The representatives showed off their badges. One was a tall Caucasian male with a narrow face and the other was an African American female with bright blue eyes. I tried so see if the badges were legit, but I had no idea.
“Thank you for the offer, but no thanks. We will try to finish our business as soon as possible,” replied the woman. I took a seat across from them. “My name is Veronica and this is my colleague Chase. We were dispatched by the government to give a brief overview of your new prospects.”
“I figured as much. I was told of your visit by a friend but I thought it would take longer than a day for someone to visit.”
Veronica smiled sweetly. “We put much emphasis on individuals with higher priority. While you may know some of the general points we must discuss today, some things are required by law. We are legally required to inform you that as per the 31st amendment to the United States Constitution all individuals with significant magical ability and potential must apply to any organization authorized by the country to control their magical ability. We have a list of some of the better organizations for your convenience.” She reached into her robes and pulled out a flash drive. “Inside this drive also contains a method to release your mana and identify your affinity. This drive contains sensitive information which may not be released to the public so the first time you open it you will be required to go through a retinal scan, fingerprint analysis, and voice activation.” She stood up and gave me a weird smile. “Please make sure this drive does not fall into the wrong hands. I wouldn’t want you to get hurt.”
I smiled in response. “No worries. If that is all, thank you for the visit. I hope you can show yourselves out.”
Veronica gave me that shitty fake smile she wore the entire time she spoke. “Thank you for your time. Come on Chase.” As she was striding out the door, Chase came up to me.
“I apologize for the actions of my partner. She has certain personal opinions which sometimes compromise her work. I hope your relationship with us does not sour after this visit.” Without waiting for me reply he quickly ran after his partner. I walked up and closed the door after him.
Going back to my couch, I opened up my laptop and plugged in the drive. The drive flashed blue and a screen with the seal of the US popped up. There was a drop-down menu with the security requirements. With a resigned sigh, I put my finger to the scanner on my laptop.
“Fucking hell.” It was half an hour later and I finally finished my registration. Finally, the stupid security procedures were over. I wasn’t sure if it was even worth the wait. I had also gotten a little curious during my wait.
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY
WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
HOOKE COLLEGE
ANGEL ACADEMY
INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE OF MAGIC
REDDARN UNIVERSITY
Accessing Vortex, the new and improved Google search engine which was exactly the same as the previous one, I looked up each of the names. Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly I came up with no real information on what each of the schools did. I decided to call up my new friend.
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“Hey Steven.”
“Hey kid, what do you need.”
“So… you know how you told me about those people from the Government are gonna visit?”
“Yeah?”
“Well they already found me. They gave me this flash-drive with a list of colleges and apparently a technique which lets me figure out stuff about my mana.”
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“That was fast. Also… stuff? I guess they changed the protocol. Before, they had state mages walk you through the process and register publicly. Probably some idiot yelling freedom convinced them to change the process to make it private. That seems ok. Why did you call?”
“Well I compared the lists and the only ones that matched were American University and the International College of Magic.”
“…”
“Hello?”
“Here’s what I’m going to do. Sit tight for ten minutes. I’ll be at your place.”
“What! Why? Also, how do you know where I live?”
“Big Brother always knows. I’ll see you in ten.”
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I sat there thinking. What does my future have in store? I had my entire life planned out. Go to med school, become a doctor, and leave everything else behind me. Get married at like thirty, maybe have a couple kids. As I was pondering the intricacies of my fate, I heard an increasingly severe knocking sound.
“SOLARE OPEN UP THE DOOR!”
Recoiling from the sound, I replied, “Jeez ok. The neighbors probably hate me because of you.”
I could tell that he was getting angrier. “Just open up the door Solare.” I relented and let him in. He strode in and sat at the couch without any shame. “Ok now show me the list you got from the government,” ordered Steven. I showed him the screen. After a few seconds of him reading the document he looked at me. “Thank god you called to me. The only legitimate university here is American University. Even the International University was a trick. The list I sent you had the International School of Magic while this has the International College of Magic.” He raked his hand through his hair. “What I need for you to do,” said Black, “Is to describe the individual who gave you this list.”
I described as best I could how Veronica looked and acted. I even told him about Chase, and how he talked to me in the end. Steven smiled and said, “The two who visited you are most likely a part of a mage family. As you know, most of the time, magical prowess is inherited, which means they probably wanted to make you attend a University which made you underneath their family. They probably did the good cop, bad cop routine, with Chase putting up a trustworthy front. And funny enough, besides American, these colleges are all private schools with exorbitant tuitions. They all have ties to the Napeters Pact.”
Curious, I asked, “What is the Napeters Pact?”
“Oh, it’s nothing much,” shrugged Steven. “It’s only an agreement between three mage families, the Peters, the Johnsons, and the Marshalls to work together. It’s only the third biggest organization in the East Coast, trailing behind the US government and the International Coalition of Magic. They probably wanted to secure your bloodline.”
I shuddered at the prospect at being at the mercy of the wizard families.
As Steven was opening more files he asked, “Did you look at the mana technique they sent you?”
Shaking my head, I said, “No. I figured if there were inconsistencies among the college list there might be problems with the other info they gave me.”
Raising his head, Steven looked at me. “Good news here everything else seems to be standard government issue. All together you’ll be fine.”
Steven stood up and glared at me. “Now don’t give me that look. I bet you were thinking all fire, brimstone, and revenge. Calm down.”
“I am calm.” Like the calm person I was, I clenched my fists and cracked my neck.
“Please Solare, don’t lie. I can tell. Look at this incident in a bigger perspective, they just gave you a college list. You could have, and easily, found out the truth. Most mage families try not to offend the talented ones because it somehow always hurts them if they do. If I am not mistaken, it was probably something the individual Victoria who you met did personally.”
”Steven, if just one person of this family is like this, what is the rest of the family like? They probably are all screwed up.”
“Kid… I guess while you are smart you don’t have enough experience. Do you really believe that an entire family of over one hundred people are all bad? Just because you got offended by one person? When you become powerful enough will you annihilate the entire family because one person did something bad? Blame the individual, not the organization. You need to realize the environment most mages are raised. Why are you more mature than your peers? It’s because you have experienced hardship from a young age and had to fend for yourself.”
Steven smiled. “Well I am happy I got through to you. You became a lot more relaxed overall and your posture became a lot more relaxed. You didn’t act like a typical teen and immediately reject whatever I said. Control your anger young one and you will succeed in life. This wise one will now take his leave.”
“Ha! What wise one? You’re kinda missing the long beard, the white hair, and the mountain,” I retorted. I walked him to the bottom of the apartment complex. We stayed silent as we walked down the three flights of stairs. He brought his car to the front of the entrance. After getting inside, he opened the window and leaned out.
“Hey Solare, I appreciate you calling me. Not many people act on a hunch and I respect that. I’ll see you around.” He sped off. Trudging back up the stairs I slammed my door. Picking up my phone I dialed a contact. The long ringtone played in my ear, it’s sound repeating over and over again.
“Hello?” asked a female voice.
“Hi Anna…” I replied.
“There is probably only one reason you would call me.” She sighed. “I’m free tonight at eight. You can come over then.”
“Thank you. I’ll see you then.” I hung up and laid the phone gently onto the table.