In recent years, there has been a growing black market trade in Manacrystals, particularly in undiscovered realities where they are restricted technology. Manacrystals (or spell crystals in the vernacular) are mineral formations and gems that have the ability to store magical energy, known as mana, and spells within themselves.
The sale of spell crystals to undiscovered realities is illegal and highly regulated due to the potential consequences of introducing this technology to civilizations that are not equipped to handle it. The consequences of such an introduction can range from disrupting the natural balance of magic in these realities to inciting conflict between different factions vying for control over the powerful spell crystals.
Reports indicate that a vast network of illegal traders and smugglers are actively involved in this dangerous business, often exploiting the lack of oversight in undiscovered realities to make quick profits. These illegal operations put not only themselves but also the unsuspecting individuals and communities in these realities at risk.
The authorities have been working tirelessly to crack down on these illegal operations and prevent the spread of spell crystals to undiscovered realities. However, this has proven difficult, as the illegal trade network is constantly evolving and adapting to evade law enforcement.
Individuals and organizations must refrain from participating in the illegal trade of spell crystals and instead support the efforts of law enforcement to stop these dangerous operations. The long-term consequences of this trade are simply not worth the short-term gains.
“The Illegal Trade of Spell Crystals in Undiscovered Realities: A Dangerous Business”
Die Vielen Welten
Boris Soukup
9, March, 2194
Angelos Mountains, Califia
United Republics of Teivena
Unknown Reality
January 12th~13th, 2195 ESC
Sheriff Rhys Berger had just sat down in his office when there was a knock at his door. Deputy Peck looked at him with an apologetic smile.
“Oh, what the hell now, Henry?” Rhys said, rubbing his forehead with frustration. He’d just returned from the trip out to Larry’s booze camp and brought back some weird pre-Collapse crates. “Is it about Larry again?”
Henry Peck rubbed the back of his head. “Nah, we got Missus Schwartz out in the front saying she saw someone flying,” he offered.
Rhys looked at his deputy and shook his head. “Missus Swartz? The Shaker?” The straight-laced matron wasn’t usually one for flights of fancy.
“The one and only,” Henry said. “I took the report, but she made me promise to tell you there was a flying gremlin poking around the church steeple.”
Rhys sighed, “Dammit, I should be home. Shouldn’t you be home too?” He shrugged and rolled his head, eliciting a crack from his neck. “Fine, we’ve got it noted. So you and Keleman got those crates in the evidence room already?”
Henry gave a lopsided smile and said, “You know it. Still got to inventory it. Are we still searching for the plane tomorrow morning?”
“Yeah, first thing. Say five am,” Rhys shook his head. “I’d say we look tonight, but it’s been a week....” He let that hang for a bit and let out a long sigh.
Henry nodded, “If there was a co-pilot, they’re long dead. A pity. If Larry had said something earlier, we wouldn’t have thought he was a car crash victim.”
“It ain’t gonna look good for us anyway,” Rhys added. The press is going to eviscerate us, he thought. He added, “I’m going to hit the hay. Wake me up if anything happens before four. I’ll be out bright and early.”
“Will do, Boss,” Henry said with a little smirk.
A half-hour later, Rhys was leaving the back of the station when he saw a familiar silhouette skulking around the garage. Blue jeans and an overlarge grey winter coat protected her against the winter cold. She was peering around the back of the department pick-up that they had gotten the crates earlier. He reached her just as she climbed ungracefully into the back of the bed.
“A-hem,” Rhys cleared his throat.
There was a thump, squeak, and scrambling before Tina Karlstad popped her head up. A Christmas-themes poof-ball hat covered her short black pixie cut, and embarrassment was writ large on her face. “Oh, hiiiiii, Sheriff Berger,” she said exaggeratedly.
“Tina,” Rhys asked slowly. “Why on God’s green earth are you in my truck?”
“I have a very good.. er reason,” Tina said as she looked around for a quick escape. Then, spotting something, Tina leaned down in the truck bed and pulled out a flat green gem. “Gems! Er, yes, What are you getting gems in your truck?”
