Two quick knocks at the door, a pause, then two more. The code. I undid the latch and let Kos into the room. They collapsed on the bed, groaning, while I returned to my terminal. After a moment, they got up and started preparing some coffee, which, glancing at my repertoire of receptacles, I wouldn’t mind some myself.
“How’s progress? They asked, once they had prepared it all, and the machine was happily puffing away at its task.
“Not bad. I’ve made it past the firewalls of the Anima network, so we can theoretically connect to Exka.”
“Theoretically?”
“It seems the signal isn’t strong enough, because I’m picking up absolutely nothing. We’d either have to manage a hard line connection (impossible) or construct some kind of receiver (slightly more possible, but still quite difficult). You know, given the fucking island in the way.”
They nodded. “Makes sense. Any other options, or should we start blueprinting?”
“None that come to mind. The actual antenna itself wouldn’t be too difficult, the issue would be getting it to the edge of the island, putting it in a place it wouldn’t be noticed, and, if it's found, making sure it can’t be traced to us. I was thinking a wired connection, but we can’t get it underground, and an uninterrupted cable would probably have issues with signal degradation… plus it’s easily traced. We could maybe do a set of solar powered wireless relays?”
During this explanation, Kos had poured themselves a mug and mixed in their preferred milk and sugar. “Care for a cup?” I nodded, and they prepared me one. “So, the relays have the same problem as the receptor, no? We’d have to get them in high up spaces without them being noticed, and also, the final receptor at our own window would be hard to notice.” They handed me the cup, and I sipped a bit. I preferred it iced, with a bit of sugar to cut the bitterness, and a few drops of vanilla/hazelnut flavouring. The vanilla was a rare delicacy, but we both had an affinity for it, and agreed it was worth the price.
“You are correct on the relay front. I’ve already done some preliminary mapping.” I gestured to the spare chair that currently resides next to the window, and pulled up a map of the area, with key locations marked. They grabbed the chair and set their mug on my desk, studying the map along with me. “So here I have marked our apartment. We’re smack in the middle of the city, so I’m thinking we could do the whole thing in roughly two or three relays between us and the edge. The circles are, essentially, buildings that I think are tall enough to get a clear signal. Tall is good for clarity, but it’s bad for range and leaves more problems in regards to inclement weather. This building here,” I pointed, “is a prime candidate for the relay closest to us, the third, since it’s uninhabited, and we could easily sneak in and station a small device in one of the corner rooms. But there’s no easy candidate between the one by the wall that picks up the signal, the first one, and the third one.” I moused over a highlighted zone. “Our ideal building for relay number two is somewhere here, but there’s nothing abandoned, and short of renting a room or office space, I don’t see how we could establish a reliable relay.”
They sipped during this whole explanation, taking in all of it. I could see their mental gears turning, their talent for problem solving through sheer effort. “Course, we wouldn’t need a permanent fixture. I mean, sure, in an ideal world we just have constant access to Exka’s net, but we only really need it for one thing, and that’s finding the names of any tea manuals so we can grab them from the torrent. We can grab all the information we need right away, and use the connection for as long as it holds. Easy.”
“But how?”
“Oh shit, I laid all the groundwork and just forgot to say it outright. We break into one of those occupied buildings and put the relay on the rooftop. Sure, it’ll be noticed, but there’s no easy way to trace it back to us or any other relay, no? I’d bet it stays for at least a week, and that’ll be enough time to get beyond the walls and place the main relay.”
Hmm. Okay. “Not a bad idea, honestly. That’ll do it, for our purposes, at least. The only problem is how we get the receiver past the wall. My initial thought is placing it at the foot of the wall, where basically nobody patrols. But I don’t know if we could get the signal strong enough to go through the wall itself. We could place it at the top of the wall, but that itself causes a whole host of other problems. The guards patrolling would definitely notice, and if they can figure out what the receptor is for, they can work backwards from there, and possibly trace my breach through the firewall. Which is, as you can imagine, not a great outcome.”
As they had finished their coffee, they nodded and went to fix another mug while I stared at the map, attempting to divine the solution, apropos of nothing. They sat back down, mixing it all, the spoon gently clinking against the ceramic. “I could cast a glamour. That would probably keep it there for at least a few days, worst case scenario. Best case, it’d be a couple months, though from there I think the weather would be an issue.”
I nodded. “So, just making it invisible? That seems like a simple solution. We keep watch of the guard rotation, slip up there, plant it, and we’re cash money?”
They sipped underneath an irked expression. “Vast oversimplification. Glamours aren’t invisibility, think about it more like… a coat for the object to wear. Invisibility itself is really hard, so I’d probably use a combination of a distraction charm and a simple visual glamour-”
I cut them off. “Cool, thanks for the essay, doctor magicka. I leave you to handle that at your own discretion.
