Not wanting to invade personal life, “Yeah, nah, I do not know, mate. I never seen your friend and I do not want my first impression of her being from ink and paper” says Will, looking away to his work. To break the awkward silence, “So, what is that you brought? Seems important – is it a blueprint?”, asks Johann. “It is a relic from the ancient times. Or that is what my boss said after tossing it my direction 3 days ago. He found it in a hideout along the mine walls, about a thousand or so years old. I do not know; maybe he just wanted to make me work or he did not want it to come into the hands of the patent bureau. Either way, this blueprint is mine now” says Will, tiredness prominent in his voice.
“Do you know why I don’t have my mana anymore?” asks Will. “No, I do not. But who you are is more important, you know? Just like that Li said yesterday, you are a person, with or without magic, you are a human. And it suits you, mate. Dictating others to use their heads and making things no other would understand. People like you are gifted in other ways and who knows, having no mana might just be a blessing” says Johann, thoughtfully patting Will’s shoulder. “You of all people follow that terrorist’s preaching?” says Will, sarcastically laughing.
“I would not say I got my gift. About 12 years ago, I used to know a girl, Cassandra was her name. I liked her yet, me being me, the relationship was nothing more than small exchanges between compliments. The last time I saw her alive was right before the Berlin Explosion of ’62, going in the direction of the unstable mana chamber. After the explosion, mana vacuum was made in the center; everything in the vicinity got depleted out of mana. I came over to the epicenter and saw her, lying on the ground, unable to move. She was too close to the center, even though she protected herself from the blast, the vacuum drained even the sub-mana out of her body, rendering it completely paralyzed. Then, I knew so little about mana anatomy but knew enough that if I transferred my mana into her, she would have a chance to live again. Praying to God, I gave every last drop of mana I could draw from my body to hers. But sadly, her blood had stilled before I could reignite her heart, or so I thought. I never saw her again after the ambulance got to the explosion – she was declared dead. I sometimes wonder if it was my fault. Funny, right?” says Will, with tears in his eyes and tension on his voice.
Offering a bun, “Despite everything, you still got a job, no?” says Johann, trying to reassure Will. “Do you know what branch I work at the mines? Geological research – one of the lowest rank jobs there is. Only checking sediments if it is strong enough to hold the machineries’ weight. I cannot even recreate the minerals I found because of my nature”, says Will, letting out a frustrated sigh as he goes to the coffee machine in the kitchen. “Mate, I will use your coffee machine. Do you have Arabica beans?” asks Will, trying to forget the grim that is his life.
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“Here, I made you some, too”, says Will, handing a cup of latte to Johann. “This is quite tasty. I did not know you were a barista” says Johann, sipping the coffee and putting it down. As technology progressed and the lifestyle of people transitioned from laid back and relaxed to the quick city life, unable to make time to brew up a half decent coffee. “I think people nowadays rely so heavily on magic. Back then, when it was prohibited, people prospered and invented so many open-minded contraptions. Now, it is glued to the concept of mana and its usage; even most coffee machines rely on making coffee from mana. Mana roasted coffee beans are too bland and tasteless” says Will, ranting about the dependencies of the current world on the magical element. “Enough for ranting for today, for me. Your bakery is awfully silent, today” says Will, curious about Johann’s business. “It is Friday and people do not go into bakeries when they could go to bars, mate. I like these days; they are nice and relaxing. I came from a real bakery in Danzig. There, people do not just get bread or pastry from bakeries, they have meals, dates and even weddings. All day long, me and my father worked to please the customers. At the end of the day, the happiness of the people is the prize for having a nice bakery”, says a proud Johann, laying back a bit on his sofa, reminiscing his past. “Say, why don’t we have a game night? I could ask a day off at the mines if it is necessary and you should take a day off, too. I would say about 4 hours from now, if you do not have any customers, come to my place. You know the code to my condo, yes?” says an enthusiastic Will, trying to persuade the workaholic Johann.
As he leaves the bakery, smiling, thinks about how the modern life flooded the world. In the wake of the Magical Revolution, inventive minds popped up all over the world, inventing different means of information transfer. One man, Hugo Marques, created the modern “Arcane Engines” that have liquid mana processors, which act as both an energy source and a medium for information processing, unlike the former, less reliable, and slow fax machines that utilized electrical signals. These engines are now optimized and mass produced in automated factories that mana-print motherboards and other components, which are much faster than the electric transfer of the previous century machines.