The Mages
There are many kinds of spellcasters in this era. Wizards, who are the learners, the ones that don’t have the natural talent, but work their way into becoming a magic-user. Sorcerers are those who are natural at the ways of magic. The talented ones usually learn faster than a Wizard and can outdo them in terms of speed of learning, not to mention their bloodline is brimming with magical potency. Then there’s a Warlock, the guys who don’t have an ounce of talent and turn towards otherworldly creatures for supernatural abilities. Typically it’s the demons and spirits they make contact with.
But the one I’m meeting right now is the kind who uses their bloodline to greater effect. Not content with the kind of power their blood brings.
Victoria Florence, a Corpo-Mage who contacted the office two days ago and has finally decided on the place she wants to meet. In a world where affordable beauty is commonplace, this woman has one of those that you can’t differentiate. One thing for sure is she’s beautiful. Blonde hair and blue eyes with a crystalized earring and multi-colored gems. She’s wearing top of the line workshop designer clothes and on her right arm is a spell bracelet full of spells she stored.
She isn’t the kind who you usually find in Lower Changye and one look at her you can find your eyeballs feeling itchy. Tech numbs you to certain effects, but if you’re still meat, then you can sense the power.
It’s hard to grade Mages based on their ability. Mages aren’t exactly the kind who’d share their spells and they aren’t exactly opened to the idea of open scrutiny either.
We are in a café in midway nexus. She's eating a strawberry cake patiently. Sometimes watching the scene outside. The midway nexus isn’t a bad spot if you just want to watch this in-between. Like a wall of clouds separating Changye. It also helps that the company is pleasant.
“A wall of clouds,” the woman chuckles. “Isn’t it quite lovely?”
It really is. Still, as much as I like looking at this beauty. I am being paid for this meeting.
“It is. But shall we move on to business, Ma’am?”
She smiles prettily. She adjusts her hair and then leans forward while joining her fingers. One might mistake her fingernails to be painted, but the tiny markings on it seems to be runes.
“I like that. Patient, but gentlemanly. Pardon me, but I have seen your records personally.”
“Oh. Please be assured that—”
“Not those kinds of records. The other records.”
My head cools down. I lean back and square my shoulders. She smiles gleefully and spreads her hands.
“What shall I call you then?”
“The same name.”
“So you’ve taken this ‘Akun’ as yours?”
“I prefer it now.”
“Names hold meaning. I will respect that.”
I breathed in. I guess she was far too relaxed. The Corpo-Mage outfit should have been the clue. Then again, I was always a sucker for her kind. Always feel like I can spend the day eating cake and drinking tea or coffee.
“I’m assuming there is more to this?”
“Of course,” she brings out her best demeanor. “I believe I’m asking for a Wisp.”
“I’m an Anomalist.”
She shifts to the side.
“And it’s why I’m hoping for your attention. This Wisp is unlike anything we’ve seen.”
She takes out a data stick. I plugged it on my transmitter and browsed through the data. She shared the view through the augmented reality wreath and I was swimming with her in this world.
She stands on the side in her avatar form. A familiar form that I’ve not seen for the past few years. The puzzles settled in and finally I was able to connect to the dots.
“So it was you Cindy.”
“Ain’t it nice, Fade?
Her tone changes to a familiar one. A voice I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear, but still wants to keep it on my head.
“Yeah. So that’s your name, huh.”
“I know yours, but you seem to do the same thing. Always the mask and new name. I am quite surprised however, Fade. Did you take a liking to your new Boss?”
I snorted and sat cross-legged on the digital space. Browsing through the data.
“You tell me.”
“I think you do. I admit she has quite a charm. I like women like her.”
“I bet you do.”
“Don’t be jealous. I’m still your number one and you are mine. Ain’t that fair?”
“Glad that the business with demis didn’t change you.”
“Oh, you know me,” she suspends herself upside down. “I’m always myself.”
I look at my body and then the space.
“This is 2x faster than usual.”
