Into the Ether

by Andrew Bardsley

  Mary said in a pleasant voice with a smile, “Hi, you must be Chris Prof, the owner of the company. I hope you are doing well today?”

  Chris said smiling in reply, “It's been a good day so far. How about yourself?”

  Mary smiled as they both pulled out chairs and sat down, “I’ll see if it’s a good day after this meeting. Do you mind, Chris, if I get right down to business?”

  Chris said, “Of course not.” He leaned slightly forward and rested his hands on the table.

  Mary nodded and said very seriously, “Good. Well, I represent a large conglomeration of business. We have seen the products that you’ve been magically enhancing entering the market place now for a while. Our preliminary analysis indicates the potential of such magic, is immense and will be a game changer in so many industries. The group of companies wants to buy the rights to the magical inscriptions and become the sole provider.”

  Chris frowned. She pulled out of her top pocket a folded note and slipped across the table towards Chris. As Chris picked it up, her hand brushed against his. It felt like an electrical jolt of charisma, shooting up his arm, through his body. The shield reacted again, compensating, and dissipated the charm, returning Chris’s emotional state to normal. Chris opened the paper and read the note. All that was written on it was the number one, followed by an incredible number of zeros.

  Mary smiled sweetly, “That is the amount we will pay you, if you’ll hand over the rights. What do you think Chris?”

  Chris calmly handed the paper back. “The rights are not up for sale. If you are not here to rent some of the stamps or scrolls, then you are wasting both my time and yours.”

  Mary’s smile faded a little and there was a look of confusion in her eyes, for a slight second, but she recovered smoothly, “Okay, now that the carrot has not worked, I will have to use the stick. If you think you are going to be able to sell anything, in any large amount, when the conglomeration is against you, you are deluding yourself. It could also end up being quite dangerous for you, personally.”

  Absorbing the consequence of the threat, Chris stood up calmly and looked down at her. “Nice to meet you Mary, if you would see yourself out. I’ll be leaving you now.”

  Chris quickly left the room before the shocked woman could recover. Walking down the hallway to Abby’s office, he again, knocked on the door.

  Abby quickly came to the door and said,” That was fast, how did the meeting go with Mary?”

  Chris said in a sombre voice, “Badly, it looks like there’s going to be some trouble. I think they're going to stop at nothing to fight our business in the corporate sector for a while. It may be sometime before we see any money rolling in.”

  After explaining what happened in the meeting, Abby became despondent, especially when it came to the threat. Chris finally said in an event tone, “You need some level of protection, if you don’t mind, I would like to get an inscription shield, medical tattoo on your body. It's safe as both Ben and I have had it on for a while. I should mention that it has the side effect of preventing you from being drunk, but as long that’s not a problem for you, its benefits far outweigh not being able to be drunk”

  Although looking a bit scared at the idea, Abby nodded her head in acceptance. Chris quickly took her through the magical doorway to the lockup. Being her first time through she couldn’t help but still be amazed by the instant transportation between sections of the city. In a few hours she had the tattoo and was back at work feeling more secure and cheerful. Chris had instructed her not to visit any companies for a while but just to deal with any clients that came into the offices. He felt it would be safer for the moment as the offices were sealed against any weapons or dangerous magical scripts coming through the front door. Abby also started using the lockup for getting to and from work.

  ---

  As Mary had threatened, the business for the corporate offices dried up completely. This was making Abby irritable, often complaining about the how unfair the world was, as she angrily passed back and forth between the buildings. She still worked in the corporate offices but was now helping Ben and Chris in the lockup sales each day. Chris had been worried that the sales in the entertainment district would drop of as well, but over the weeks the sales had sky rocketed.

  One day when Frank was over getting some inscription stamps, Chris said, “Do you have any idea why our business has increased so much lately?”

  Frank nodded as he thought about the question. After a few minutes of thinking he said, “It seems like that there have been more pocket heavy people in the markets, maybe bigger companies that are trying to buy the stamps quietly? Also, many of your normal costumers are now buying extra to sell on. I haven’t been approached, as Abby works for you.”

  Chris thanked Frank, glad to have a clearer idea about what was going on. He thought, “Maybe the conglomeration of companies, are not as unified as I thought. Some of them might be trying to get the stamp without the others knowing it.”

  He was worried about what would happen, if some of the group got desperate. Over the last few weeks Chris had been working on some modifications to the protection tattoos. The modification will allow a person to move position instantly and could sustain life indefinitely. The later effect was taken from existing magical medical technology that existed hospital for life support. Firstly, Chris updated his tattoo, with Beth’s help and then when he knew it worked, he asked Ben and Abby to get the upgrade.

  As per his normal daily routine, Chris walked back to the lockup from the martial art dojo. He was quite pleased with himself, as he was starting to make some progress with attack spells. He was able to send small fire balls, lighting and force pushes to about thirty meters distance. This was nothing compared to what other people could do, but for him it was an achievement.