“The more you learn about magic, the more you can accurately predict the-”
“I don’t have a brain for that, and you know it. It’s like math but even more fucked up. We’ve discussed this. But we have a plan now.”
They nodded. “Yeah. We do. That’s nice at least. At least we have a plan. So, one relay in the dorm, a second in the abandoned building, a third in the occupied apartments, and the receiver on the wall?”
I gave a heavy sigh and put the terminal in sleep mode. “So, how was practice?”
“Mmm. Well, it was fine, I guess. I’m just so fucking drained, ha. You’re probably not much better.”
“Well, I’m about alright. I felt the casting, though.”
“Yeah? I tried not to tap into you unless it was necessary.”
"I appreciate the thought, Kos, but that’s kinda what I’m for.”
“Are you, though? Unless our situation requires magic specifically, I don’t imagine there’s any scenario in which drawing power from you will help. Often I wish our bond was a two way street.”
“That’ll be the day, huh? Imagine the monumental aneurysm the fossils would have if they heard their beloved student saying that.”
“It’d never work though. Because of the whole, soul thing.”
“Maybe my physical disciplines have developed into some sort of… combat magic???”
Silence.
“That was not funny,”
“We’re looking for tea magic, but sword magic is where you draw the line?”
“Go ahead and look for a textbook on sword magic when we finally pull this off.”
“I bet… 3 rai.”
“Accepted.”
The first relay was, as Iris said, quite easy. The building was abandoned, so the primary concern was not being spotted, which we pulled off admirably and without issue.
“Wonderful. My terminal is saying it’s registered the connection. Wanna stop us from dying when we jump off the edge?”
“No, no. Too risky.” I peered out the window at the pavement beneath, apparently devoid of people. “I don’t see anyone on the street but some of the adjacent buildings are occupied. I don’t want to be spotted from a window.”
He pouted, but nonetheless descended the stairs without complaint. We wound our way through the streets, going from the dense, worn central of the island to the pristine and spaced edges. I was using a spell that tracked the presence of people a few blocks around us, just to make sure we weren’t being followed. It required full use of my vision, so I held onto Iris’ off hand, while she navigated. I didn’t notice we had arrived until she squeezed my hand. It was a back alley behind the building we were planning to get into.
She pointed up, at the worn metal stairs of a fire escape. “I’m assuming you can get us up there?”
“Course. This one’s easier with an arcana though, so keep an eye out while I draw.”
With a nod, he stalked to the alley entrance, throwing on an orange security cloak, and a baton for the main hand. Distance from the ground to the upper rail of the second floor fire escape seemed to be around 15 feet, so I pulled some chalk from my pocket and started a small diagram, doing the math on the fly. Arcana wasn’t really my specialty, but there are lots of reasons why it's taught, and why it was useful in this particular scenario. There were plenty of spells that had a much easier time bound to a specific location than a specific person, as was the case now. Where it was most useful, and where it came in handy during the training room incident, is when the cost or precision of the spell is too great for the caster. Casting through speech and gesture costs your own energy, and is incredibly fluid; depending from person to person. Arcana is more of a science than an art, like Casting.
I had finished, and nothing seemed to go wrong on Iris’ end. I gestured for them to come over, and they hid the guard cloak and baton under their normal navy blue Dual cloak.
“We should be good. Don’t smudge the lines, because I didn’t fix any of it in place. Also don’t miss. You won’t break any bones, but I didn’t want to calculate a whole nother circle for a slow fall spell.”
She stepped in the centre, making sure not to disturb the arcana, and with a graceful leap, landed on the escape. I did the same, and she grabbed onto me on my way up, because there wasn’t much room. To erase the arcana, I poured a water bottle on the chalk, so most was gone, and I was satisfied.
Through the window, we found ourselves in one of the hallways, and we pretended to just be enjoying the fresh air, until two people exited their room; a dual and caster, matching our own blue and gold robes. We continued our conversation, shutting the window, and following them towards the elevator they keyed open.
“Of course, and I wouldn’t ask you to. What I’m trying to get across here is that-” I pressed the top floor button, as the doors slid shut, and the elevator lurched down, to take our generous residents to the first floor. “He just needs to communicate, is all. It’s like he plays things too close to the vest because he thinks I’m going to be offended. I’m just curious, and he knows me! Of course I wouldn’t be offended.”
The doors opened, and the third and fourth occupants got out in the main lobby. Then shut again, as the up arrow on the display blinked gently.
“Damn that fake conversation was weird, I’m horrible at improv.” I shuddered. “Does this elevator take us to the roof?”
Iris shook his head. “It doesn’t seem so, but we should be able to get up there from the top corridor.”