Rhys sighed and reached out to take it from her hand to look at it. It was about an inch square on the sides and about a quarter of an inch tall. A light inside it looked like it was comprised of small moving symbols. He shook his head. What the hell? he thought before he shoved it into his jacket pocket.
“Awww,” Tina said. “I didn’t take any pictures yet.” She accepted his hands and let herself be helped out of the back of the pick-up.
“Can your dog still follow a scent?” Rhys asked.
She looked at him confusedly and nodded. “Daisy’s old, but she still can,” she answered. “Why?” she asked suspiciously.
“Might have a plane wreck in the mountains,” Rhys added. “If you’re nice, we’ll ask you along to see if we can find it in the morning.”
“Plane wreck?” she squeaked. “Does this have to do with that Incan in the hospital?”
“Probably,” Rhys said and scratched his neck.
“And the gem?” Tina asked.
He shrugged, “No clue about the costume jewelry.”
“Gem,” Tina insisted.
He raised an eyebrow, “This damn thing’s glass. They got things in the Angelos museum that are teeny tiny and worth more than our entire town. Like maybe a quarter inch. And you find something like this that fell out of evidence in the back of my pick-up.” Rhys held up the gem and shook his head. “Plus, there’s an internal light. Probably came from the movie studios.” He shoved it back in his jacket.
Tina shrugged and smiled at him. “So, when do you want Daisy and me out there tomorrow morning?” she asked.
Rhys scratched his face where his whiskers were growing in, “Oh, round about five. Meet on the road out to the desert on the north side of the lake. That’s where our guy was picked up. Or even better. Here at four thirty, and we’ll drive you out there.”
Smiling, Tina nodded. “OK, I’ll be here at four-thirty.”
Eyeing her suspiciously, Rhys snorted. “Course, if I find you out in the woods messing up a crime scene or worse....” he let that hang, and she smiled back at him, maybe a little too sweetly . He sighed and shook his head. She’s going out there tonight, I bet, he thought. With that bird and whatever the hell that aircraft was, she’s going to disappear if she heads out there. He raised an eyebrow at her, and she twitched a little.
“Well, I’m going to take you home,” Rhys declared, and she flinched. Yep, he thought. She was going out there tonight. He got his keys and started heading towards his truck.
Reluctantly the reporter nodded and sighed. “OK, mom is probably annoyed at me anyway,” Tina said as she followed him.
----------------------------------------
Tina reluctantly let the Sheriff take her home. As she had predicted, her mother was annoyed that she had been out late and had made a fuss. Daisy was less impressed by the Sheriff’s presence and immediately went back to sleep. Her mom was happy that Tina wasn’t in trouble with the law and that Sheriff Berger wanted to ensure she got home safe. Unlike a few times when she had been snooping where the police didn’t want her snooping around.
Having been made to take a bath by her mother to warm up, Tina now sat in her bedroom playing with two of the smaller gems she managed to pocket. One was brown and seemed to have an orange inner light to it. No matter how she looked at it, this wasn’t from one of the Angelos State movie studios. It had to be pre-collapse. Maybe? It didn’t look like it had a battery, and there was no internal circuitry.
“You got something weird this time, Tina,” she said to herself. Daisy looked at her from the floor with a gimlet eye. She frowned and pouted at her fifteen-year-old dog. “It wasn’t stealing. It was just in the back of a police truck lying there. They had forgotten about it. Besides, I gave the big one back.” The elderly dog snorted and closed her eyes, almost instantly falling asleep.
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
“Yeah, yeah,” Tina mumbled and poked at the gem some more. She had gotten out a photography magnifying loup and put it over the gem. Focusing on it more, she could see that the inner light was comprised of small circles made up of complex symbols she had never seen before. They were slowly rotating in a clockwise fashion.
“What the?” Tina exclaimed, then squeaked when there was a knock on her door. She quickly hid the gems in her robe before answering, “Yes?”
Her mother opened the door. Her black hair was starting to grey, and she was beginning to gain weight, but she looked like an older version of Tina. “Hey, baby girl,” she started.
