As Chris walked down the street towards the centre of the district, all the store keepers were out trying to entice the tourist into their shops. As he was in cheap clothing and looked like he didn’t have much money, he was generally ignored. Most of the stores were selling clothing, souvenirs, houseware items and magical inscriptions. All of the shop keepers were making exaggerated claims of what their items could do. Some of the most unusual magical scripts claimed to have incredible properties, increasing fitness without having to do any exercise; helping with weight loss; enhancing your body’s performance for different actions; cooking; and cleaning. There were also more utilitarian services the inscriptions could do as well. Chris wondered how everything in the world already worked on the uses of the four pillars of magic and how the new pillar Ether would affect this world.
As he thought about this Chris passed a magical medical centre. Chris stopped and was pulled in at the advertisement in the windows, for what services they provided. Chris hadn’t had much use of magical medical centres as he had mostly been healthy all his life, but he had broken his leg once and it was fixed by the use of magic. He remembered the medical doctor, inscribing a temporary tattoo on his leg. The magic had fixed it in place and enhanced his body's natural healing mechanisms. Within just a few hours the bone was completely fixed. As he looked at the advertisement in the window, most of what was on offer, was purely cosmetic. There were procedures that would enhance different body parts of both men and women. Chris blushed about what people wanted done to their bodies. He had generally led a more innocent life and had been too busy with study to pay much attention to the wider world of magical possibilities. He wondered vaguely if his old girlfriend Jane had used some of the same services advertised here.
Moving on from the magical medical centre, Chris walked into a large plaza. In the centre the plaza was filled with people showing of expensive looking vehicles. All were very clean and polished, and there seemed to be some type of competition going on, to see who had the best vehicle to show off. Chris notice some old fashion classics and other more modern sports vehicle. As one of the vehicles started up, he could see the glow of magic from the inscriptions underneath the vehicle, causing them to hover about a foot of the ground. The movement in any direction was controlled by force inscription on the side. This meant the vehicles could move in any direction but would move faster in the forwards direction. A lot of the vehicles had open tops with magical shield inscriptions to protect the passengers.
Around the owners were quite a few pretty women in revealing clothing. They seemed to be all very interested in capturing images of themselves with the vehicle. As Chris was trying to look under one of the vehicles, he was warned to go away by a belligerent owner. After that Chris left the plaza. In a side street he found an old second hand scroll/book store. He needed to start collecting some magical reference books and so he walked into the shop to check if they had anything he could use. Walking past the fiction sections, Chris started to look at the magical collection of books. He found a lot of the standard texts for magical theories and inscriptions catalogues. All were relevant books that Chris needed to buy if he was going to carry on his studies. He also looked at some of the more academic works and decided to buy them too. He needed to link the new theories for the Ether pillar with the other magical pillars of; earth, fire, water and air. Buying the books for reference would be a great help.
At the front of the store, as he presented the selected books for purchase the woman serving him glanced up at his hefty pile. “Some very dry reading ahead of you.”
Chris mock shuddered, “Yes, I need to brush up on some inscriptions background knowledge. Do you often get more academic reference books to sell?” The shopkeeper thought for a second before saying, “Sometimes, but you'll need to check back every now and then. Do want to pay with a farseeing account or cash?”
Chris pulled out some cash from his leather strip and paid. He needed get back into the farseeing banking system but was still a little distrustful of any big companies with his money. He also wanted to change some of the details on his personal mark before he was back in the credit system. He finished the transaction and began putting all the books in a small bag, which reduced the weight and increased the carry volume.
The woman stared from behind the counter, “I’ve heard about the new magical bags and I was hoping to get one when the price goes down.”
Chris smiled storing the last book in his bag. “I own a store that sells them. Next time I come by, I’ll exchange one for some books, if that’s fine?”
The woman nodded happily as Chris left the book and scroll store. As he walked a bit further, along the side street, he saw a bar with a lot of people entering. The bar seemed to be buzzing with music and movement. As he was interested in what it was like, Chris walked up some steps to enter. At the top was a bouncer dressed in a black leather jacket with magical inscriptions all over it.
As Chris tried to enter the doorway the man put out his hand. “We don’t allow your type into the bar. Off you go now.”
Chris walked off without any comment but looked down at his cheap clothes and felt his rough beard. He had long got past caring about what people through about his looks and just wanted to be himself. With that in his mind, he went back to the lockup to sleep.
Chapter 6 - Changing the Mark
The next day, Chris was up early and off to the martial arts dojo again. After training he arrived back at the lockup, this time he was able to shower and get ready. As the merchants all worked early hours, Ben and Chris had decided to be open for only a single hour early in morning. By the end of the hour of trading with the merchants for the magical inscripted stamps, the lockout shop was nearly out of stamps. It had been a success. For the rest of the day Chris started to work on his research into the ether pillar of magic. In one of the many workshops in the lockup, he got out all the books that he had brought yesterday. Ben was sitting by him thinking as he started to flick through the pages of the various books and scrolls.
