The captain’s long strides made Nero walk uncomfortably fast in order to keep up. Nero remembered that the captain walked like this when he brought Nero to the center. Apparently, the guy just walked quickly everywhere. ‘It must be a stat thing,’ Nero thought to himself.
Nero decided to ignore the fact that the Captain had almost a foot on him, and tended to ‘walk with purpose’.
Eventually the Captain led Nero to a small conference room off the lobby area, and he gestured for Nero to take a seat as he closed the door.
The conference room wasn’t large, but still kept to the Center’s theme of wood walls and artwork. There were no windows, and lighting was supplied by the glow panels that were so common. ‘At least this doesn’t look like an interrogation room,’ Nero thought as he sat down.
Taking a chair on the opposite side of the table, the Captain waved his hand and a small notebook and pen appeared in his hands. He then looked up at a confused Nero and said, “Now Mr. Walker, I want you to go over everything that you noticed from the moment you woke up, to when my detachment found you. You might have seen something useful that you don’t realize the importance of.”
Nero wasn’t listening, he was staring at the pen and notebook. “How did you do that? Was that an inventory?” Nero asked with an intense look on his face.
“Huh? How did I do what? I don’t have any goods. What are you talking about?” The Captain said as he looked around for what inventory the boy was gesturing towards.
“What? No. The paper and pen. How did you get them? They weren’t in your hands, then you did something, then you had them. How did you do that?” Nero asked, trying to be as specific as possible.
“Oh, right. You have no idea of what anything is. It’s a basic personal spell based on translocation magic. It accesses an inter-dimensional space that I tied to my soul so I could carry things around. I usually store some weapons and other basic necessities in mine.” He said as if he was explaining something simple to a child.
“This is why I want you to go over what you saw. I noticed the report filed with the Gate 7 Command made note of your very unique way of viewing what is important. Maybe you saw something that everyone else would KNOW to tell us about, but you didn’t think was important. You understand?” The Captain said.
Nero was only half listening. With that spell, he could carry all his books. He could carry food. Would it spoil? Was it time-locked like the inventory spaces in the stories? Could it store other things, like energy, fire, or a giant rock? How much could he store? What are the spell’s limitations?
“Are you listening, boy” The Captain said with annoyed look on his face as he rapped his knuckles loudly on the table.
“What? Oh yeah, totally. You want me tell you what happened after I woke up in the dead body. No problem.” Nero said, trying to backtrack in his memory like he was caught by a teacher while not paying attention. “But, I already told you what happened. Why do you want to hear it again?” Nero asked?
The Captain hung his head and sighed. “Just tell me your observations of everything from the moment you woke up until you saw me. OK?”
“Uh… sure. Well, I woke up to a bunch of pain. Then the pain went away. I saw a bunch of wolves eating the dead bodies, so I backed up slowly to the carriage. The wolves were acting weird, is that the kinda stuff you wanna know?” Nero asked.
The captain made a note, “Yes. How were the wolves ‘acting weird’?”
“Well, there was intelligence in their eyes. I could tell that they would ignore me if I didn’t interrupt their meal. They divided into groups to pull the bodies away and left some wolves to stand between me and their meal.” Nero said.
“That’s normal, even basic beasts in the open forest have some basic intelligence. Wolves have a strong essence bond among the packs, that’s not unusual. Next.” The captain said as he crossed out what he wrote.
“Um… observations right? Let me think.” Nero paused and furrowed his brow in thought. He went back over his experience that day, and the conclusion that he drew.
“Alright. So I found a few things that were interesting I guess. One, whoever attacked had looted all the bodies, and most of the goods right? Well, they didn’t take any women or anything. Isn’t that something bad guys do? Sex is a thing here right? I’m not saying that raping and pillaging is good, but don’t they usually go together? If these assholes were OK with killing and robbing a bunch of people, what stopped them from doing the really evil shit. So I thought that it must be soldiers under orders. Typically someone in charge sets limits on those below them. None of the bodies were disfigured or messed with. They just killed everybody as efficiently as possible. I didn’t notice anyone singled out. Um… So I thought that was weird.” Nero said as he stared off and kept going. Meanwhile, the Captain was taking notes and nodding with a thoughtful look on his face.
