Ben thought and said, “That sound useful. It would be nice not have to worry about being beaten up any more. When we were homeless it seemed to be a common occurrence of my life.” As Ben had no magical schooling to speak of, he didn’t realise the complexity of what Chris was suggesting. To him the idea made sense, and if anyone could do it, it would be the Professor.
Chris nodded in acknowledgement of his time as a homeless person, “I’ve set a potential appointment tomorrow for the both of us in a medical centre if that’s ok with you?”
Ben nodded his head with a slight nervous look. Chris, noticing this, tried to reassure Ben, “I will go first and make sure it works the way it should. Then you can have the procedure done, when we know for sure that it’s safe.”
The next morning, after the two had finished the early morning trading, they went straight to the magical tattoo centre and soon were inside the same consultation room Chris had to talk to Beth in.
Beth was already sitting there. When they walked in, she greeted both of them and after initial pleasantries said, “If you show me the inscription for the tattoo, we can start the procedure.”
Chris got out the drawing in magical text and graphics and handed it over to Beth.
Beth looked at it curiously and said, “I have never seen anything like this, but if you sign the wavers, I will apply it. You’re sure of this?” Chris nodded.
As Ben and Chris both signed the wavers for Beth, she began to start-up her medical equipment. Looking behind her at the pair she said, “Who's first then?”
Chris replied with more confidence than he currently felt, “That would be me.”
As Chris laid down on the inscription table Beth fixed a machine over his ankle and began to input the inscription data. Soon the magical machine was busing in scripting the magical pattern on Chris skin.
Chris felt nothing as Beth said, “As the inscription is so complete, not to mention unusual, it's easier to use the device and not do it by hand. This will give you a more accurate rendition of the inscription you provided for me. It will only take a few minutes more and the magical pain damping field should stop you from feeling anything.” Chris nodded to show it was ok.
As Chris waited for the machine to finish, Beth monitored the progress on a checking the mark against the design. After a few minutes more, she indicated when it was finished. Getting up he looked at the inscription. It was a faint white mark on his ankle. Not very visible to the naked eye. Chris could barely spot the lines he had created.
Beth said, “You can activate it now, if you want to.”
Chris channelled his magical understanding straight into the inscription and saw it flash with energy of activation. Over his body he felt a slight pressure mounting which slowly faded away. Chris stood for a few seconds checking that he could breathe. He stopped to take a drink from the water fountain in the room. All seemed to be fine.
He asked Beth if he could use a paper weight to check something. She nodded with a curious expression on her face. He rubbed it along his arm and it felt normal. Chris then tried to scratch his arm, he felt it but there was no mark or any pain. He then tried harder but still no mark or pain. Hitting different parts of his body he felt no pain.
Chris said excitedly to Ben, “Would you hit me?”
Ben nodded his head and punched him on the shoulder. Chris only felt the pressure but not the full force of the blow and no pain again. Ben was shaking his head and cradling his hand. He looked as if he had punched a brick wall.
Ben grimaced and said, “Well it seems to work. My turn now.”
The same process was repeated with Ben. Afterwards Chris activated the inscriptions. Ben repeated the same tests with the same results to Chris’s excitement. Chris said, “Let me try and hit you now.”
Ben nodded, and Chris used as much force as he could manage with the hit. Both he and Ben felt the pressure but no more, both of them laughed at the results. Beth had a questioning look on her face but did not ask any question.
On the way home, the two passed a decrepit wall with part of it falling down. Wanting to try the effectiveness of the shield, they kicked and hit the wall. It was like smashing it up with a sledgehammer. They were easily able to break the rest wall apart. Smiling with the new personal power they walked home.
---
The next day Chris returned to the magical shop, where John was getting ready for the changes to Chris’s magical personal mark. John took Chris to the back room, around a table.
After Chris had handed over the money for the mark change John said, “When the work is completed just leave the shop without talking to me and I won’t remember any, of the work done. The scroll I will be using is the only record of what is about to happen, and it will be destroyed as part of the process. If you are ready, show me your mark please.”
Chris projected the mark onto the table and then John put the scroll on the mark's projection. He completed some of the lines of the inscription on the scroll and it flashed and enveloped the mark in white light. When Chris was able to look at his personal mark again, he saw his name was now Chris Prof. The reprimand had been removed but everything else was as before. As John had his eyes closed, Chris Prof now quickly left the building feeling like he had a new start to life.
Chapter 7 Opening a New Business
Now that Chris had changed his mark, he needed to get back into the farseeing banking system again. Chris wanted to be able to run the business in the upper corporate economy of the city. In this city, there were generally two types of economic systems that worked side by side. There was the market and areas like the entertainment district that were outside the upper corporate economy. These had no regulation and were often controlled by criminal gangs. Cash was the currency and without it you couldn’t buy anything. The corporate sector preferred using the individual personal mark as identification. This allowed them to under-write business dealings and operate on a banking credit system.