I nodded. And the number ticked up and up until we reached the 64th floor. We stepped out in a similar corridor, but I noticed that the doors were spaced wider apart. And, at the far end - no window.
“Crap,” said Iris. “Could we… teleport?”
“No way. Even the arcana would be way too difficult, and I don’t have the power or precision not to cast us halfway into the roof.” I eyed the corridor’s width. “And the circle would be too big, I think. What do we do?”
“You’re the fucking magician here! I dunno, we see if anybody left their front door unlocked?”
I checked through a monitoring charm. “Nope, no doors left ajar, and I think they lock automatically. Let’s keep our voices down, there’s people who are in these apartments right now.”
They nodded vigorously, on edge, and paced back and forth. Iris was always uncomfortable without a plan, and we’d dead ended in a place we shouldn’t have access to. And, to even further spice up my day, I saw Vee leaving one of the apartments. Her fluffy blond hair was a dead giveaway, and a beacon of hope. “Hey, Vee!”
She startled at my voice, her face a rictus of terror. “Kos?? Iris??”
Iris stopped his pacing, just as startled, and gave me an equally mortified expression, probably for me calling out to her. But I had to say something, because saying nothing was even more suspicious.
Vee cleared her throat. “How did you guys even get up here?”
Before I could answer, Iris cut me off, immediately taking control. “Oh, it’s quite a long story,” and a laugh that only slightly betrayed his tension. “We’re actually trying to get up to the roof so I can get some accurate sketches of the city skyline. Is there any way we can take to get there?”
Vee frowned. “Not that I know of, the elevator doesn’t-”
I tuned them out as my mind whirled with confusion. Why the hell was Vee on the top floor of a luxurious apartment building, inside one of the rooms no less? There’s no way her or Saturn could afford the rent, was she visiting a relative? A friend?
Iris was saying, “We could have made it if there were a window in this corridor, like in the lower floors.”
“You could’ve? How so?”
Iris looked to me, the apparent expert.
“Well, I could’ve drawn a few arcana on the floor and window, and essentially used the top ledge as an anchor to swing around and up the roof, if that makes sense?”
She cocked her head. “Not really, but I’d love to see you try! How about our room?”
What. I sputtered, “You… live here?”
She nodded, sheepish. “It’s also a long story. But feel free to use our windows, because that sounds really fascinating. I’d do anything for some friends.”
Huh. I didn’t press her for more information, mostly out of courtesy. “Yeah, that would be amazing. But weren’t you leaving?’
She laughed. “Yeah, I was just doing a bit of shopping. Saturn won’t be home from training for a while, so we have free reign until then.” She spun around with a flourish, flaring her navy robes, and held a card up to the electrical lock. It flashed green with a click, and she held the door open for us.
The room was sparse, which was surprising. I was expecting it to be lavish to match the rest of the building, but the living room was surprisingly simple, only a worn couch and a kotatsu resting in front of it. The windows were wide, floor to ceiling, facing the walls, and gave the impression of being inside a magnificent camera. And of course, this apartment had more than one room. What a curiosity.
Vee caught my gawking. “Is this good enough? I know it faces away from most of the city, but there’s a few blocks of skyline.”
Iris shook his head. “I’d prefer if we were facing the other way. So, roof it is.”
“Of course,” she said with a chuckle, “I’m glad I get to see you both in action, now.”
Iris kept up conversation with her as I got to work. The missing niceties were convenient, since I needed space to draw the arcana. It only took about twenty minutes by the end, including final checks, but the complex arcana math made it twice as long, at least. “All’s clear, Iris. You’re up first.”
He proffered his hand, allowing me to complete the anchor charm.
Vee inspected my work. “How is this going to get you to the roof? I can’t read arcana at all,” she admitted.
I pointed to the two arcana circles on the floor first. “The one that’s closest to us is just a precautionary measure, to make sure we have enough speed, since the run up isn’t ideal. The second is a temporary anti gravity charm, essentially to allow us to actually jump high enough to reach the roof itself.” She nodded along with my explanation. “And the final one, on the ceiling, is the anchor. As it stands, the speed and anti grav just allow us to jump out the window, and maybe have a few extra seconds before we reach terminal velocity. The anchor is essentially a pivot which allows us to redirect that momentum, sending us up and over the roof. Make sense?”
She was frowning, looking back and forth between the floor and ceiling circles. “Not entirely, but I think I get the gist of it. Is everything in order?”
We both nodded. “Yeah. Iris, you’re free to go.”
He took a deep breath and did some cursory stretches. Lined up, back foot against the wall, like a runner at the starting line, taking off like a bullet. They stepped over the propulsion charm, (which, I guess it was more for my benefit anyway), planted a foot on the antigrav circle, and jumped, straight out the window. The anchor caught him, and at the peak of his height, he flipped up out of sight. This all took about three seconds.