  This early in the morning most of the street were empty and Chris had got a familiarity with the streets as he often walked this way from the dojo. As Chris turned down a small alley way, in the distance he saw a group of men walking toward him. They all were armed with weapons and had inscription all over their clothing. These men didn’t look like the normal gangsters around this area but were far too well dressed for that. They almost looked like professional mercenaries. Chris looked behind him to see more people surrounding him. Chris had been expecting something like this ever since the threat and had an idea of what he wanted to do. He put his hands up indicating that he would come peacefully.

  The men surrounding him bound him with cords and put him in the back of a magical vehicle. As the vehicle climbed into the sky one of the men beside him commented, “It will be better for you if you just co-operate. The people, we are taking you to are not known for being nice. They must really want something from you.”

  Chris stared at him blankly and then went back to enjoying the journey. It took the craft about half an hour to arrive at the destination. When Chris exited the vehicle, he found himself in a derelict warehouse. It was filled with rubble and the roof was falling in, as the elements were slowly levelling the warehouse. At one end were some offices that were still slightly semi-habitable. Chris was led into the offices and placed in a room with some chairs. His hands were magically tied behind the back of the chair, he was sitting in.

  After what felt like an hour of waiting with nobody present, the rusting door opened, and Mary entered.

  She was dressed less formally, but still looked stunning with all the glamor inscriptions on her clothing. With a coy smile, she said, “Chris how are you doing?” Chris smiled back at her and said, “Fine thank you, you’re looking well.”

  The smile slightly faltered, her face hardening to a glare. “I did say, that this course of action would be dangerous for you, if you did not give into our demands. As you can see, we are serious. I’m giving you one last chance to accept the offer and then we can get on with lives with none of this drama.”

  Chris looked at Mary with a gleam in his eye. “No thanks.”

  Sneering Mary
looked at one of the guards and nodded to him, then curtly left the room. The guard moved over to Chris and pulled out a stun stick and pressed it against his body. The stun device released a charge that diffused over his shield, doing him no harm. The guard, confused at the lack of reaction, struck again.

  Chris just looked at him cockily and mouthed the word, “Ouch.”

  The guard now enraged, altered the stun setting and hit Chris again and again. By the end of a few minutes, Chris was just sitting there looked bored while the guard was looking desperate. The guard quickly ran out of the room and soon came back with another guard with a thick wooden stick. The second guard smashed the wood against Chris’s legs.

  Chris just looked at him mouthed the word, “Ouch.”

  With nothing left to lose, both of the guards went at him with whatever weapons they had. This was to no avail as Chris was unmoved. When they realized that nothing could hurt Chris, they both left the room.

  Soon a befuddled Mary entered the room. “It seems like you have some unknown magical field around you, it will be only a matter of time until it runs out of energy.”

  As she left once again, the guards started to try and beat him again. Over several hours different people came in with a range of magical devices, to attack Chris. All of the weapons had no effect on him.

  Finally, Mary re-entered the room visually frustrated. Almost steaming, she asked through gritted teeth, “What is it that’s protecting you?”

  Chris said with a smile, “We seem to be at an impasse.”

  Mary grunted, “You cannot escape even if we can’t hurt you yet.”

  “No,” said Chris said, “It’s that you want to do business on your terms, but I will not, and you cannot force me. My original condition still stands, but now the price has doubled. If this continues then the price will double again. Tell your boss that I will only deal with you and nobody else. See you later.”

  With that Chris disappeared from the room and instantly reappeared in a workshop in the lockup. In the front shop, he met with Ben and Abby, who were worried about what had happened. Chris filled them in on what had occurred and what he ended up telling Mary in the end.

  Chris said, “Ultimately, it’s all about the money. They have it and I still want to sell to them, but only on my terms.”

  In a few days, Abby reported to Chris that she had been contacted by Mary to purchase some of the items. After that the flood gates seemed to open and everybody was trying to purchase the inscription stamps and scrolls. Abby was over the moon with the amount of money coming into the bank account as Chris spent his time either researching or charging the stamps and scrolls with magical power.

  Chapter 9 Security Problems

  It had been around a year since Chris had started the business ‘Ether’. The magical world was starting to enjoy the benefits of the changes that Chris inscriptions were making on the world. More and more people were relying on space saving devices for work and home use. When Chris had been monitoring the news during the year, he saw that the magical effect he had produced, was changing the real estate business dramatically. Now the small cubby holes they often sold could be expanded, turning the inside into a large house. Suddenly any property was potentially of value. Location of the properties had become the key for sale, as people could change the inside to anything they wanted. The truly rich still showed off with space in their houses however, refusing to be awed by the advancements in magic.

  Now the smallest container could hold large amount of material. The mass reduction devices were being used in all areas of construction and transportation. Between the city office and the lock-up, there was always a higher demand than they could produce. Chris was the bottle neck, as only he could recharge the stamps or scrolls. Even though it only took a small amount of time, there was a significant number of items to recharge every day. Chris would only set aside a small amount of time, as the rest of his time was spent on his research. He had made some significant breakthroughs recently and the excitement for the future rushed through him.

