by Adam Thielen
“What do I get out of this?” Taq asked.
Mr. Rafir spoke up as Frank sighed, “Something like this would look very good on your record. I’m sure you’d like to leave your ‘prison’ someday.”
Taq sat quietly for a moment, summoning the courage to speak. “Ms. Tamra believes I left the university tonight and is going to file a report. Stop her and I’ll find him.” He said the last part while looking at Frank.
Ms. Smith palmed her face in annoyance. Frank choked down a laugh.
“Outrageous!” Mr. Rafir shouted. “We were giving you a chance to do something productive with your gifts, and you want to blackmail us?”
“Oh, spare me!” Taq replied just as loudly. “You keep me in a kennel and now I’m supposed to go play fetch? I only want something in return. Call it blackmail if you want.”
Rafir looked to Frank, who simply shrugged.
“Tamra!” Rafir called. He stood up from his chair and paced around the room.
“Ms. Smith, what’s the verdict on Taq’s psych evals?” Frank asked.
Ms. Smith looked up from her hand as if being woken up and then down at a file. “All green.”
“So more or less this is my call, right?” he followed-up.
Smith sighed, “That’s right, Frank.”
“What?” Rafir fumed.
Frank faced Taq, “I can help out with your problem. But I need to know you can be useful. Sell me on this.”
“Let me try to find him now. I can’t think of anything else,” Taq shrugged.
“Now?” Frank asked. “As in right here, now?”
Taq nodded, “Now.”
“Fuck it! We’ll do it live!” Frank shouted, slamming the table with his palm. He laughed boisterously, looking at Rafir and Smith as they sat stone-faced. He quieted, then cleared his throat and looked at Taq.
“How exactly are you going to do that?”
“I can project into the ether,” answered Taq.
“Many mages can, Taq, but you don’t even know what to look for,” insisted Rafir, still pacing.
“Tell me about him,” Taq requested of Frank.
“Uh,” Frank was caught off guard momentarily. “His name is Paul Winter. He last resided at the Chicago University.” Frank projected an image from his com onto the table showing a map. “That dot there is where he was last seen. Low income apartments.” He then projected an image of Winter’s face.
“There aren’t many mages outside of the universities,” assured Taq. “If he’s still in town, I can find him.”
Frank looked at Mr. Rafir, who had gone from pacing to glowering. “Oh sure, go ahead.”
Taq placed his palms face down onto the table and closed his eyes. He imagined being engulfed in warm water, letting his muscles relax. Behind his eyelids, his vision moved from spot to spot; a motion that had to be precise in order to channel ethereal energies. He squinted in concentration as ether engulfed him like a pool of water. All three in the room reacted with slight surprise as a chill swept through the room.
Taq’s mind entered the Ether, a realm consisting of spirits and auras, with a landscape constantly in flux, but spatially mirroring the facade. All mages drew their power from the Ether, and skilled mages can disconnect from their bodies and remain cognizant while traveling through the Ethereal plane. Doing so has it’s dangers and challenges.
Taq was no stranger to the Ether. As he entered, the room around him shifted. Everything took on a ghostly appearance, where the perception of colors indicated more than the shape of structures. Sounds told him of events happening on the other side of the planet, but they were impossible to discern, as if encrypted in a way that made sense to only those with a connection to someone involved in those events. In front of Taq sat three figures. One translucent, one with an aura of blue, and one orange. Taq knew the blue one was Rafir, a mage himself. “Did he try this already?” he wondered. Taq felt a little embarrassed now, sure that he would be perceived as trying to show off.
Orange was a color he saw infrequently, but he surmised that he now sat in front of a vampire. What did vampires want with a missing mage? Taq set aside his concerns for a moment, he now had to produce results. That meant leaving these three behind. He scanned the horizon and saw several blue auras outside of the cluster located in the university. Three of them were in the direction of the apartments Frank mentioned. Taq imagined moving toward the first one and it happened. The Ether had its own kind of physics, but they still had to be obeyed. This mage was a fast mover though, faster than the speed of sound, he estimated. Within a few moments he was close to the blue blob of light. From that new vantage he could make out two additional auras. He reached out and touched the aura. This violation made him feel a bit ill. Not out of a sense of guilt, but because of the mental effort reading emotions required.
