of the people fell further and further.
The companies had already achieved growth in every conceivable way, and the people could no longer be sucked dry of all their wealth, as there was no wealth left to steal. As the inevitable collapse closed in on America due to the severely neglected population, they had to act before it was too late. For the first time in 30 years, the government began attempting to lift up the people. Re-introducing laws to give people bare minimum protections had barely saved them from collapse.
A large amount of companies experienced severe downturn during the crisis, and most have stagnated in their growth by 2070, as they quite literally have no conceivable way to increase profits anymore.
The only thing that had kept foreign powers like China, the USSR or the KF from taking advantage of the weakened america was mutually assured destruction. The threat of nuclear weapons was still very real, even after over 100 years of their existence. Because of this, there was an unwritten agreement between the countries of the world to leave nuclear warheads and WMDs(1) as a last resort. So when the president had heard that a possible magical super-weapon was transported to Greenland, they were obviously concerned.
"From our own investigations, it seems to have been painted as an unintentional creation. The media in the KF were in an uproar about a mysterious occurrence in the city of Bergen. According to our sources, a large amount of energy was suddenly drawn from the local fusion plant, which led the local authorities to the KF equivalent of a highschool, where they found object alpha. Afterwards, one of their strategic class magicians transported the object to Greenland, where it is still located."
An accident, huh? Bullshit. Who accidentally creates a pure magic weapon rivaling the power of a small nuclear weapon? This whole scheme seems an awful lot like an attempted coverup of some new magic based WMD.
"Investigate it more thoroughly. The magic WMD is still to be classified a national threat. Do what you must."
"Yes, sir." The man left the president in his office.
The Scandinavians... What the hell are they up to..?