  It had only been recently that he had found that he had been living more and more like a hermit. He had not even been outside the offices or the lockup for the whole year. Though this could have been seen as the cost of the research produced.

  The number of people working for his company had also expanded greatly. There were now several departments which included: Inscription Production, Legal, Human Resources, Marketing, Public Relations and Security. Chris had wanted a tough security force after his abduction. Abby was still recognized as the day to day manager of the company and had really grown into her job. She had her own management and administration assistants.

  Chris was almost never seen by anybody in the office, except Abby. He had been just too busy with his research work. Admittedly, he had been using the lockup in the entertainment district to get out every now and then, and he met with Ben almost daily to encourage and talk about the treatment he was receiving from the psychologist. When he did appear in the corridors or offices, it produced a lot of surprised looks as the only causally dress man passed by silently. Chris had heard rumours of a competition for the number time somebody had spotted him. Today, was one of the rare times, he was out of his workshops. Chris was on the way to Abby’s office, for a meeting she had said was urgent. As Chris entered the outer reception area, a new receptionist looked up with a scowling face.

  She spoke in a demanding tone, “Do you an appointment with Ms. Robinson?”

  Chris nodded his head and said, “Yes.”

  The woman sneered, “Take a seat then, as she is busy at the moment.”

  Chris took a seat, as the receptionist looked over his casual clothes with disdain. She was dressed in very smart business attire, which showed various inscriptions. Chris has been working hard in his lab and his clothes were messy and unkempt. He waited for about five minutes before Abby walked out of her large office.

  Abby walked straight to the receptionist without glancing in his direction. “The boss of the company should be here.”

  The receptionist said in a quiet voice to Abby, “If the boss is coming, maybe we should ask this man to leave.” Indicating Chris.

  Abby turn around and saw Chris sitting behind her. She exclaimed, “Chris! What are you doing sitting there? Come on inside.”

  As Chris walked inside, he heard Abby telling the receptionist who he was and asking her firmly never to keep him waiting for any reason. The woman looked shocked to her core. Inside the room was another woman sitting on a couch, in front of a small coffee table.

  As Abby entered the room she said, “Sorry about that Chris, I know that your time is precious. Anyway, this is Sarah Jones our Public Relations Director.”

  Chris said with a smile, “Nice to finally meet you.” and shook her hand.

  As they all sat down on different comfortable chairs, Chris said, “So then. What’s so important as to have an urgent meeting?”

  Abby said with a smile, “You're not the easiest man to get a hold of. We’ve been working in this building for a year and I think I can count on one hand, the number of staff members who have confirmed sightings of you. Chris have you even been out of the building in a year?”

  Chris sighed. “No, I’ve been really busy on the next level of inscriptions to roll out. Also, the recharging of the stamps and scroll we produce, keeps me occupied the rest of the time.”

  Abby was surprised and said, “You haven't told me about any more developments. Are they going to be world changers like the others?”

  Chris said with excitement, “More so, they're going to have a huge effect on the world.”

  Abby said to Chris and Sarah, “Well, this makes the meeting even more important. Sarah do you want to tell Chris about what you need?”

  Sarah cleared her throat with a slightly nervous cough and said, “It’s about your public image sir… Because at the moment, you have none. There are a lot of rumours going around about you. Our Legal department has
told us that ‘We’re getting more and more pressure from political forces to break the monopoly we have on inscription production’. In my option it would beneficial for you to have some kind of public profile.”

  Abby nodded, “Chris, to talk plainly, you have nearly become a reclusive hermit over the last year, it would do you good to get out and into the public eye. Sarah, tell Chris about your plan.”

  Sarah continued, “The idea is to get somebody to do a life style magazine article about you. I’ve got a person in mind who should do it. They’re a great reporter and have done articles on a lot of the many famous and rich people in the world.”

  Sarah then went through a list of people. Chris had no clue who they were. Both Abby and Sarah seemed impressed by the list. When Sarah had finished, she said, “All we need is some of your time around the office, at home and at some social events.”

  Chris gave a sardonic smile, “Well as I’m never in the office, around people and don’t have a home, they’ll have their work cut out for them. As for social events, I haven’t been invited to anything.”

  Sarah said with a slightly shocked voice, “We receive two or three invitations for you every day, to some important events.”

  Abby interrupted saying, “Trust me, Chris has never seen them.”

  Sarah said, “Anyway, it not a problem. The name of the report is Abigail Rogers and she writes for the Magical Times.”

  Chris was still confused, “I still don’t understand, why she would want interview me?”

  Sarah looked slightly amused at this statement, “Sir, at the moment you are an enigma. Any reporter would cut of their right arm for an interview. A full life style article would be a dream.”

  Chris huffed and said, “If it’s that important to do this to keep the politicians at bay, I’ll do it. But I’m going to have to be myself.”

  Chris was getting up to leave as Sarah said, “It’s best that way, as she’ll probably find out if you’re putting up a false face.”