Ben look on with a slight sadness in his eyes, “I was never able to even understand the basic of magical theory. I couldn’t get it in my mind. It was just way to mathematical for me to understand.”
Chris glanced up, “Funnily enough, that's the aspect I most enjoy about it. He let me show you how I understand the basics.” Chris jumped up.
As Chris searched for a nearby scroll to write on, he started his impromptu lecture. While attentive, Ben was not the most willing of students. Chris started,
“Ok, you have your basic level of symbols, for each of the pillars: earth, water, fire and air.” He scratched a few marks on the paper before continuing.
“You need to combine them with an action symbol like: distance, speed, direction, force, heat or cold, vibration, melting, vaporization, affixing or breaking and so on. The examples I have given you are only a few of the many. I think there are a few thousand that have developed at the moment.” He paused again to make sure Ben was still understanding. Ben nodded affirmatively.
“In the process of combination, the inter-section between different parts of the symbol determines the action of the pillar. At a more complex level, it more to do with differentiation and integration of the function of the lines in the symbols. So as an example, if you want a hot fire, you would write the fire base symbol down and add the action symbol of heat to it. The gradient of the intersection of specific lines inside the joint inscription determine how much heat is outputted. For more functionality, you might then could add the direction symbol giving a direction to the jet of heat. Then of course the hard part is the activation of the symbols. You have to link everything together in your mind. The problem is you can’t just draw the lines. You have to understand the inscription as a whole. That is why the more complex the inscription, the harder it is to understand it and the more time you have to study the problem. Some of the better universities are able to teach you set thought patterns that make this easer.” He
paused sensing that somewhere along the way he had lost his student.
Ben asked, “What university did you go to Professor?”
Chris sighed, “I was both an under and post graduate of Dagonbridge.”
Ben had a surprised look on his face, “The best there is. How did you find yourself on the street?”
Chris said sadly, “it all started with somebody I trusted breaking my trust, and then a downward spiral started, and nobody was willing to help me… until that one night when you lent me the inscription tool. Thanks Ben, I will never be able to repay you for that.”
Ben looked away, “In all honesty Prof., my understanding, of magic is at the same level we started at still. I’d better be off to make some bags.” He brightened, “That’s something I am good at. See you later.”
Ben went off to the workshop he had set up with all the leather working equipment. Chris placed an order for more stamps in his farseeing mirror and then went back to studying. He wanted to start the mathematical integration of the ether pillar, with the outer basic pillars. If was able to achieve this, a whole new range of possibilities would be open to him. He had some ideas of what he could achieve, but he guessed it would be much more.
For the next couple of weeks, the two men keep the same schedule, of doing business for an hour each day and then developing their ideas both for bags and inscribing the rest of the time. Chris knew that the money he had saved up, inside the safe box, was getting to be quite significant now. Soon he would need to start thinking about getting back into the farseeing banking system.
At the end of the second week, after they had finished with the merchants for the day. He asked Ben, “Have you ever heard of anybody that can change something on your personal mark?”
Ben expression was thoughtful and said, “I’ve heard rumours about rich people who get themselves in trouble with the court of justice and go to the black market to get their mark changed.”
Chris thought back to the one time he was affected by the justice court. To his knowledge it was swift and permanently affected one's status. The mark was supposed to be a permanent representation, of what a person had done in his life. While the effect of the changes to Chris’s mark during the trial had not even been for any large crime, it had caused many issues when dealing with the upper classes and people in business. If Chris could clear it and change his name, this would enable Chris to have a clean break from his past.
Ben had carried on talking while Chris thought, “I bet that gang boss Jack, will have contacts that can do anything. Why not try him?”
So, soon after the conversation with Ben, Chris found himself walking to the Panther’s Bar to talk to Jack. Yet again the men in the bar were eating their morning meal. Chris could not help noticing that the woman who had been working behind the bar was sitting next to Jack, talking to him. This time, she was wearing a smart dress like a business woman.
As Chris approached, Jack stared coolly at him and said, “Well, well, well. How is my favourite customer?”
Chris glanced around, “Fine. Thank-you for the quick help.” He dropped his volume a few notches. “I was wondering if you happened to know anybody that can change what's on your personal magical mark.”
Jack leaned in, “I do know a man who works in that area. He may be able to help you. The Panthers don’t actually have much need for the work as we tend to deal with people who don’t care about what is on your mark.”
Ask Jack had been talking, the woman next to Jack had written a note on a small scroll and handed it over to Chris. She said, “This bit of information is on the house for giving Jack here the idea of actual providing some protection. It’s increased the income of the gang and made these lay-about men actually do some work.” She flashed Chris a quick smile.
