Saiko rests on a tree branch enjoying the gentle breeze. She opens her eyes to look toward the building that used to be her home.
the building sat on top of a hill surrounded by trees that sang with rustles and danced with the gentle breeze.
The serene atmosphere and the bright sunlight reflecting off of the white walls of the building gave off a holy presence as if the divine dwelt within the shining white building.
-Remember Saiko -
The eyes of the silver cat grow wide in shock on hearing the familiar yet unexpected voice.
her eyes dart to the side of the building looking for the source of the voice.
she sees an old human man hanging up the laundry to dry on a simple clothesline hanging between the branches of the trees at the side of the white building.
the man's body looks healthy and youthful.
one wouldn't be able to tell his age if not for his gray hair and wrinkled skin. he is wearing a black buttoned up coat and black formal pants and had a black belt over his coat with an old book hanging from it.
the book had a black hard cover with gold colored decorations and the title was written with ancient letters that Saiko didn't know the meaning of.
her eyes start to tear up as the youthful old man continues to speak
-All people are born with a good nature however our spirits are drawn to evil. Evil is an enchanting mistress, it can be very tempting, and it will offer you an easier and faster solution to your problems but that solution will always make things worse in the long run, which is why your will must be strong and unwavering so you may resist her temptation -
-that's easy for you to say, old man-
Saiko's eyes drift behind the old man following the second familiar voice there she sees a younger version of herself sitting on an old tree stump behind the old man.
the old man chuckles lightly.
- indeed, it is much easier to say my child that's why great people are not those who preach but those who act -
the old man smiles and walks closer to the young saiko then kneels in front of her and pats her head
- and I believe you can be one of those great people my child -
the old man gets up with a smile and turns toward the building
- alright saiko let's go ba- - I AM HERE-
-I AM HERE -
-I AM HERE -
Saiko opens her eyes and wakes up feeling groggy from sleeping in the car, they had gone to an abandoned ghost town and slept inside the car
_What's with that lame ringtone_
~`It's not lame it's the catchphrase of an ancient hero who was living in Japan in the 21st century ~
_ And you made that into a ringtone _ she asks with a confused look
- yeah- Ken responds with a proud smile while Saiko gives him a look that screams ' you are an idiot '
Ken ignores her and touches his watch. the ringtone stops, and then a small holographic blue screen appears in front of him showing a call from Rin, Ken picks up the call. the screen shows Rin sitting sideways on a comfy chair in the secret room of his shop.
-Hey I snitched on you to the police- Rin says while munching on some snacks
~Good, did they confirm our location yet?~ Ken answers with a knowing smile like he expected it
Rin nods- Yes, they did they have a satellite set on you right now.
Saiko raises an eyebrow while watching the two of them rather confused
_You are surprisingly okay with being snitched on_ she says with a questioning tone
~what they locked on is a fake, it's a solid illusion spell covering a golem combined with an electromagnetic distortion device and a remove tracks spell to hide our real locati~
Rin interrupts ken
- okay we get it we get it, you think of every little detail, also for the record they had updated their security system so it will cost you more this time-
~ sure thing buddy, how about a 20 % increase that should cover it ~
- no double -
~ DOUBLE THAT’S BLATANT THEFT ~ Ken exclaims
Rin shivers as he seems to recall something
- you don’t get man, there’s something weird with their AI ……no it wasn’t their AI it was something else that thing was way too smart and it was a powerful techno mage it felt like it wouldn’t stop at just hacking my computer but it felt like it was going to hack my mind I could feel it brush against my consciousness I shudder at the memory of it -
Ken looks at the horrified Rin with surprise, it was his first time seeing Rin in such a state
~ told you there’s something wrong with the government~
Rin shakes his head to get rid of the memory then looks at Ken
- whatever just pay, and know that I will not take less than double-
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Ken sighs giving up not wanting to waste more time on negotiations knowing he will only have a few minutes
~ fine did they start moving ~
- yes, they are on their way to your location right now -
Ken gets out of his car to the empty ghost town and walks towards an Aether port on the edge of the town, he then takes out his Digital grimoire and connects it to an old metal pillar in the middle of the town's Aether port
Saiko gets out of the car and follows Ken
_ So I have a question, what's with the watch? why not use the Aether net?_
~well, I don't know if it's true but I suspect the government is somehow able to monitor everything on the aethernet and I do mean everything~
_ That's impossible that's too much information for anyone to monitor _
~well, for any normal human yes, but a powerful techno mage connected to multiple quantum computers well, it's suddenly not that impossible anymore, I long suspected that the government keeps the strongest techno mages for itself, and Rin’s recent experience seems to confirm that ~
he continues ~ well to go around that we made these watches, instead of using the aethernet they use Rin's techno magic connection with the watches so the information collected by the watch gets translated into mana signatures rather than electromagnetic waves, the mana signatures then travel to Rin's brain and from it to the other watch you are trying to call and that watch translates the mana signatures back to electromagnetic waves, in fact, you should have one too ~
he takes a watch out of his pocket and gives it to Saiko
Saiko pauses for a moment looking at Ken then takes the watch and wears it -I am not even going to pretend I got any of that, so anyway, care to tell me why we came here -
~ we will be teleporting to Hermapolis~
_ last time I checked teleportation can be done from anywhere it's just another spell why do we need to be here _
- well, you are not wrong. however, that’s only correct for short distance teleportation when it comes to long distance teleportation, you will have to take into account many things like the rotation of the earth, its speed, and place in its orbit, and the difference in latitude lines between the two points you are moving to and from, etc etc ~