“More like 10x. Technomagic is rather lovely these days.”
“So you dabble on to these.”
“Which doesn’t seem to surprise you at all.”
I had some guesses she’s not just a good gearhead. She was good with some of the terms only a mage or an avid fan of the arcane has. Not to mention she has the smugness that Mages have.
“Not fair. I’m only that way when I hear other people talking. Besides, you know me best.”
“Data's a lot to process, Cindy.”
“Well, you can handle it. Besides, I want to catch up.”
“Sure.”
She swims around the space. Like a mermaid having fun at the thought of this world she can freely enter. Reminds me of the time where we’re just nobodies trying to make it. Free from any corpo bullshit or being under someone’s heel. But you have to belong somewhere and even buddies you know you’d die for have to find their own paths in life. You can’t expect to hang around you. They have lives to spend. Things to do. No matter what your achievement is, then they all have to do what they want.
Cindy here is using me. But the damn thing is I know I can trust her more than anyone. Or maybe that’s what I’m telling myself.
“Ci. If you want to use me. Just tell me straight.”
“No, I don’t want to use you. I’m offended if you actually think that, Fade.”
“Just want to hear it from your voice.”
She giggles.
“This is a bad place for me. We’ll catch up after business. Besides, I was gambling about something.”
“What gamble?”
“Whether you’re not to my taste or not. And honestly, it’s not bad. The suit fits you, but the coat needs to go.”
“I get that a lot.”
“It’s nice. But really old and unfitting. Not to mention it has the history of your previous workplaces. Traceable.”
I sifted through the last of the data and understood the assignment. I pulled myself out of the space and met eyes with Cindy.
“So, Victoria. I got the request. I’ll keep in contact with you and find more about this wisp.”
“You do that.”
I put away my transmitter and lean back. The smile on Cindy’s face became brighter. A smile that resembles something I’ve known a long time ago.
“So with business over. How about we get out of this place? I need time to catch up in the meatspace too…”
***
A day later I got back to the office with the data. Opening the door, I saw Kei reading on her pad. She looks up and takes a long drag of her cigarette.
“Got distracted, I see.”
I sat down and handed the data the stick. She pulls the data stick and takes a sniff of me.
“I’ll be,” she claps her hands. “And here I thought you were a workaholic. Glad you can have fun.”
She leans forward.
“So, is she pretty?”
I shrug. Kei leans back and crosses her arms.
“Only person you’d meet is the Mage… oh… my. Saw her pics. Damn, not bad my friend. Not bad at all.”
I cross my arms defensively.
“So you swung both ways, Boss?”
“Depends.”
“What a non-answer, Boss.”
“Hey, I don’t poke my nose at what you do. And you don’t poke at mine.” She shrugs and then takes a good look at the wisp anomaly. “Not bad. This is new… still fresh. Oh, our Mage friend sure knows how to pick something interesting.”
Now I’m getting curious.
“It looks like they might have been trying to find way to use wisps as conductors… and amplifiers”
“How does that work?”
“By sharing their senses to the Wisp. Through the eyes of the Wisp, they can see better and read the flow of magic very well.”
“I’m guessing there’s a ‘but’ to this.”
“It’s like taking DMT using your eyes. It gets you addicted fast.”
“Not sure what makes this an anomaly yet.”
She transfers the data to her personal workstation and displays it on the screen.
“Fairy dust is what they call it on the market. Difference is that this wisp has certain colors.”
“And the colors matter?”
“Who knows? Wisp powder can turn into fairy dust. Good product too. But that’s not it, Akun. Not the best thing about all of this.”
She switches to a part I skimmed. It didn’t click to me at first, but now she’s pointing it out with interest. It finally did.
“Asexual reproduction… this is big.”
Wisps don’t give birth. They happen. They are molded out of existence from a few essences and turn into a wisp. This one however can asexually produce, meaning to say even without the essences needed to make one, it can produce wisps.
“The lifespan. The age.”
