The Lesser One Arc 2 Chapter 18: Technology is Magic

 

Technology is Magic

“Hm.” Chris is examining an Addle 8, the new flagship from Addle Corporation. It is as sleep and well-designed as its predecessors, but I do feel the lack of an earphone jack is a detriment.

Chris picks up the phone and looks at it from several different angles. “So this device allows one to communicate long distances?”

I pick up a A-pad. “They can do so much more. Connect to the internet, download apps, play games.” I point to the Addle 8 in Chris’s hands. “If you want it I’ll buy it for you and pay the data plan.”

“Data plan?”

I shrug. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll handle it.” I look at Sebastian, who is standing behind us.

He nods his head. “We can easily make such an expenditure.”

Chris continues to turn the A-phone in her hands. “Such beautiful engineering.”

I frown. “The only problem is that it doesn’t work in dungeons. So you won’t be able to take it home whenever you do go back.”

“I won’t be returning home for quite some time.”

A store worker comes over and we buy the phone and pay for a mid level data plan. When we leave the store, Chris immediately takes the phone out of the box and looks it over again.

“How am I supposed to make calls with this?” She taps on the blank screen.

Looks like I’m going to have to teach her. “Press the small button on the side.”

“Oh!” Chris’s eyes widen. She looks at the screen. “And these little bubbles, they are applications?”

“Yeah. Just touch them with your finger.”

Chris taps a few times. “Mysterious indeed. Such magic is not possible where I’m from.”

“It’s not magic.” I grin. “It’s technology.”

“Tech …”

“Humanity built that device without a single bit of portal magic.”

Chris shakes her head. “Even more mysterious.”

“Yeah. Technology is like really, really complicated magic that works on a foundation of centuries of careful study using the scientific method.”

“And can you do this magic?”

“Well, I’m learning.” I pause. “Wait, will you be going to class with me?”

Chris’s eyes change expression slightly. “I have been briefed as to that matter. Yes.”

Sebastian clears his throat. “Yes indeed. We have already filed all the paperwork to register Chris as a student at Ixtham academy.”

“Okay?” I find it a bit weird. “But she looks like she’s …” I pause. You know what? She could really pose as a young college student or even an older high schooler. Though her expression is clearly of someone of advanced wisdom and age, her body type and facial features are of that of someone in their late teens. If she can manage to change her facial expression a bit, we could get away with this.

Chris looks between me and Sebastian. “I look forward to working with you.”

I sigh. Things have just gotten a lot more complicated. I have three weeks until school starts, so I’d rather not be thinking about it, but in the end I’m going to return to America a much changed person. “I think it’s time for me to go to sleep. It’s getting late out.”

We return to the Esmex building. Chris and I take the elevator to the apartment and I retire to my own room, closing the door behind me. The whole city stretches out beyond my windows.

I open my laptop and sit there staring at the desktop for five minutes before I open up my email.

Mom. I’m doing well. Sorry about not calling you much. I’ll be coming him in three weeks. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.

I check it over twice and then send it. I close my laptop and lay down on the plush bed, staring at the rotating fan. Tomorrow is going to be a grand day, where a lot of things are going to happen. I don’t know exactly how it’s going to turn out, but I do know that I have to do it. There is no escaping my destiny.

I fall asleep some time later.

I wake up feeling awful. The world is too bright. I check my clock and see that it’s only seven in the morning. Now is as good a time as ever to get up.

I get out of bed and see a suit and tie on the couch. I don’t know if it was Sebastian or Chris, but it’s a small thing that makes me feel a bit better.

I put on the suit and walk into the living room, where Chris is sitting at the table. She looks up at me as I enter and nods towards the seat across from her. Her phone is on the surface in front of her.

“It is strange. I have learned that your species has a deep need to know what is going on in the world.”

I sit down across from her. I can see that, on her phone, she is using the built-in news app. “I suppose so, yeah.” I pour myself a cup of tea from the kettle in the table’s center.

Chris looks up at me. “You are not worried that ten B-class adventurers were killed in a portal in Thailand?”

I sigh, putting the kettle back on the table. “Look. There are eight billion people on this planet. I can’t worry about every tragedy that happens. And the news never reports anything good anyways.”

Chris nods once. “I see.” She continues to scroll down her phone’s news app.

I watch her for a second and then get up to grab some cereal. Good old Kettle Bell Crisps. Since coming to London I’ve grown attached to this cereal—which I can’t find back in the US. I’m going to have to figure out how to order it online or something. I put the milk in and eat in silence. It’s a bit strange to be eating in a suit, so I try not to make a mess. Cleaning this thing is probably expensive.