Taq wasn’t sure what he should feel, but the first suspect’s calm told him nothing. “What am I looking for?” he pleaded. He pivoted again and noticed one of the blue figures had a hint of green. Strange, he thought. He flew toward it as fast as he could. Taq did something a bit dangerous and used physical vision. It was blurry, akin to viewing an impressionistic painting. He looked around and saw a sign in big letters on a building. It would have to be enough, as it was too tiring to keep looking at the physical world so far from his physical body.
The blueish green aura looked to be sitting, propped up against a wall. Taq moved closer, touched it, and was promptly engulfed in a burning sensation. He screamed, but nothing came out. The aura quickly stood. Taq couldn’t see his face, but realized he needed to now. Despite his agony, he pried open his physical sight. A man stood staring in Taq’s direction, but his head turned from one side to the next, as if looking for something.
The fire that had engulfed Taq in the Ether had subsided to a dull sensation. The blueish green figure began to emit a slight yellow, and Taq resisted the urge to flee back to his body. Without warning, the aura shifted fully yellow indicating Taq was no longer alone in the Ether. He thrust his hand forward, attempting to force the other mage unconscious. With both of them inside the Ether, efficacy was a matter of will, imagination, and natural talent. The yellow aura flinched and reacted by grabbing at Taq. He felt its fist inside of his chest. Taq tried to free himself, putting all his concentration into shoving the mage away, but it only moved slightly, retaining its hold on him.
Taq felt a darkness start to consume him and sensed he had little time to find an escape. He grabbed the other mage’s arm with both hands and flew, taking the mage with him. One universal truth of ethereal projection was unimpeded travel. The other mage could hold onto him, but it could not stop him from traveling. Soon Taq saw what he wanted; a wall of white static. He pushed the mage into it. As soon as it collided with the barrier, the adversary released his grasp on Taq and dissipated into nothing. Taq stared at the white wall for a moment feeling relieved. He let his aura dissipate from the Ether, returning to his body.
Back in the study, Taq’s body slumped over the table before falling out of the chair entirely.
“Is that normal?” asked Frank.
Rafir and Smith stood up in alarm, with Smith running over to check Taq for a pulse. “He seems to be alive and breathing,” she reported.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Kerwin, maybe someone else can help,” Rafir lifted open a com unit on the table. “Ms. Smith, if you could get Tamra in here so we can get our young mage some medical attention if he needs it before sending him to the dorm.”
“Fuck that, I like him. Load him into my car. I’m taking him with me,” said Frank.
Rafir scoffed, “I hardly think that’s a wise idea.”
“You tried finding him but couldn’t, and we need a mage to take with us. Kid is reckless and cocky, and that’s more helpful than harmful right now,” said Frank.
“He could be hurt, and who knows what he actually found,” argued Ms. Smith.
A young woman with cropped black hair, wheatish skin, and silver eye
s had been standing against a wall next to the bookshelf. By the time she arrived, a boy was sitting at the table in a trance. Before Frank could continue the argument, she spoke. “An alert has been issued at Boeing-Lockheed warning of an attempted security breach. Would’ve happened right before he fell over.”
“What kind of breach?” lead Frank.
“The alert said it was a barrier impact. This likely refers to the ethereal barriers maintained by corporate mages,” she suggested. “Could be a polonium grid too.”
Frank looked at Mr. Rafir and then at Smith. “We may not have much time. I’m taking him with me, right Smith?”
“If you insist,” she replied. “Let it be noted by all in attendance that we fulfilled our end of the arrangement.”
Rafir shook his head. “I’ll call B-L and tell them we were doing some training.” Like every other major corporation, Boeing-Lockheed had signed the Magic Threat Control pact. In simple terms, the pact delegated responsibility to the universities, and in return the corporations could not seek damages against the university or its mages without a vote.