“Fine, I won’t go out there earlier than four,” Tina said, raising an eyebrow.
“Honey,” her mom sighed. “I talked to him, and he says there’s some kind of escaped zoo bird out there that was also eating goats. So I just fear for you.”
Tina blinked. She had thought the story from Deputy Peck earlier was fake. No way there was anything like a giant carnivorous ostrich was for real. Now she was pumped.
“No!” her mother said sternly. “I know that look in your eyes. You will not go out there alone.”
“I…” Tina started.
“We lost your father to his obsessions,” her mother said sadly. “I’m not going to lose you too.”
“Mom, Dad’s in Oregon territory, not dead,” Tina said with a small smile,
Her mother shook her head, “He might as well be. Chasing Bigfoot and other weirder things. He’s never found anything that wasn’t planted by hoaxers.”
“I’m going with the Sheriff and his men in the morning,” Tina coaxed. “They want me to bring Daisy to follow a trail to see if they can find an Incan aircraft that crashed in the hills. They think that guy in the hospital might be Incan.”
Her mother’s eyes looked at her hard. “You’ll take the varmint gun with you as protection,” she said after a moment. The small 28-gauge shotgun her father had left was useful for coyotes and the occasional badger.
“Ok, mom.”
“Don’t you, ‘Ok, mom,’ me, young lady,” her mom said before coming over and hugging her. “I worry about you. I know you’ve got the wanderlust and curiosity of your father in you. It’s just I’m scared and just want you to have a safe life.”
Tina smiled and hugged her mother back. “I know, mom,” she said reassuringly. “I’ll take the gun and Daisy. I should be super safe.” Releasing the hug, she saw that her mother had tears in her eyes. Feeling a pang of guilt, she continued, “I’ll meet them out at the station, and we’ll find that plane, Ok, mom?”
Her mother looked away from her. “At least it’s safer than the city,” she said. That was true. You never heard about shootings out here unless it was by mistake. Murder was pretty unheard of except among the tourists that came up from the city. The last one was at least ten years ago, a jilted man killed both his wife and the man she was with. He’d even turned himself into the Sheriff’s office.
“I’ll be safe,” Tina promised her mother again.
----------------------------------------
A primate had wandered into the creature and his mate’s new territory. It was accompanied by a canine that the semi-sentient saurial knew to avoid. Packs of them were around, but they smelled more dangerous than this one. It smelled old and weak, a possible prey for him to return to his mate. She would be out here hunting, except it was her turn to guard the nest.
The last week had not been that good to them. They had escaped their captivity when the sleep collars had failed. They had woken up and attacked the box they were in. Then they had tried to break out of the larger box it was in, but when they had broken the side open, they found out they were flying. There was a bad storm, then the box fell over a snow-covered forest and hit a mountain.
One of the primates that had captured them tried to get the collars to work again, but his mate had killed it with her teeth. The other one had pulled the dead creature back into another box. Raging at their captivity, they attacked the entrance to the other box but hadn’t been able to get to the other creature.
They escaped into the snow, carefully using rocks and the bases of trees to ensure the primate didn’t follow them. They were weak but very, very smart. He still didn’t remember how he and his mate had been captured but was sure it had been at a distance. He wasn’t injured too much and hadn’t pulled any of the sticks out of his flesh. The primates from the river liked to use those against his kind, but they were only small annoyances, unlike what had made him and his mate both fall asleep.
He rumbled quietly in annoyance, and the canine stopped and whined. The primate took out a stick and the saurial backed away, stopping at another tree base. They were marginally less cold than the snow on his aching feet. He would have to warm them when he returned to the nest with prey. There was a slight buzzing in the air as the primate and its canine passed by his hiding place at least a few stride lengths out of reach.
Other primates and other creatures had taken over where the box had crashed tonight. He had seen it on his way to hunt. The larger ones, like a cow, would have been too much trouble to drag back, so he had been focusing on creatures that were transportable. But apparently, they had learned, and the other primates were locking up their food animals like the goats from two nights ago. He avoided the ones near the crash because they smelled different, and he was fairly certain they were hunting them.