“Also, they looted everything. I had nothing in my pockets, no coin purse, not even a breath mint. I didn’t have a link, which is apparently super common. I didn’t check everyone else, but that seems weird now that I think about it,” Nero continued.
“That’s a good point,” The captain interrupted and sat up in his chair. He stopped writing and started thinking about something.
“Wait. Can they use the links to hack into the system and upload a virus into everyone’s head? Maybe they are using them to inject thoughts into the citizens to rebel! Or they could increase the input to create a feedback loop that melts everyone’s brains. Maybe something more subtle. They could be inputing fake identities into the network so that they can move through the city, hidden from those in power. Can they link them together to make an enemy Thought-hub? Or maybe it’s spy stuff, can they get into the city’s database and steal military secrets, or battle plans, or troop deployments? Maybe some secret magic that Oglivarch has? Does Oglivarch have some super powerful spell that is all that stands between it’s people and total destruction?” Nero rubbed his chin and went through all tropes that he could think of.
“What the hell are you talking about? The Thought-hub doesn’t work like that. Where do you come up with this stuff?” The Captain looked in horror at the kid who harbored such ridiculous conspiracy theories. He shook his head to clear the confusion, “They probably took them because someone’s link registered a contact that would be flagged when they came into range of the city. If a link senses someone who is of note, or in a weird place, a note is sent through filters until it gets to someone who would need to know about it. For example, no link should register you in the female locker room. If one does, whoever is in charge of that area at that time will be notified of the anomaly. Everyone in the city has a psychic profile, which acts as their ID. It’s useful for situations like today, when I decided I needed to speak with you. I thought about where you were; and because I’m a captain looking for you in the course of my duties, I was given the information about your whereabouts. If it were say, 26:00 and I just was curious where you were, the Thought-hub would deem the thought irrelevant and none of my business. Think of the Thought-hub of the city as the collective ‘will’ of the city. It can be tweaked by the logicians who work there, but it can’t be subverted. Does that clear things up?” The Captain asked.
“Not really, but I’ll take what I can get,” Nero replied. “So you think one of the links at the caravan registered the contact of a psychic profile that would have been recognized by the cities Thought-hub,” Nero rubbed his head like the sentence caused him pain. “You mean someone didn’t want to be ratted out by someone’s phone registering a contact with another phone that shouldn’t be there. All this means is that you have a traitor. I’m guessing some asshole is going to make money off getting the bad guys to be near the city. Probably a disgruntled noble who was promised power once the invasion succeeds. I’m guessing they are hiding the forces from your mages too. They are most likely gathering their strength and will invade soon, since they’ve been exposed.” Nero nodded and leaned back. He crossed his arms with a smile, happy to have solved the plot for season 2 while still in season 1.
The Captain shot to his feet, the color drained from his face. “How do you come to that conclusion from what I said?” He said as he placed his hands face down on the table and leaned over with his most intimidating glare.
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Nero’s smile faltered as he uncrossed his arms. “Um… it’s always some rich asshole. And the only reason a traitor would care if he was discovered was if he were someone important. You said the Icelanders shouldn’t be here, so someone had to help them get here. Also, what’s the point of sneaking in one raiding band. No one would pay for that, they’d pay to get an army. And the only people that fit all the plot-points are rich noble douche-bags. Why do people with power and money do anything… well, for more power and money. What’s going up for a noble? Killing the nobles above them and getting a promotion,” Nero finished quietly. “Um… not that I condone that type of behavior or anything like that… um… sir.”
The Captain leaned back and stretched to his full height, placing his hands on his belt. He looked down at Nero like the boy was a puzzle with missing pieces. “Boy, have you ever played the game?” he asked.