Time had passed, and it now had been a week since Chis had changed his name. Earlier, Chris had asked Ben if he wanted to be a part of setting up the corporate business, but Ben had insisted that he just wanted to work in the lockup selling the stamps.
When Frank came by in the morning to do some trading, Chris talked to him about setting up a business. Frank scratched his chin and thought before replying, “I personally don’t have much to do with the corporate sector, but one of my nieces has just finished her university degree and is looking for work in the corporate sector. If you want Chris, I can tell her to talk to you about it.”
Chris agreed, and Frank was able to arrange a meeting that day. They planned to meet at the food stall next to the lockup. When the time came for the meeting, Chris was at a table, with some drinks and snacks set in front of him.
Right on time, a young smartly dressed blond haired woman came up to his table and introduced herself, “Hi, I’m Abby. Uncle Frank said ‘that you need some help and understanding about setting up a business in the upper corporate sector. How can I help?”
Chris stood up from his chair and shook her hand. “Hi, I’m Chris. Nice to meet you and thanks for coming out on such short notice.” He gestured towards the other chair indicating for Abby to sit down, “I need somebody to help me navigate all the business regulations, marketing work and dealing with all of the clients in the Corporate Sector. I’m looking to set up a business and I’ll need help as I don’t have experience in that area. Can you do that Abby?”
Abby said, with some excitement, “I can do all of that, but I should let you know that I’ve just finished studying at university. I was doing a business degree, but I do have some work experience in the corporate sector. So, if you are willing to accept my inexperience then, I would love to do the work.”
Chris nodded, “I’m ok with that. When would you be able to start?”
Abby looked down as if calculating before looking up, “Now is fine with me, as I don’t have a job yet.”
With that t
he two started to discuss the plans for the business and in particular how much Abby would be paid for her assistance. As the meeting was closing, Abby summed up what they had discussed in some bullet points. Ticking them off her list, she said, “Okay, so the first thing to do, is to set up a farseeing account for you and the business. I’ll be doing some research on the different account types and see what would work best for you. The next thing is to find a small property for office space, preferably in the centre of the corporate sector of the city. The last thing for me to do, is to start the legal scroll work for setting up the business.”
From the discussion, Chris had found Abby to have a very determined manner and she seemed very hard working from the outset. As he was studying her, he noticed at the moment she was equally studying him. Her gaze lingered on Chris’ cheap clothing and scruffy looking beard.
Abby paused and then spoke to Chris kindly, but in a determined voice, “Chris, I know this look works okay here in the entertainment area. You could probably keep going and no-one would comment, but if you are going to be taken seriously in the corporate world, then you’re going to need to at least look tidy. Some better clothes wouldn't go a miss as well.”
Chris looked at himself abashed. “I kind of just fell into this look. It’s been a whirlwind few months and I haven’t really bothered to update any of my clothing since.” He examined himself in a nearby reflection critically. “I promise to trim the beard, and I will buy some smarter clothing but I’m not going to wear suits.”
Abby laughed with a smile, “Anything is better than the cheap outfit you’re wearing at the moment. Give me a week to get most of the items organized so we can start. I’ll be in contact every other day giving you a progress report.”
Throughout the next week, Chris got his hair and beard trimmed and brought some new clothing. The clothing he was wearing was still casual by business standards, but they were smart, neat and looked more expensive. The clothing had inscription on it for self-cleaning and for keeping it looking pressed. Over the last week Chris had been working on new inscriptions and had made several breakthroughs which had left him feeling excited.
Finally, the day had come for Abby and Chris to officially start up the business and registration. Abby had planned to meet with Chris, early at the lockup. Chris was waiting outside, as Ben was conducting the business for the day at the shop. As Abby saw Chris, she did a double take at how different he looked. It was a marvel at how being dressed in his smart casual clothing with a trimmed beard changed him.
Abby smiled laughing in greeting, “You’re actually are quite good looking when you clean up. I think the look suits you.”
Chris gave Abby a shy smile as it had been a long time since somebody had given him a compliment about his looks. “Thanks. So, what’s first for the day?”
Abby turned her attention back to the business, “First to the farseeing bank to finish setting up your accounts. Oh, have you had a chance to check the scroll work I sent you, for the detail of the accounts?”
Chris nodded “I went through it and read all the information, it all seemed pretty standard to me, so I’m okay with it. I have the money for the initial deposit as well. Shall we go?”
Abby nodded and said, “We’ll take a cab to the bank and then I can setup an appointment to finalize everything.”
Abby started moving quickly down the small street in her smartly dress corporate style outfit and holding a case full of the various required work scrolls. Within half an hour, Abby and Chris were both sitting in a small office waiting for the banker to deal with them. The walls of the office were made of glass, with magical inscriptions, indicating both surveillance and protection for the farseeing bank. On the table was pane of glass on a stand. This allowed both the banker and the client to see what was happening in the farseeing fog. The seats were comfortable, as the two of them sat in silence.