Tamra entered the room and was startled to see Taq lying on the ground. With her was a pale man.
“Matthias,” Frank greeted him. He motioned at Taq. “I found you a mage.”
Matthias frowned at the motionless body. “Not a promising start.”
“Come, Kate,” he waved the young woman over. “Matthias, pick up Taq here, we’ve taken up enough of the university’s time.” Frank rose from his chair and extended his hand to Mr. Rafir, who reluctantly shook it. He then did the same for Ms. Smith as he left the room, following Matthias and trailed by the woman named Kate.
* * *
Matthias easily carried Taq’s limp body to the vehicle, a van with a tall flat grill in the front and a steeply angled windshield. The tires were double wide with deep treads; features completely unnecessary for consumer vehicles. The side windows were sectioned into thin opaquely tinted strips. Matthias went to the back and opened the rear doors. Hinged, they were a little old fashioned, but more reliable than magnetic sliders. He stepped up and into the van and laid Taq on the floor.
Frank took the wheel with Kate shotgun. He pulled out of the driveway and took the nearest turn to Highway 50. Frank turned on the drive assist and turned around to look at Taq and Matthias.
“Our worst fears have been all but confirmed. We need him awake,” Frank stated, turning his gaze to Matthias. “You really fucked this one up, Matty. No, don’t talk. Listen,” he said as Matthias’s lips had parted. “We’re going to fix this, and you are going to look like a god damn hero.”
Frank wasn’t as pale as his colleague. Some vampires retained more of their color, and usually this coincided with a better resistance to ultraviolet radiation and silver, but generally less enhanced strength and sensory perception. He kept his face scruffy with facial stubble, to further mask his status. Frank was useful as a liaison but not as any sort of enforcer; that was where vampires like Matthias came in.
“I’m going to head back to the K.C. headquarters. I’ll coordinate some support there, but this is your ballgame now,” Frank sighed and turned to Kate. “I don’t know how you know Matthias, but my people value discretion. This computing?”
Kate nodded.
“I wouldn’t have brought her in if she didn’t already know as much if not more than we do already,” Matthias said.
“Still, delete everything unless it serves some function of the mission,” Frank said, pointing his finger at her.
“I wasn’t looking for a handout; I’m here as a favor to Matthias,” Kate snapped.
“And you’re getting paid to— Fine, I’m done. You’re a pro, et cetera,” Frank relented.
Kate was visibly irritated, but knew that Frank understood her value. She had started interfacing as a hobby when it became popular. Then when underground groups began hacking the NID, or Neural Interface Device firmwares, her hobby turned into an obsession to take full control of her interface and gray matter. The results were incredible in terms of raw computing power.
Kate started brute forcing quantum information bands in order to spoof the credentials of corporate executives. It was more out of curiosity than anything. The ability to listen to their calls or read their texts was a source of entertainment that thrilled her more than any drug, neural simulation, or video program.
Once while low on money, she stumbled across an executive that needed help finding a blackmailer. It was easy for her to track him down, and afterward Kate’s number circulated around high level social circles. She was rarely called, but the money was steady enough to avoid doing real work. She learned about vampire society and eavesdropped on the mages and the enforcement service. There was a layer of reality only she and possibly a few others were privy too, composed of private conversations between powerful people.
As she sat silent in the van, she looked down at Taq. His hair was blonde and either horribly disheveled or purposefully spiky, it was hard to tell. His skin was a light tan. Curious, she pried open an eyelid, revealing a light blue iris. While outwardly observing him, Kate’s neural interface was constantly busy monitoring dozens of data streams she had either proxy or direct access to. She figured something transmitted via police bands would indicate the location of the rogue mage, especially if Taq had truly survived an encounter with him in the Ether. To her frustration, there was nothing. She looked back at Matthias and shook her head. Matthias looked down at Taq.
