Talent's POV
Talent was disappointed that he hadn’t learned anything useful at the mine, but he wasn’t surprised. He only hoped the boy he saw could offer some insight. He must have had help getting to the surface, maybe it was the judge they were looking for.
It made sense that the boy would run, especially if he thought Talent was one of the magistrates who'd imprisoned him.
The boy was fast, but he couldn’t have gotten far. With six of them searching, they were bound to find him sooner or later. It was just a matter of time.
They had been searching the woods for an hour when a shot rang out. The sound was unmistakable, it was a magistrate’s gun.
Talent raced towards the sound, flying to move faster as six additional shots thundered through the woods. Talent was the first to arrive, but he could already tell something had gone terribly wrong.
Magistrate Luck lay dead on the ground, his head completely torn apart by multiple gunshots. He had bled out over a large area. He must've died within the last few minutes.
Daren, Anne, Mikala and Sandra arrived shortly after. They stopped a short distance away from the scene and stared at Luck's body, their faces pale and their expressions grim. Each likely shared the same thought Talent had; how did a number kill a magistrate.
Was Luck really that foolish? Did he hand the boy his weapon? Talent supposed it wouldn’t have been the first time. His father really should’ve issued a ruling against doing that.
The group below advanced while Talent was occupied in thought. He joined their charge, but there was nothing for him to do. It took only seconds for them to subdue the boy.
As his body slumped in Daren’s arms, Talent ordered, “Get him to the cruiser. We’ll question him there.”
Then, he stepped over Luck’s body to retrieve his gun and sent it to his subspace storage.
Daren and Sandra were already on their way back to the crystal cruiser, but Mikala and Anne used magic to open the earth, forming a shallow grave.
Seeing their actions, Talent said, “Leave him. The forest will dispose of his body all on its own.”
Mikala glanced up, looking unnerved, but she nodded and released her magic.
The two girls followed when Talent turned to leave
“It looks like you’ll need a new mine manager, again.” Sandra said as they exited the forest.
Talent sighed, his shoulders sagging slightly, as he approached the crystal cruiser, saying, "Yes, I suppose I will."
Inside, Daren was already restraining the boy, strapping him tightly to a seat. Talent didn’t think the boy had any noteworthy abilities, but he thought a preemptive scan might be in order.
He approached the unconscious number, his mind reaching out, but then he paused. The boy was definitely a number, but there was something about his aura that was different from others. Talent couldn’t say what it was, on that it was woefully disorienting. He would need a machine to preform the scan—probably another symptom of his missing diato.
Talent turned to Sandra. “Did you bring the scanner?”
She nodded, and pulled a small, white, handheld device from her bag. She handed it to Talent with a questioning frown.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
Talent took the device, turned it on and gestured for someone to grab the boy’s arm.
Daren took the boy's right arm, and Talent positioned the scanner to pass the boy’s arm through. He watched the floating screen as the machine analyzed the boy. Some results displayed clearly, his Name: 3-1-6
Race: Human
Sex: Male
His age was a different question. He was a teen for sure, but the second digit looked like a four or more numbers all stacked on top of each other. The machine couldn’t parae it out, and neither could Talent.
The most important information appeared as a large blue bar on the left side of the screen. The bar read 0%, indicating the boy did not have any significant magical energy, which was expected of a number. His general stats however were completely unreadable.
Talent sighed as he returned the device, putting it back in Sandra's bag.
He looked down at the boy.
The boy didn’t look like anything special and yet he managed to escape from talent and then he killed a magistrate. His speed in and of itself was impressive, but killing a magistrate, even a careless magistrate, was an accomplishment few numbers could claim. Talent thought it all but very the boy had some connection to the unknown judge.
As he stared at the boy, Talent felt a cold chill run down his spine. He felt like something about this situation was odd.
The judge responsible for the collapse had been careful to cover every trace of their actions. without Nyvlano, he might never have learned of their existence. As he thought over today’s events he couldn’t help but feel that the judge had gotten sloppy. They planted false memories that would be easily recognized by anyone whose recollection of the events was not skewed.
With another judge involved, Talent knew better than to trust any data, even the date given to him by Liana when he first arrived after the collapse. That date could have easily been altered.
Given that the judge rebuilt the mine, Talent wondered if the collapse itself was a mistake—or if it was triggered sooner than intended. He felt like a fool running through different scenarios as he tried to put the puzzle together. It was clear he didn’t have all the pieces, he might’ve been missing more than half the pieces, and no amount of figuring would get him any closer to the truth.
He needed the boy awake.
Talent ordered, "Wake him."
Daren nodded and struck the boy across his face, leaving a red mark on his cheek.
The boy didn't wake up, so he hit him again.
“Might have to try a good zap,” Mikala suggested.
Talent shook his head grunting, “Absolutely not! Are you trying to blow up the cruiser?”
The girl stepped back, shaking her head.
Daren raised his hand again, but the boy was already stirring.
He mumbled something, then his eyes snapped open, and he sat up.
The number seemed to grasp his situation quickly.
He looked at Daren with fear in his eyes, then he glanced around the room until he finally settled his gaze on Talent.
The boy said nothing, but his jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed dangerously. He must have known he was tied up, and yet he looked ready to pounce at the first sign of weakness.
Talent thought about what to say, how to get the boy to talk, but he couldn’t come up with anything. He figured it was best to just ask directly, so he did.
“Who was it that destroyed my mine?”
The boy stared at him, but he didn't answer.
Talent frowned. He asked, "Are you not going to tell me?"
The boy remained silent.
Talent sighed and turned to Daren. "Do you want to try?"
The boy's expression didn’t change, but he didn’t know Daren’s privilege like Talent did.
Daren smiled, saying, “Oh I'd be delighted.”
He pulled out his gun and pointed it at the boy. He pulled the trigger, activating his privilege at the same time.
The muzzle flashed, but the bullet hung in the air just outside the barrel. It inched forward at a glacial pace, moving so slowly that a dead slug might look fast by comparison. Talent knew by the way Three-sixteen relaxed, that he didn’t yet realize the horror he faced, but he would, soon.
“I’m going to ask you a question, and each time you answer me with a lie, refuse to answer, or in anyway attempt to mislead me, this bullet will get faster. If you answer truthfully and without a shred of malice, the bullet will slow down some. If the bullet reaches you before I’m done asking questions then it will slow down tremendously and I’ll fire another round.”
The boy's eyes widened as he finally understood the nature of the spell. He struggled against his restraints, but he couldn’t get free.
Daren chuckled. He leaned in close to the boy's face and said, with a menacing tone, “If I decide you don’t have any useful information…” He snapped, triggering the bullet to explode.
The fragments were controlled by Daren’s ability as well and froze in place, forming a dense array of shrapnel. Three-sixteen seemed to understand the implication and Daren exercised his control to force the fragments to the floor.
“Then let’s begin.” He fired another shot, this time only slowing the bullet when it was less than a foot from impact. “Who destroyed the mine?”