A short woman walked into the room and addressed both of them, “Ms. Abby Robinson and Dr. Chris Prof, it’s nice to meet you, I’m your banker for today. I have been reviewing all the details that Abby has been sending me and would like to finalize the setting up of the account. Dr. Prof, we just need to use your personal magical mark for identification and grant you your access to the account.”
Saying this, she began to multiplate the farseeing scene over the glass panel. Chris looked through the mist as an icon for the bank appeared. The icon soon had text around it, detailing his bank account.
The woman looked over the details and explained. “This is your farseeing bank symbol, which you will be able to access from any authorised farseeing screen. When we have locked it to your mark, only you will be able to access it, or the people you nominate and grant temporary access. You can carry out any transaction you need as long as you have the funds available in the account. The first thing I need you to do, is lock the symbol to your mark. If you would imprint your mark Dr. Prof?”
Chris pulled some of his essence out of the mark on his arm and imprinted it on the banking symbol. The farseeing symbol flashed with white light in confirmation of the imprinting. Now Chris’s mark was part of the account symbol.
The banker said, “Now, the same for your personal account.”
The process was repeated again. After it was finished, the smaller woman said, “Now, what will be your initial deposit into the account?”
“I have two million Drachmas for the initial deposit. That should be sufficient” Chris stated.
Both Abby and the banker showed visible surprise with that amount. The banking clerk, a bit flustered, said, “That's quite a large amount. Will you be transferring it from another account?”
Chris shook his head, “No, I have it in cash on me at the moment.”
The clerk looked sceptical, but as Chris started to pull the money out of a small bag, the look on her face quickly changed to one surprise. She immediately called a second assistant over to help count and sort the money. In bundles of ten thousand she transferred the money into the farseeing glass pane. As the bank registered the input, images of the money appeared in Chris’s account.
Now the woman was smiling broadly and looked to Chris again, “You seem to be a higher-level customer than I initially thought. If you need anything just let me know, as with this level of investment you’ll have a personal banker assigned to you. For the moment though, I’ll be you point of contact if you have any queries. Please don’t hesitate to bother us.”
Chris and Abby left the bank in silence to start their next task of looking at office properties. After a while in thought, as they were traveling to the first office, Abby said to Chris, “It seems that you have been doing much, much better than Uncle Frank thought you would do. I was a bit worried about your capital for setting up the business, but with that amount we’ll be more than okay.”
Chris nodded in a bit in thought. “We’ve been doing quite well, but hopefully, we can get to the next level once we have set up the business in the corporate world.”
Abby smiled, “That sounds really exciting, I’m look forward to it.”
As they arrived in the city’s business district, Chris could see the tall buildings towering all around him. All of them had magical symbols that were enhancing the structures form and strength. Many of the building had magical shields, around them giving an open structure while still shielding them from the elements. Chris and Abby could see the corporation workers, inside the open areas with farseeing screens. As the two got out of the cab, they saw a lot of people walking along streets in smart business attire. All of them had expensive inscriptions for protection and glamor. Abby looked down at her own suit with a frown, as her own smart attire while serviceable, was quite plain in comparison.
Noticing this Chris leaned over, “It may help to buy some more clothing, if you’re going to be regularly dealing with these people. I can give you some money to buy some clothing for work. Think of it like an investment not a gift. After all, if you’re going to be helping me out there is n
o point in giving you second rate tools.”
Abby looked grateful and said, “This has always been the problem. A lot of these people are image driven and will only deal with you if you look like you are one of them. I’m still a poor student, and only have limited funds, but what you said is right. It should help open doors initially. It’s a competitive world in this corporate sector and having all the advantages we can get is a good idea. Of course, it’s always nice to look good too.”
The first building they entered was one of the grandest in the commercial sector. In the building it had a lot of the wealthiest and well-known companies in the business. Abby whispered to Chris, “This is the property with the best location and in the best building, we could be in, but the agent says the properties very small. I guess we will see how small soon.” Chris smiled to himself briefly.
The two entered a shaft which levitated them up to the required floor. The smooth ride opened into a foyer which they took. As they walked down a grand hallway, Abby saw a man standing outside an elaborate door on the hallway side. Abby went up to the agent and shook his hand smartly in greeting.
Abby introduced him to Chris, “This is the agent for the office space in this building, if we like the property then we already have the paper work ready for the purchase of the lease. I guess the only thing is to see the interior.”
With that, the man opened the door, saying, “It is small, but of course that’s what makes it cheaper. In fact, the size is the only reason this has not been leased out yet. Though I believe from your initial requirements it may serve as a small business office.”
As the man opened the door the office was visible. Not just part of the office, but all of the office. Chris saw immediately that it was about five metres by five metres. Abby looked both embarrassed and angry at the same time. Immediately, she turned and started arguing with the agent about what constituted sufficient office space. As she was arguing with the agent Chris went in and looked around. The space had nothing inside only the plain bare walls. He nodded to himself with satisfaction.
Into the Ether Page 7