“Whew. No wonder the Mage’s interested in this. It can earn some cash and we can make money out of it too.”
“Drug’s a problem.”
“Yeah. Got a feeling OB’s going to tighten the claw around the damn thing fast. So our Mage wants to get the word out. Once the word’s out, she can get the attention of the Mages and slow down the chokehold.”
“Can we do this?”
“Why not?”
She grins widely and cracks her fingers.
“This is money and honestly I want to see what we can do with this. We need some good clicks and right now the possibility of an asexual creature reproducing will get the attention of the masses. Not to mention, my assistant. Wisp powder means more healing salves, and which means more supply for that. We And if our Mage friend is true to her word, we’ll have access to the good stuff while they study it.”
She presses to the next slide.
“Looks like it’s easy. Too easy.”
“Well, it isn’t an instant money maker for us, but we can live with it for a while. Of course, it looks like our Mage friend is willing to cooperate on anomalies.”
The smile on her face seems like she’s implying something. I wave her implications and turn my attention to the mail Kei sent me.
Looks like Ci has taken interest in Anomalies. She got through the connections and made deals with Sato as well. Probably for the best too since sooner or later the magic-side are going to have their claws on this. They already made moves so it’s the natural move to have someone at the Mages side. And honestly, despite how corpos act, they provide a big fucking wall of security as long as their interests aligned with us. And after that whole shit with the Vamps on Vultan. Lot of eyes are now on finding that fucking formula again.
“Guess that’s that then.”
“Well, we have to protect our interest. Listen. It’s not like I’m expecting we’d remain a top provider, but as long as we remain a trusted one. Money will keep coming in and I think having contacts with the Mages will make it easier for us to find anomalies too. The opinion of a Mage is valuable, Akun. It’ll make life easier for us too. They know how to sniff things out. Besides, it’s not like you’re against the idea.”
She’s not wrong. I might have double-thoughts if it’s some other corpo-mage, but if Cindy’s joined with this one. Then we can do business with them.
The Mages
There are many kinds of spellcasters in this era. Wizards, who are the learners, the ones that don’t have the natural talent, but work their way into becoming a magic-user. Sorcerers are those who are natural at the ways of magic. The talented ones usually learn faster than a Wizard and can outdo them in terms of speed of learning, not to mention their bloodline is brimming with magical potency. Then there’s a Warlock, the guys who don’t have an ounce of talent and turn towards otherworldly creatures for supernatural abilities. Typically it’s the demons and spirits they make contact with.
But the one I’m meeting right now is the kind who uses their bloodline to greater effect. Not content with the kind of power their blood brings.
Victoria Florence, a Corpo-Mage who contacted the office two days ago and has finally decided on the place she wants to meet. In a world where affordable beauty is commonplace, this woman has one of those that you can’t differentiate. One thing for sure is she’s beautiful. Blonde hair and blue eyes with a crystalized earring and multi-colored gems. She’s wearing top of the line workshop designer clothes and on her right arm is a spell bracelet full of spells she stored.
She isn’t the kind who you usually find in Lower Changye and one look at her you can find your eyeballs feeling itchy. Tech numbs you to certain effects, but if you’re still meat, then you can sense the power.
It’s hard to grade Mages based on their ability. Mages aren’t exactly the kind who’d share their spells and they aren’t exactly opened to the idea of open scrutiny either.
We are in a café in midway nexus. She's eating a strawberry cake patiently. Sometimes watching the scene outside. The midway nexus isn’t a bad spot if you just want to watch this in-between. Like a wall of clouds separating Changye. It also helps that the company is pleasant.
“A wall of clouds,” the woman chuckles. “Isn’t it quite lovely?”
It really is. Still, as much as I like looking at this beauty. I am being paid for this meeting.
“It is. But shall we move on to business, Ma’am?”
She smiles prettily. She adjusts her hair and then leans forward while joining her fingers. One might mistake her fingernails to be painted, but the tiny markings on it seems to be runes.