“Like the game of thrones or whatever? I saw every season… well the first season. But I doubt you’re talking about that. No sir, I haven’t played the game,” Nero said, realizing this was NOT the moment to poke the Captain.
“What is your learning path right now?” The Captain asked.
“My learning path? I signed up for a basic combat class, and my introduction to mag… I mean introduction to essence is starting next week. I am a worker-associate with a pretty sweet gig at the Research center,” Nero said, interested to see where the Captain was going with this.
“I’m going to offer you the opportunity to take the basics of combat with the army. We have better instructors, and we have classes daily for new recruits. The intro to essence is fine, but I’ll take a look into what basic combat caster classes we have. It’s not a common path, but I’ll see what I can do. You’ve been a great help, and you have a sharp mind. Keep it well honed. I’ll be in touch,” he said.
The Captain then waved his hand, and his notebook and pen vanished. Giving Nero a nod, he just turned and left the room.
Nero sat there in silence as he looked at the closed door. “I guess we’re done talking then?” He said to the now empty room. ‘Fucking weird people, can’t take two seconds to wish me a good day and shake my damned hand,’ he mentally groused.
Nero stood up, grumbled some more expletives as he strapped on his satchel, and then finally left the room.
Checking his link as to how to go back to his room, he noted the time and realized he could go back to class. Thinking of Lance, he decided that an early lunch might be a better idea. It was only 10:15, and Nero was already done with this day. He walked down the hallways and found himself back in the courtyard. At least it was a nice day.
Walking into the lobby of the dorms, he smiled and nodded to everyone. He was becoming more accustomed to the constant aura of courtesy. He was almost through the door to the cafeteria, when he was stopped short.
Suddenly appearing in front of him was... the hawk. Ms. Averett popped into existence like she was summoned from the ether to catch the unaware. Standing with her arms crossed, her presence appeared as though it was always there, filling the hallway. Nero froze like a teenager caught smoking behind the gym. Unbidden, the words came out of Nero’s mouth.
“I didn’t do it. It wasn’t me,” he said.
A slight tilting of one side of her mouth was the only hint of a smile. She said, “You’re supposed to be in basic combat class with that fancy-man Stamford. Why. Are. You. Here?”
Nero took a few seconds in order to reboot his brain. “Oh, well I got pulled out of class by Captain Angelton to... Oh, he was the head of the army people that found me with the merchant caravan. He just wanted to ask me some questions about what I saw. Then he told me that I was going to be training with the army recruits. He said he’ll contact me about it,” Nero said.
He then smiled innocently, “I didn’t skip class. I was just following orders ma’am. It’s important to respect the chain of command.”
Her eyes narrowed, “Alright, I’ll personally look into this situation.”
As she lowered her arms and started to turn away, she paused and locked her side-eye gaze on Nero. “Normally I wouldn’t care, but your psychic field screams chaos. I can spot a trouble maker on sight. Did you know that I’m the oldest of 7 children, and all of those little bastards are boys. Always causing chaos. I can feel you being mostly honest, yet shaping the narrative to your benefit. You’re the kind of young man that can either be a demon or a god. I chose to work in the Center dorms for a reason. The young need help finding their path. You have my attention now, and I WILL help you find yours,” she said in a quiet yet firm voice.
With those ominous words echoing into Nero’s mind, she walked off.
Nero stood at attention with his hands at his side, just watching her leave. He didn’t want to move, or she might come back. ‘What a terrifyingly competent lady,’ he thought to himself while trying to shake off the encounter.
Nero wondered why all the women around here were so intimidating. ‘Where the hell are the women with book clubs that complain about… whatever it is they complain about?’ he wondered.
Pondering what kind of ‘book club’ the hawk would attend, he shivered, and walked off.
Nero decided to skip lunch and just go back to his room.