the metal pillar begins to glow
~if you mess up any of these, the only place you will be teleporting to is outer space, and that's why you need to use one of these pillars, they are all connected in a network, and each of them records their coordinates in space constantly to act as guides for teleportation, they also do all needed calculations for the portals, so the only way for safe long distance teleportation is through one of them -
_ oh, I see I always thought that teleportation is only allowed from Aether ports to monitor immigration or smuggling, I didn’t know it had a practical reason too, but why is there an Aether port in the middle of a random ghost town _
- it wasn’t random, it was made here to teleport the scandium that’s mind in the area when the mining ended and the town was abandoned no one bothered to break everything they left it to the elements no profits in breaking stuff down, aahh and I am done we are ready to teleport now -
_ wait won’t they detect us when we teleport the Aether field should be constantly monitored _
Ken smiles smugly proud of himself
~ that’s why I made a false illusion, by making them go to a false location it will give us a few minutes after they detect us for them to bring their Men back to their base and then teleport them after us, and those few minutes are all we need ~
_ my God you really do think of everything a clap and a half to you_
Saiko smiles and claps for Ken as Rin chimes in
- told you so the dude is a freak I doubt he is a sapien sometimes -
_ They have a lot of other teams though couldn’t they just send another team ?_ Saiko asks
~ they could, but I am placing my money on them wanting to keep this as tight lipped as possible, so they will probably have their best team on the job, but only their best team, so they won’t risk sending another team and increase the risk of information spreading ~
Ken picks the teleportation spell from his digital grimoire, and a large blue portal appears in front of them
~ let's go~
with a proud smile from knowing everything is going according to his plan, Ken walks to the car passenger seat and opens the door then bows towards Saiko
~ my lady, your ride awaits you ~
Saiko chuckles at Ken then walks to the car and enters
_ what a true gentleman you are _
~ I pride myself on following the example of old knights and heroes ~
Ken smiles then walks to the driver seat and enters the car
Saiko looks at him with an amused look _ what kind of knights and heroes go around stealing, hacking, kicking, and mocking defenseless people, I could go on_
Ken's confident smile continues unwaveringly ~well, just add a hypocrite to the list of crimes, problem solved~
Saiko looks bewildered by the answer and face palms as Ken drives through the portal
at the other edge of the town, a girl with the eyes of a predator opens a similar blue portal and walks through it after Ken and Saiko leave
**********************
A few minutes earlier
location: the town of bounty hunters, the central nation
Jorden walks around the town in a really sour mood, today was supposed to be his day off, he was going to go on a date with his girlfriend but instead, he is in a wasteland of a town filled with bounty hunters.
-tsk damn bounty hunters -
Jorden always hated bounty hunters, a bunch of lawless violent savages that would do anything for money, even now he was called to work because one of them had stolen some kind of ancient artifact.
Jorden is a member of strike team 1 and his code name is 05, they were called by the director of GSTF to find the artifact and the people who stole it by any means necessary.
he always hated when that sentence was used, he joined the police force to hunt down criminals but sometimes, on some of these missions, he felt like he was the criminal.
- I should stop this line of thought I am sure the higher ups have their reasons, anyway, I have to report to the team leader-
Jorden walks to an armored camouflaged vehicle at the center of the town.
in front of the vehicle stands a man with blonde spiky hair and blue sparkly eyes, and pointed short ears a signature trait of half elves, unlike the men surrounding him, he wore no armor but a simple black coat with formal black pants and shirt.
- team leader I received a report from a shop owner that the suspects headed west after buying several spells -
- did you hear that operator; it matches the reports of other witnesses -
- shouldn’t you be calling your fiancée by her name Agent Claus, and yes, I have heard -
the operator responds to the team leader through their team's Aether channel from the team's base back in the capital, the operator sits on her desk and then uses her techno magic to connect with the satellite system of the united world and scans for the suspects.
the operator is a human with blueish silver bob cut hair, she wears a silver sleeveless long coat that goes past her knees, and covers her standard operator armor and gear;
- operator Sophia we are on a mission -
Sophia rolls her eyes - alright well agent double 0 I will have you know that I locked onto the location of the suspects -
Jorden and the rest of the men become alert
- team leader, we will proceed to intercept them - Jorden announces
- hmm alright - Claus nods and continues - sure, do that -
The men rush to their positions, and in a matter of seconds they are all in the vehicle and ready to leave
- we are ready and waiting for you team leader - another member of the team says when he notices Claus doesn't enter the vehicle
- no, you can go without me - Claus responds
The men look confused
- what about you captain - Jorden asks
- I will return to the base -
a portal opens in front of him as Jorden and the rest of the team look in confusion but then they proceed with their mission and leave to capture the suspects
****************
location: the base of strike team 1, the world capital
Sophia turns from her desk to face Claus who just arrived through a portal
- so why didn’t you go with them - she asks
- the Suspects won’t be there -
- what makes you think so -
- there are reports of them wearing illusion masks and entering the town unnoticed, if they had access to them why wouldn’t they use them to hide now, something is wrong-
An alarm rings in Sophia's mind through her connection with the satellite system and her lips curl up into a smile
- looks like you’re right. there’s an illegal teleportation detected -
-naturally -Claus nods then continue- now send me there –