“I like that. Patient, but gentlemanly. Pardon me, but I have seen your records personally.”
“Oh. Please be assured that—”
“Not those kinds of records. The other records.”
My head cools down. I lean back and square my shoulders. She smiles gleefully and spreads her hands.
“What shall I call you then?”
“The same name.”
“So you’ve taken this ‘Akun’ as yours?”
“I prefer it now.”
“Names hold meaning. I will respect that.”
I breathed in. I guess she was far too relaxed. The Corpo-Mage outfit should have been the clue. Then again, I was always a sucker for her kind. Always feel like I can spend the day eating cake and drinking tea or coffee.
“I’m assuming there is more to this?”
“Of course,” she brings out her best demeanor. “I believe I’m asking for a Wisp.”
“I’m an Anomalist.”
She shifts to the side.
“And it’s why I’m hoping for your attention. This Wisp is unlike anything we’ve seen.”
She takes out a data stick. I plugged it on my transmitter and browsed through the data. She shared the view through the augmented reality wreath and I was swimming with her in this world.
She stands on the side in her avatar form. A familiar form that I’ve not seen for the past few years. The puzzles settled in and finally I was able to connect to the dots.
“So it was you Cindy.”
“Ain’t it nice, Fade?
Her tone changes to a familiar one. A voice I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear, but still wants to keep it on my head.
“Yeah. So that’s your name, huh.”
“I know yours, but you seem to do the same thing. Always the mask and new name. I am quite surprised however, Fade. Did you take a liking to your new Boss?”
I snorted and sat cross-legged on the digital space. Browsing through the data.
“You tell me.”
“I think you do. I admit she has quite a charm. I like women like her.”
“I bet you do.”
“Don’t be jealous. I’m still your number one and you are mine. Ain’t that fair?”
“Glad that the business with demis didn’t change you.”
“Oh, you know me,” she suspends herself upside down. “I’m always myself.”
I look at my body and then the space.
“This is 2x faster than usual.”
“More like 10x. Technomagic is rather lovely these days.”
“So you dabble on to these.”
“Which doesn’t seem to surprise you at all.”
I had some guesses she’s not just a good gearhead. She was good with some of the terms only a mage or an avid fan of the arcane has. Not to mention she has the smugness that Mages have.
“Not fair. I’m only that way when I hear other people talking. Besides, you know me best.”
“Data's a lot to process, Cindy.”
“Well, you can handle it. Besides, I want to catch up.”
“Sure.”
She swims around the space. Like a mermaid having fun at the thought of this world she can freely enter. Reminds me of the time where we’re just nobodies trying to make it. Free from any corpo bullshit or being under someone’s heel. But you have to belong somewhere and even buddies you know you’d die for have to find their own paths in life. You can’t expect to hang around you. They have lives to spend. Things to do. No matter what your achievement is, then they all have to do what they want.
Cindy here is using me. But the damn thing is I know I can trust her more than anyone. Or maybe that’s what I’m telling myself.
“Ci. If you want to use me. Just tell me straight.”
“No, I don’t want to use you. I’m offended if you actually think that, Fade.”
“Just want to hear it from your voice.”
She giggles.
“This is a bad place for me. We’ll catch up after business. Besides, I was gambling about something.”
“What gamble?”
“Whether you’re not to my taste or not. And honestly, it’s not bad. The suit fits you, but the coat needs to go.”
“I get that a lot.”
“It’s nice. But really old and unfitting. Not to mention it has the history of your previous workplaces. Traceable.”
I sifted through the last of the data and understood the assignment. I pulled myself out of the space and met eyes with Cindy.
“So, Victoria. I got the request. I’ll keep in contact with you and find more about this wisp.”
“You do that.”
I put away my transmitter and lean back. The smile on Cindy’s face became brighter. A smile that resembles something I’ve known a long time ago.