All the men eating their morning meal looked slightly put out by the comment, but none of them said anything to her as she looked across at them sternly. Chris left the Panthers bar and walked through the entertainment area to the address he had been given. When he came to the address, he was looking at a small shop with magical symbols on the outside. The shop name was ‘Personal Magical Services’. As Chris walked in, there was a man behind the counter. He was reading a scroll book and didn’t glance up. The shop was full of wonders, most of the items Chris did not know anything about or what they would be used for.
But before he could stare too much at the items, the man behind the counter said suddenly, “can I help you?”
Seeing the shop empty, Chris walked up to the counter and said, “My friend, Jack, said ‘that you could help out with changing information on a personal mark.’ Is that possible?”
The man nodded his head easily and said, “Anything is possible with the right money involved. My name’s … John. A mark change is possible, but that’s one of the more expensive. Let me see your mark and tell me what you want changed.”
Chris pulled some of his essence out of the wrist and projected his mark onto the counter top, in enlarged detail. John made a couple of movements with his hands and the mark froze onto the counter surface.
Studying it John said, “You have a great academic achievement and no crimes but a slight reprimand indicating you were involved in some work place incident.”
Chris was about to explain that he was innocent of the action, but the man forestalled him quickly, “If you did it or not, it does not concern me in the slightest. But I can understand why you would want it removed as the academic upper class can be concerned about such little things. Of course, it would not affect you down here as nobody would care for something so minor. It does look like you have been stitched up though, as the severity of the reprimand on the mark is too great for what it said you did. So, what do you want changed?”
Chris said, “I would like to be able to change my last name and remove the reprimand. If that is possible?”
John said, while still examining Chris’s personal mark, “The name change can easily be done and is just a matter of a legal modification. In fact, you hardly need me for that. The removal of the reprimand on the mark is why Jack sent you to see me. The cost for that, would be significant and will take me a few days to prepare for, but can be done. The cost will be for them both, will be a tenth of a million Drachmas. I will require payment when I start the work on the mark.”
Chris was a bit shocked at the amount of money involved, in his previous life he would never have dreamt of such a cost. In his previous life he never would have needed to. Thankfully though, he did have the money and knew that the changes would be worth it.
Chris nodded in acceptance of the price, and said “When can we get it done?”
John moved his eyes up to the ceiling as if calculating. “Meet me in three days at the same time here, with the money mind you, and we will do it. As part of the deal when I have finished, I will perform a short-term self-memory wipe, so the details of the changes will be erased from my memory.”
Chris thanked John and started the walk back to the lockup. As he was out and about, he wanted to check up on some options for an idea he had been incubating. When he passed one of the more reputable medical magical tattoo centres, he went in to enquire about the idea he had. As different ideas were common, the centre was prepared for this and the receptionist guided him to a consultant who could give an answer to his question. The room he was led to had a desk and a couple of chairs, but directly behind them was an inscription operation table for people. An array of tattooing medical devices were positioned all around it. The consultant was a younger woman, with her hair shaved on the side and long and pink on top.
She greeted him with a smile, “Hi, my name’s Beth. How can I help you today?”
Chris said, “I was wondering if I could get a custom inscription on my body of my own design?”
The woman frowned slightly, “We don’t normally advise it as there can be severe repercussions sometimes. We will do it however if you sign a waiver which indemnifies our responsibilities of the consequenc
es of the inscription.” She paused. “You do understand this could have permanent consequences to yourself?”
Chris nodded. “That’s fine, what do I need to bring with me for the inscription?”
Beth, now pulling together a smile, replied. “You need an exact copy in magical notation for the inscriptions. Be aware that for a custom job you will need to activate it yourself.”
Chris was ok with that as a service and made an appointment for tomorrow morning for two people. He was planning to see if he could convince Ben to have the inscription too. While untested, Chris felt sure it would open new opportunities.
On the way home Chris saw the shops start opening for the customs and the area starting to get more active, as more tourists started to mill around. When Chis was back in his workroom, he started to map out the inscription he planned to implant into his skin. Chris had been working on this for a while in his spare moments. The idea had come from the barriers he had created for the lockup, which was made from the Ether pillar of magic. The barrier was a break in space and, if properly created, time. It could prevent anything from going through the barriers without authorization. The idea was having a barrier just above his skin that would prevent anything harming to Chris and Ben. The tricky part had not been the development of the barrier itself. That had been a fairly simple matter to extend a barrier beyond an existing surface. The tricky part was being able to carry out other bodily function with it in place. Chris had had to develop a design that let your breath, eat and carry out all the other functions of a normal body.
As Chis and Ben were eating a meal Chris brought up the topic of the medical tattoos. Ben had never had one before but had seen plenty of them around on different people. After the conversation had started to flow, Chris leaned over and said, “Ben. I’ve developed a protection inscription that should have the effect of making a person invulnerable to external harm. So, if somebody tries to beat us up again it will not affect us. It should also work against all type of weapons and probably magic as well.”
Into the Ether Page 6