Moving slowly, the saurial lowered his body and used his powerful legs to slowly stalk the canine. The primates always tasted bad and usually took revenge if you hunted one of them. Killing one would bring dozens. They were like the large ants that way. They usually never gave up. If you killed more, they would see it as a challenge and keep coming.
So he slowly crept up behind the duo, his eyes focusing on the canine. It would pause and sniff the ground in front of it as if it were following a trail. He looked up and knew that way was the crash site where they had arrived. Maybe this primate wanted to make contact with the other ones that had arrived from the sky? Ah, well, no matter. He had a meal to catch.
His left flexed, and he lunged forward, moving at a tremendous speed right at the canine. His mouth opened, and his forelimbs grasped reflexively. Then, suddenly, he was in pain and moving to the side, slamming against a tree. He shook his head and turned to look around when he saw one of the new primates from the sky dressed in something as dark as the night sky. It held a very large staff with ends that glowed blue. The other primate and the canine were making sounds and there was a pop. The one clad in night lurched forward a step. Again, there was noise from the canine and the first primate. Most likely, the entire nest of primates would be up in arms after this.
He took this as his signal to leave and, rolling to his feet, tried to leave. The night-clad primate moved faster than he did and slammed his left leg with the end of the staff. It instantly went numb. Hissing, he turned and found his leg still worked, but not as well. His leg shot out to disembowel the night-clad one, and it hopped over his attack slamming his back and tail with the staff. Blue lightning crawled where it hit, and he found it harder to move.
The saurial snapped at the night clad, and it jumped up, gripping a tree limb with one hand just out of reach. He started to run again when another slower night-clad primate got in his path. It raised a stick to its shoulder, and there was a flash of light. The saurial crashed into the snow and slid until he hit a tree, limbs twitching. The second night clad walked up to him and pointed the stick at his head as it made some noises before another flash of light made him sleep. Ah, this is how we were captured the first time.
----------------------------------------
Althea looked down at the three-meter-long white feathered dinosaur as the crew maneuvered it onto a transport sled. The creature had powerful legs and small arms with hands with opposable thumbs. Its head had wicked teeth and large forward-facing eyes. A definite predator, like the axe beaks on her home Reality. It would be put in an armored section of the ship where it would be secure for transport. She wasn’t familiar with this species, but it would be up to the mages to determine where it was from and then the bosses to see if they would return it or send it to one of the preserves with similar species.
Taylor touched her arm, and she patterned in surprise. The man’s ability to disappear from her senses annoyed her greatly, but it was an asset when they needed to keep a low profile.
“So, I guess we’d better change,” Taylor said quietly. “Gotta return the local and stop the others from looking into this.”
Althea sighed and held up two small spell crystals she had found on the sleeping girl. “And get back the cargo,” she said, tossing them into the air. “These are easy ones where all you have to do is say the words engraved on them. They have already spread a little. I am certain they will have scholars looking over all the documents and other crystals within a week or two once they figure out what they are.”
Taylor laughed and lit another one of his cigarettes. “You overestimate us, humans. Sure, if it’s an advantage, we’d get into something immediately, but here, the mana level is so low it’d take weeks for those crystals to refill.” He blew out smoke from his nose, which made Althea wrinkle hers.
Tobacco smells so bad. Even the modified version the GmbH grew was less poisonous and more addictive than the versions grown natively in other Realities still had that horrid smell. So then, why can’t I smell him when he approaches?
“These ones are curious,” Althea returned. “This one was using her pet to follow the pilot’s blood back. A commendable train of thought, but ultimately not very wise.”
Taylor put his hand on her shoulder and grinned. “Oh, she probably didn’t know about the critter. Besides, you saved her,” he paused. “And her dog.”
Althea blinked and nodded, “They are both innocents caught up in our situation. They should not have been killed by the creature.” She looked over at the sleeping girl and the dog lying on a tarp they had brought out.
“Well, I guess it’s time for us to get suited up. Did they get the ute ready?” Taylor asked, turning towards the ship.