“So with business over. How about we get out of this place? I need time to catch up in the meatspace too…”
***
A day later I got back to the office with the data. Opening the door, I saw Kei reading on her pad. She looks up and takes a long drag of her cigarette.
“Got distracted, I see.”
I sat down and handed the data the stick. She pulls the data stick and takes a sniff of me.
“I’ll be,” she claps her hands. “And here I thought you were a workaholic. Glad you can have fun.”
She leans forward.
“So, is she pretty?”
I shrug. Kei leans back and crosses her arms.
“Only person you’d meet is the Mage… oh… my. Saw her pics. Damn, not bad my friend. Not bad at all.”
I cross my arms defensively.
“So you swung both ways, Boss?”
“Depends.”
“What a non-answer, Boss.”
“Hey, I don’t poke my nose at what you do. And you don’t poke at mine.” She shrugs and then takes a good look at the wisp anomaly. “Not bad. This is new… still fresh. Oh, our Mage friend sure knows how to pick something interesting.”
Now I’m getting curious.
“It looks like they might have been trying to find way to use wisps as conductors… and amplifiers”
“How does that work?”
“By sharing their senses to the Wisp. Through the eyes of the Wisp, they can see better and read the flow of magic very well.”
“I’m guessing there’s a ‘but’ to this.”
“It’s like taking DMT using your eyes. It gets you addicted fast.”
“Not sure what makes this an anomaly yet.”
She transfers the data to her personal workstation and displays it on the screen.
“Fairy dust is what they call it on the market. Difference is that this wisp has certain colors.”
“And the colors matter?”
“Who knows? Wisp powder can turn into fairy dust. Good product too. But that’s not it, Akun. Not the best thing about all of this.”
She switches to a part I skimmed. It didn’t click to me at first, but now she’s pointing it out with interest. It finally did.
“Asexual reproduction… this is big.”
Wisps don’t give birth. They happen. They are molded out of existence from a few essences and turn into a wisp. This one however can asexually produce, meaning to say even without the essences needed to make one, it can produce wisps.
“The lifespan. The age.”
“Whew. No wonder the Mage’s interested in this. It can earn some cash and we can make money out of it too.”
“Drug’s a problem.”
“Yeah. Got a feeling OB’s going to tighten the claw around the damn thing fast. So our Mage wants to get the word out. Once the word’s out, she can get the attention of the Mages and slow down the chokehold.”
“Can we do this?”
“Why not?”
She grins widely and cracks her fingers.
“This is money and honestly I want to see what we can do with this. We need some good clicks and right now the possibility of an asexual creature reproducing will get the attention of the masses. Not to mention, my assistant. Wisp powder means more healing salves, and which means more supply for that. We And if our Mage friend is true to her word, we’ll have access to the good stuff while they study it.”
She presses to the next slide.
“Looks like it’s easy. Too easy.”
“Well, it isn’t an instant money maker for us, but we can live with it for a while. Of course, it looks like our Mage friend is willing to cooperate on anomalies.”
The smile on her face seems like she’s implying something. I wave her implications and turn my attention to the mail Kei sent me.
Looks like Ci has taken interest in Anomalies. She got through the connections and made deals with Sato as well. Probably for the best too since sooner or later the magic-side are going to have their claws on this. They already made moves so it’s the natural move to have someone at the Mages side. And honestly, despite how corpos act, they provide a big fucking wall of security as long as their interests aligned with us. And after that whole shit with the Vamps on Vultan. Lot of eyes are now on finding that fucking formula again.
“Guess that’s that then.”
“Well, we have to protect our interest. Listen. It’s not like I’m expecting we’d remain a top provider, but as long as we remain a trusted one. Money will keep coming in and I think having contacts with the Mages will make it easier for us to find anomalies too. The opinion of a Mage is valuable, Akun. It’ll make life easier for us too. They know how to sniff things out. Besides, it’s not like you’re against the idea.”
She’s not wrong. I might have double-thoughts if it’s some other corpo-mage, but if Cindy’s joined with this one. Then we can do business with them.