When breakfast is over I take the elevator to the lobby, where Sebastian is waiting. He is eating at the small breakfast club in the corner of the lobby. When he sees us, he nods once.

I wave at him. “You can finish.”

Chris and I sit down on couches in the middle of the lobby.

Chris looks up at the big chandelier. “This is a place of opulence.”

I look around the room. “Yeah. Esmex is a big corporation with big business. Crayton, the CEO, is a really good investor.”

“I have not met this Crayton yet.”

“He’s been in a bit of a slump ever since his daughter was put into a coma after opening the Wales Portal.”

Chris blinks a few times. “You mean the user of the key?”

“Yeah.”

“I was always wondering why you did not have it, when you did have the Bone of Wisdom.”

“The user, Alice, went into a coma after opening the portal. She did it because she thought it would revive her mother.”

Chris raises an eyebrow. “While I cannot raise the dead, I do have a solution to her problem.”

I am taken aback. “Wait, really? Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“You had not asked.”

“Tell me!”

“It involves some very expensive accoutrements …” Chris looks to be hedging.

“I need to know. Waking Alice is one of my main purposes for staying here.”

“You need to, well, defeat a Tarasque.”

“Huh?”

“And collect one gallon of fairy tears. Among other things.”

“Why so complicated?” I frown, knowing that it wouldn’t be as easy as I had imagined. “The Dark Silverbones did tell me they would be able to wake Alice. Is this the method they were talking of?”

“I do not know.” Chris looks into the distance. “It will be a long journey. Anyone who uses a portal key without sufficient exposure to magic will have their core separated.”

“Core?”

“Every being has a magic core. You may call it their spirit, their manifestation.”

“I get it, yeah. Everyone has a spirit. That is common knowledge.”

“You humans, with all your technology, still do not understand this at all. The core and the spirit are slightly different complimentary elements. I understand humans have only been using magic for a short period of time, but for you to have this much ignorance …” Chris shakes her head.

“Tell me. How can I wake Alice?”

“We need to perform a rebinding ritual. I will give you the details after you prove to me that you will not misuse it.”

Sebastian walks up to where we are sitting. “Sir. We are ready to leave.”

Chris sits up and brushes off her pants. She is wearing normal clothing for a fashionable London girl, a fact which I appreciate after seeing her portal garb.

The three of us leave the building and get into the limo, where we head to the Organized Crime HQ. When we pull into the lot, Barley is standing at the doorway.

When I get out of the limo Barley approaches me. He comes up to me and puts his arm around my shoulder.

“Markus.” His tone is very serious. “If you believe that you can bring these terrorists to justice, we will assist you and give you freedom to work how you see fit. I’ve talked with my superiors and they all say that, as an S-class adventurer, you are uniquely suited for this mission. However, your job is not to destroy them. Your job is to bring them to justice under the law. We’ve been putting together a trap that involves antimatter, yes. But it’s a bit different than what you were planning to do.” At this point we are back in the small debriefing room. “We’re going to capture these terrorists with a new development that was, until last night, only in the realm of theory. Antimatter prisons.”

“So, I won’t have to blow anything up?”

“No.” Barley stands behind the podium. “Your mission is to get as many of the Darks in one place as possible. Then we will spring the trap. Several of the agents working for Wagner’s Right of Way have agreed to help us in this endeavor. They are a big help and have worked with us in the recent past with good results.” He appears a bit tired. “And since they will be able to detect any bug or microphone attached to you, we’re going to have to rely on you alone to relay any incriminating information. I’ll show you how to fill out that paperwork later.” He straightens a pack of papers. “Any questions?”

“Am I supposed to produce more antimatter for you?”

Barley licks his finger and pages through the papers. “No.” He selects one of the papers and pulls it from the stack. “We have enough as it is. The amount you produced was enough to power the entirety of the United Kingdom for a decade. Producing some simple antimatter cages will take mere micrograms.” He looks at me with sharpness in his gaze. “You must also realize that, by producing the antimatter, you have violated the Portal Convention, among other laws.” Barley smiles for once. “But since you produced it in international waters, we’ve been able to shoehorn you in as an exception. You’re now licensed to produce antimatter under government supervision.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Isn’t that powerful?”

“Antimatter is too valuable a commodity to not produce when we have a source. It is a resource of key strategic importance.” Barley winks at me, appearing slightly less tired. “Just don’t tell anyone you can create it if you’re able.”

I think for a moment. “Okay. I understand.”

Barley nods once. “Good. Then let’s get started.”