Althea checked the cameras via the data feed. “Yes, although it looks a bit silly as a local vehicle.” She looked towards the girl and her dog. “Should I carry them to the vehicle?”
Taylor shrugged. “Sure,” he answered. They should be knocked out for the next hour or so. Then we can talk to her and find out why she was out here anyway.”
Reaching down, Althea picked up both of them easily. The girl snored quietly. Probably in the late teens to early twenties, with black hair and a very cute hat. I’ll have to get one for Tiki, she thought as she walked up to where the ute was. Its square carbon fiber side panels had been replaced with more rounded ones that more suited the current locale. Opening the rear seat, she carefully placed both the girl and her dog on the seat and then put the restraints on them in case they woke up early.
She closed the door and headed over to the ship’s elevator. A glimmer of gold light caught her eye, and she saw the redhead from earlier walking to the side of her and into the site. Althea froze momentarily and then watched as no one else saw the girl as she walked in front of them and waved her hands in front of their faces. No, not here. This isn’t going to happen, Althea thought and sped up suddenly to leap and grip one of the cables.
She climbed up the cable hand over hand and was up at the top of the cargo bay in seconds. She swung and looked down to see the girl watching her intently. Deliberately looking away, Althea went into her cabin to spray synthskin on her face, hands, and lower arms to cover up her patterning and change into her black business suit. She then did her makeup and undid her braid, brushing out her hair to its full length. It was more controlled than usual, thanks to a new conditioner she had been introduced to, but it was still quite fluffy. She tucked her ears up inside the mass of hair and, using soft clamps, pinned them inside her hair so they wouldn’t move around.
She turned to leave the cabin, and the redhead was staring at her with a goofy look on her face. Althea ignored her and walked past her like she would any unwanted guest. The girl said something, and Althea momentarily paused and then kept going, shutting the door behind herself. Her heart rate was out of control, and she gritted her teeth in fear. Why is she following me? She seems to be on foot, so she can’t keep up with the ute. We’d better head out before she decides to get in there with us. Taylor was leaving his cabin just as she turned the corner towards the cargo bay.
He was dressed in an identical suit, white button-down shirt, black tie, black slacks, black jacket, and shoes. Both wore overcoats against the weather, but he had a hat, unlike her. Sunglasses covered his eyes. Althea knew they were a camera that also worked as a heads-up display with targeting information and various visual bands for agents that weren’t cybered up yet. Taylor handed her a pair.
She shrugged, “I have no need of them.”
“Oh, these aren’t the fancy ones,” Taylor retorted. “And your eyes are so unusual here I think they’d cause a stir.”
Althea tilted her head. He’d spoken to her in the local dialect. A bit of an accent, but not too bad. “Ahlraight,” she replied. Her vowels were a bit longer than they should be, but she’d play it off somehow. “Ahl, take tha keys,” she said, putting her hand out.
He looked at her and shrugged, dropping the small fob into her hand. They didn’t do anything besides send a signal to the engine and door locks that someone was authorized to start the vehicle. She could override it easily as it was a standard GmbH model. This was just an extra step.
The redhead had gotten out of her cabin and was walking around the ship. Althea’s eye twitched, and she put her sunglasses on before accepting the keys. She walked over to the elevator with Taylor. She’d thought of jumping if the girl had followed her, but she seemed content with exploring the ship.
“I’ll talk to her,” Taylor said. “I’m more personable.”
“Yes, though she may forget you in a few moments if you don’t keep her attention,” Althea said as they got into the open-frame elevator and pressed the down button. “Does your wife remember you when you return?”
Taylor looked at her with a wounded expression, “Althea, that was a very mean joke.” As she started to apologize, he cut her off. “It’s good we can rib one another a little. You’re actually becoming my partner. Just don’t take offense when I return the favor.” He paused and started, “So who’s….”
Althea allowed a tiny smile on her face. “I’m the bottom,” she said as her face returned to neutral.
Taylor stared at her with his mouth open. “You can’t go cutting off my jokes like that! I’ve got a reputation to uphold,” he said, shaking his head and laughing.