Walking through the halls and taking a look at everyone’s robes, he realized what he was missing. He was at this worlds equivalent of the ivy league, surrounded by this world’s elites. There must be people in the city who don’t do anything. They must have a bowling league equivalent, the home owner’s associations; not everyone in this world would be like these people. There must be people that ‘work to live’, rather than ‘live to work’.
Getting to his room, he entered and tossed his bag at the desk. He went to the bathroom to do his business and grab a glass of water. With a pleased sigh, he sat down at his desk. Nero looked around the room. There was no television. No mini fridge. No music player.
‘You just ditched a class on learning how to fight, in order to study?’ he said to himself with an amused smile.
Shaking it off, Nero thought it best not to dwell on the implications. He had magic to learn. Seeing that his center was close to full, he noticed that he had a spare star.
‘Oh yeah, I leveled last night,’ he thought.
Nero brought up his link to send a message to Nick. He carefully thought about sending ONLY a message to Nick. Nero tried to focus on the IMPORTANCE of it being a message, NOT a call. He got an image in his head of a red sheet of paper that was blank. ‘I should call this mind mail, or m-mail,’ Nero decided.
Looking at the blank page in his head, he wondered why it was red. Dismissing the color as unimportant, he wrote out his note:
‘Hey Nick,
I leveled again last night. LOL. So I have another star available. I know you want to record me using them in your forge. Remember our deal. I get free room and board, a job where I don’t have to do anything, and all the classes I want. You get to put me in the lights. Oh, by the way, you still owe me the magic stuff you promised me. It was your fault for telling your wife about the stars. I specifically didn’t say anything about it:) I was very careful:p I’ll be waiting to hear from you.
- Nero’
It couldn’t hurt to remind Nick the benefits that he could gain by getting Nero a job and what-not.
Happy that his machinations were moving forward. Nero buckled down, and pulled out his books. He planned to hide in his room until dinner, go eat, and then come right back and get into it again. He opened his ‘Understanding the basics of Essence’ book, got his pen and paper for notes ready, and took a deep breath. ‘The Grind begins,’ he thought with relish.
That lasted about 5 minutes. Nero received a ping on his link. Focusing on the incoming connection, he was lambasted by the presence of Mrs. Salvatore. “Nick was called into the Gate 7 army compound for a meeting with the command staff. I couldn’t find anything out. Did you accuse him of something?” She asked in a tight voice before Nero could even say ‘hi’.
“Um, what? I mean... nothing. I didn’t talk about Nick at all. The Captain…. The one who found me… He showed up earlier this morning and just asked me about what I remember from the merchant train attack. We didn’t talk about Nick at all. I don’t know anything about it. Is there anything I could do to help?” Nero asked, completely confused. Once again, he was speaking his part of the conversation out loud. But now he was speaking to an empty room. If someone were watching, they’d think he was arguing with the voices in his head.
Nero could feel her mind calming. “No, it’s fine. I don’t know why the army would be involved anyway. We’ll figure it out. By the way, your paperwork is in for your work-associate status, and Nick has a meeting with the Research council tomorrow. Make sure to fill out the forms waiting for you on the Center-hub,” Vera said as she closed the connection.
A little stunned, Nero just sat there like a lump. ‘OK, good talk,’ he remarked to himself.
Nero looked down at the book he just started. Instead of reading anything, he just went back over the conversation with the Captain in his head. Nero couldn’t think of anything that had to do with Nick. Wait, the captain referenced a file that must have come from intake. That was probably the file for his soul-check or whatever. That’s the connection. He wondered if there was anything concerning the testing which could hurt him. Nothing came to mind. Is it worth calling the Captain, or Nick to stick his nose into this? He couldn’t see any benefit to being involved. Either something comes up that he has to deal with, or he never hears anything about it again. ‘Don’t go looking for trouble, I already have enough on my plate,’ he reminded himself.
Nero decided to forget about the situation and get back to his magic studies. He’ll get to the paperwork for the job later. For now…. ‘The Grind continues’….