I can teleport my whole glider and my engine while in flight. Good that this worked, but I am too close to the ground now. I land in a parking lot of a factory. It is empty. Have they closed down due to supply troubles? It is possible, but I have no way to be sure. Should I stay here? No, too close.

Luck is on my side. There is a bus stop and the next bus will come in two minutes.

Am I a fugitive criminal now? I have not been tried and sentenced. The Network won’t care. For the government this meant that I was wanted for leaving my place of duty during a war as a drafted civillian. I need a plan. But before I need a plan I need principles to base it on.

1. I need to be outside the area the Network can touch me.

2. I want to fill all my slots.

3. I need to provide for my family and house plants.

Number #3 is the easiest. I am technically still a free citizen. I fill out the form that will allow my neighbour to get and drive my car. I write my sister a letter giving her the power to access my bank account. My neighbour is already watering the plants.

I am not in immediate danger. I have time for now. I don’t need to eat. I don’t need a bathroom. What I can conjure is better than any conventional tent. I do not need clothing. I am always armed. I can produce something that will keep watch while I sleep.

Now that I put it that way, has my power set been preparing for this day?

How can they track me? One way is obvious: My phone. You cannot buy totally anonymous phones in this country and I know no illicit sources. That leaves me without a phone.

I still need network connectivity. Do they have the MAC addresses of my computer? Probably yes. So my first stop is a shopping centre to buy a new laptop and tablet. The same stop yields me a bicycle, well actually two of them, because I cannot be sure I can fix damage on the road. Thus I also have the vehicle that takes me to my next destination: a public library.

They have free WiFi and books. That leads to a quick decision: My goal is Turkey. They have thrown the GDN out. They’ll need me. That done, I am heading for my next stop, a dying species: a book shop. I fear they may remember the man who bought physical maps of all of Europe and Asia Minor and a GPS device without internet connectivity. That is why I buy maps of all of Europe.

The next stop is really expensive, but it needs to be done. I buy a solar array and a battery for camping and utensils for cooking as a camper. These people are very, very happy to see a customer. Few people go camping while monsters roam the country. They have only the minimum staffing they need to get the public aid money, but so be it.

This requires me to be honest. I am enjoying this. Am I a fugitive at heart?

At least I know that I am an essence magician:

Gun: [Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 1 (10%) [Joy of Sustained Fire] Blood Special Attack Iron 1 (15%) [This is my Gun] Myriad Special Attack/Conjuration

Iron 1 (8%)

(unused)

0%

(unused) 0% Vast: [Giant Form of the Ancestors] Special Ability Iron 0 (26%) [Immortality] Tree Special Ability Iron 0 (6%) [Nebelwerfer 42] Focus Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (0%) (unused) 0% (unused) 0% Dimension: [Teleport] Special Ability Iron 0 (71%) [Dance by my Will] Dance Aura Ability Iron 1 (33%) [Eternal Moment] Reach Special Ability Iron 0 (58%) [Path in Time] Hunt Perception Ability Iron 0 (92%) [Wrath of the Magister] Corruption Special Attack/Spell Iron 0 (21%) Battlefield: [Equip the Army] Special Ability Iron 1 (36%) [Robotic Servant of War] Magotech Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (44%) (unused) 0% (unused) 0% (unused) 0%

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Meet Kon-Tiki #1, the world’s first four-oar, self-rowing double outrigger canoe. She is about 5 meters from bow to stern, which is a little less than my inventory power can take at most and about 70 cm broad in her middle part. She has held me snuggly this night.

I intend to spend today with meditation and my Turkish for beginners book and to row out under the cover of night.

Just as the sun touches the horizon I hear a ring in my mind. - That phone I had almost forgotten about is ringing. With a sense of dread I get it out of my inventory.