Vee stood watching, mouth agape. “Oh my goodness! That’s really something, isn’t it?” I’d think she would start clapping by the look on her face.
“Thanks, but we’re taught to do this, y’know? Or at least, casters are. Problem solving through spells. Has Saturn never talked to you about Applied Casting? That’s basically the whole course, more or less.”
She shook her head. “No, no, he’s too private about that kind of thing anyway.” Huh.
Iris reached his hand back into the window, so I could undo the anchor, and I got to work. “No broken bones?”
He called down, “None yet. My knee went a little funny though, I’ll have to be careful on it for the next day or two.”
“Wonderful.” I had finished undoing the tether, and was about to apply it to myself when Vee touched my shoulder. “Let me try?” Weird, but I didn’t protest, and held her hand, tying her to the arcana.
When it was done, I pointed to the floor circles. “The first one is a boost, so make sure that you take that into account when stepping. And you have to have your feet or foot on the second one when you jump, or the charm won’t activate, and you’ll prolly not be light enough to make it.” She took this in nervously, and lined up against the wall like Iris did. A dash, and she flew out the window, and identically whirled around out of sight. A thump. “Everyone good?”
Iris called again, “She didn’t land on her feet, but she’ll be fine!”
“Let me know when I’m clear.” I looked out the open window, waiting. Not a great view, since it was mostly wall, but it was better than being lost in a sea of buildings in the centre of town. The sun would dip beneath the stone crenels soon, casting its squarewave shadow across the entire island.
Vee’s hand dropped over the side. “All clear!”
I grabbed it and undid the spell, then redoing it, on myself this time. And with a running start, I landed a little unsteady, but no worse for wear. Vee had bandages on her knees from where she must’ve hit the ground. I nodded to Iris and they gave me a discrete signal, one that meant, ‘go ahead’. The relay was in the far corner, and he had started talking to Vee, which gave me a distraction. I quickly cast a quick visual glamour and a distracting charm; the glamour just bent light around the relay, which made it sorta invisible, but also was a blurry smear of the light behind it. The distraction would attempt to divert someone’s attention elsewhere, so that they wouldn’t notice the blur. That should keep anyone from noticing it for a while at least.
We all sat on the edge, while Iris sketched out the skyline. From this far out, we could see the entire island, shaped a bit like a funnel in terms of building size, with the walls looming in every direction. What a gorgeous sight, with the setting sun turning the entire city golden, as the shadow of the wall spread further and further, the people outside slowly filtered back inside, and the windows brightened up with artificial gold, flecking a turquoise town.
The wall was a big challenge. It was so much taller than the buildings around it, and anyone on top could see all the city, and any attempt to climb the insides would be remarkably easy to see. So, of course, we had to find a way inside the wall itself. The guards patrolled the tops, so there had to be a way in, and up. There had to be a landing pad for shuttles too, since we got regular supply shipments to and from Exka. We backtraced supply shipments all the way to a warehouse in the upper east district, built flush with the walls. It was only a dozen or so blocks from the apartment building, which was better than we could’ve dreamed.
We snuck our way in, picked the lock, and got some peeks at the airfields.
Kos whispered, “Woah… you can see Exka from here!”
“Yeah, who would’ve guessed? It’s cool, but we can’t plant the receiver there, cos the signal won’t get through the wall. And we’ll get spotted if we try to go outside. Let’s get to the top, quick.”
The trip up the stairs was relatively uneventful, but unimaginably tedious. We’d check a set of stairs for people going up or down, and hide if we heard anything. There were some close calls, but it was a hundred flights of boredom. It was difficult, mind, but the boring kind of difficulty, of keeping your guard up and not saying anything stupid for a few hours.
When we finally peaked our heads out of the final flight of stairs, we were absolutely fed up with any kind of escalation or de-escalation. Kos planted the receiver, we confirmed the connection, and returned home for prime time naps. Down a hundred plus flights of stairs, halfway across town to the dorm, and, finally, a glorious 21 floor elevator.
I opened the door and took a seat at the terminal, while Kos slumped into bed. I was tired of course, but we were connected to Exka. I wanted to download all the information I could, here and now. Lots of interesting things I found:
-There’s no such thing as sword magic.
-Tea magic has gone through a revival in recent years, with it being largely picked up by the edges of the galaxy. Of course it was useful for travellers and adventurers. What an obvious thing I somehow never considered.
-The Breaking isn’t known by the outside world either. It’s still a mystery.
-Surreptitiously, there was a small scrap of paper underneath my mousepad, a recent review of a book entitled, “A Practical Guide to Tea Making”, by Sola Musica.