A few minutes later, Frank stopped the van. “Okay kids, have fun,” he said, stepping out. “Just kidding, find the fucking mage.” Frank slammed the door and walked away.
Matthias wasted no time breaking protocol. He rolled up one sleeve, extended a fingernail, and cut open his exposed forearm. He stuck his fingers in Taq’s mouth and pried it open. “Hold his nose,” he ordered Kate.
Her eyes wide, she pinched Taq’s nostrils as blood from Matthias’s fresh wound trickled into the mage’s mouth. After only a few seconds, the blood stopped flowing as the cut healed. Matthias covered his arm and sat back.
“Since when is this allowed?” she exclaimed.
“We have no time. We have no leads,” he said. “This is not allowed, and it didn’t happen.”
“Why are we so desperate?” she asked.
“This guy isn’t just a mage,” Matthias explained. “He is a mage that may have turned…”
“To a vampire?” she finished, thinking of hacked coms she had read, implying such a thing could be done despite common knowledge to the contrary.
“We call them fiends,” Matthias elaborated. “It’s very rare and the last reported occurrence was well before my time.”
Matthias slapped Taq. Nothing. “Worth a try,” he said.
“Armstrong,” Taq coughed out suddenly. His eyes fluttered. “I saw it.”
Matthias looked at Kate who responded, “On it.”
Matthias jumped into the driver’s seat.
“It’s a hotel, about twelve miles from here. I’ll plug it into nav,” Kate said energetically, putting the hotel’s address into the van’s GPS.
Matthias hit engage and took manual control of the vehicle. “Strap our friend onto the floor, can’t have him flying around back there. I may break the speed limit,” he warned. Kate complied, almost losing her balance herself as the van accelerated.
With only two hours until dawn, Matthias worried that his window for correcting his mistake was closing.
Episode 2: Nightmares
Taq squinted and started rubbing his eyes. Kate sat on a bench next to him inside the roaring vehicle. It rumbled like no car she had been in before.
“Taq!” she yelled. “Are you there? Can you hear me?”
“I can’t see,” he said softly. “Where am I?”
Kate explained the situation. “We are headed toward the Armstrong Hotel, is that what you saw in the Ether?”
“That mage, he almost killed me,” Taq said in a near whisper.
>
“You’re safe now, so focus,” Kate pleaded.
“Yes, I believe it was a hotel. It’s hard to see in the Ether,” he explained. “All I see now is a blur.” He rubbed his eyes again.
“Shit,” said Matthias. “He’s going to be useless when we get there.”
“Okay, I get the discretion,” Kate shrugged. “But now that we have a lead, can’t we call in some sort of backup?”
“Nobody knows about this,” Matthias said quietly. “If they find out, my career and possibly my life, are over.”
“Melodramatic,” said Kate, grinning.
“If we are chasing what I think, then someone’s head will have to roll, and I see no one else to pin the blame on,” he said.
“There it is,” said Matthias, pointing at a building ten stories high. “Collect the guest registry, camera footage, and credit account info for every print or card swiped here.”
The van rolled to a stop. “Do not go inside this building, and keep the van locked. Get me on com if you turn up a new lead. If wonder boy here gets his eyes back, I need him in there,” instructed Matthias.
“Nice to meet you, too. I think my vision is getting a little better,” responded Taq.
“Don’t leave until you are ready. I don’t plan on a direct confrontation; I doubt he’s even here,” Matthias said as he stepped out of the vehicle. He heard the electronic locks engage as he walked up to the entrance to the hotel.
It had started to rain. Matthias hurried under the overhang outside the building. He pulled out his handgun and turned the safety off. He holstered it again, wishing he had a retinal implant to assist his aim instead of a mere laser sight. His kind didn’t take well to physical modification, perpetually regenerating any displaced tissue.
Inside the hotel, Matthias scanned the lobby. A desk clerk and some dated furnishings occupied the room. Elevator doors stood at the other end, and corridors reached both left and right. Matthias decided to start with the front desk attendant.