I keep up my normal routine, but installation and training go quite quickly; the scanners, check-in kiosks, local servers, and other hardware have many applications and are mass-manufactured: It was all sitting in various warehouses, just waiting for someone to pay for it. And my "Employees" are all Conjuration Sphere Companions with Intelligence scores of twenty five before I load them up with buffs (Intelligence is easier to boost for Conjuration sphere Companions that Wisdom or Charisma, even if only just, and I wanted them to have as many spell points of their own as possible with the mage archetype), and they pick up on how to use everything very quickly. After that, it's just a simple for loop to fill the databases with my "flights" to and from "Arcana International Airport," and I'm in business.

A very BRISK business. The GDS companies look up data from each other's information, all the search engines use the GDS companies under the hood, and my listings undercut everyone in both time and price. A hundred bucks for a ticket from any US passenger airport to any other US passenger airport is stupidly cheap. Well, OK, it's more than that - taxes and airline fees apply - but that’s true of any ticket, and the dashboard is telling me I'm capturing around ninety percent of new domestic flights - including getting people to and from their international flights, but not the international flights themselves… yet.

Of course, I make the news again. Shattering an industry will do that … but hey: I don't actually have to grant interviews, so the newscasters end up interviewing my information desk summons. I do watch it, though - the full version after clicking through the links on their website, rather than the edited version that made the front page.

They apparently did the interview in the middle of the night, as the airport terminal is dead. Which, I suppose, made it convenient for the interview. My Companion is shaped into a modestly attractive woman, with my signature "tell" of the double rack, although hers isn't so pronounced that it dominates the image. Auburn hair, white skin, and freckles go well enough with the dark brown women's business suit worn as a uniform. The reporter is also a woman, black hair, brown eyes, slightly tanned, wearing a dark blue business suit with a skirt that only goes down to her knees.

The backdrop is the information desk. My Companion is technically on Arcana soil, being inside the gate rather than in the airport proper, while the reporter is standing on the concrete floor of the airport. The camera is looking through the portal, so the background behind the information desk is ninety feet of walkway and then a wild garden bursting with vegetation, all bearing fruits, nuts, and other edibles. And it's eternally day there, so there's no telling what time it is… unless I ask, I suppose.

The reporter starts, of course: "So we're standing here at San Francisco Airport, to interview one of the people that are BREAKING the airline industry in half. So please enlighten us: Who are you, and what is your company all about?"

"Today I'll be Susan, I think, and we're here to help people and the world."

"And how do you do that?"

"Personally? I answer questions."

"Which means I found the right person, then. But I meant as a company."

"We offer faster, cheaper travel than essentially any domestic airline."

"And how does that work, exactly?"

"The technical details are of course a trade secret…"

"Of course."

"... but the short answer is that we use magic to create portals, which people can then walk through. There is a US national zone, and each state has a zone. You can easily get from any US public passenger airport to any US public passenger airport, just by walking… assuming you purchased a ticket, anyway."

"And how much does a ticket cost?"

"A hundred dollars US, plus applicable fees and taxes, but it's technically two tickets: One to Arcana International, one to your destination."

"So a little over a hundred dollars can get you basically anywhere in the United States? That's hard to believe."

"Well… you two qualify for our news tour package; I could call over a replacement to watch the desk, and escort you both to Anchorage Alaska, Honolulu Hawaii, Orlando Florida, Bangor Maine, and back again. It's just a tour, though, you wouldn't be permitted to leave the terminals or linger too terribly long in any of them… but you could get updated GPS coordinates on your phone, look out the windows, and talk to people long enough to confirm where we are. It's an approximately two mile walk, round trip."

“That sounds amazing. Yes please.”

My Companion nods, and looks up at the sky behind her… a large bronze dragon flies down, lands, and turns into a woman looking very much like the one manning the information desk - who then takes over the information desk as Susan bows at the reporter, “This way, please.”

They walk in, and the cameraman pans the view, showing the neighboring portals, stone walkways, and other sights.

“So… are these plants all edible?”

“Yes, everything here produces something you can eat. Fruit, berries, nuts… there’s also something like cabbage and a few root vegetables as well. Nothing’s poisonous - well, unless you have an allergy - feel free to eat as much as you like, but eat at your own risk. We’re technically in Arcana sovereign territory at the moment, so the laws you’re used to don’t apply: You can’t sue us if you choke to death or something.”

As she picks a pear and takes a bite, the reporter asks, “If I’m dead, how could I sue you?”

“Ah… death isn’t really DEATH when the goddess is involved. We have standing orders to revive anyone who dies here.”

“Wait… you can raise the dead?”

“As long as they’re not too dead, and they’re willing to return, yes.”

“Death is a spectrum, now?”

“Yes. Someone who, say, died because of a bullet to the head is pretty easy to repair as long as they haven’t been down too long and all the pieces are still there. Same goes for infections and stuff. I can fix those, they’re pretty minor. But if someone’s missing important body parts, like a head, heart, or lung… we’re going to need to ask Chris to send a helper. Likewise death by old age is very tricky. It can be done with magic, but it requires someone more skilled than I. I can also do healings, so if you’re feeling ill, we can probably help. Standing orders to do so, in point of fact. Health care isn’t something we charge customers for, even for strangers not of the faith. We have limited resources for that, but we’ll spend what we have for a current customer.”

“So… you’ll double as a hospital?”

“I can demonstrate, but… well, you’d have to get yourself hurt, first, I’m not going to hurt you for just asking. But yes, we’ll fix diseases and injuries for people, no problem. You’ll need a ticket to get in, but that’s about it. We’re not going to do cosmetic surgery for folks, though.”

“That’s amazing. Ah… why 'just for asking’ on that one?”

“Oh, there are things I will hurt you for. I’m not going to abide rape or murder, for instance. This is sovereign Arcana territory, and if you commit a serious crime, I am authorized to use force.”

“Ah… you look like a simple information desk person. Would you really use force?”

My servant briefly turns into a dragon, the size of an African lion, “Looks can be deceiving. And yes, yes I really would,” growls a moment, and then turns back into her ‘social’ form.

The reporter swallows, “That’s umm… OK. So I take it you don’t have much of a crime problem here?”

“None at all. All current Arcana citizens were created by Chris, personally, for some specific mission. We remember not existing, enjoy life, and have very little in the way of needs, so we willingly serve in whatever capacity he likes, provided it’s not pointlessly cruel. And the goddess is not a cruel person, so the only crimes come from foreigners.”

“Zero crime… can I immigrate?” The reporter is obviously joking, but my minion answers anyway.

“We’re not currently taking immigration requests. Chris could change this at any time by divine decree.”

“So you consider Chris a goddess, then?”

My minion pauses, “He creates land, makes servants capable of thought and speech, bends space… what about this does not scream ‘deity’ to you?”

“Ah… I’ll have to get back to you on that. Chris… made you?”

“That’s correct. Chris made me - all of the workers here, really. We literally owe him our existence.”

“So he made you in a lab or something?”

“No, the goddess willed us into existence. There was no lab, he simply did it.”

“How?”

“Magic.”

“... I am getting so tired of that answer. I much prefer when the eggheads call it the Carlson effect, has a much better ring to it.”

“You are free to say whatever you like. Chris is very clear on that. But Magic is the term Chris prefers, and so that’s the one I’ll use. He did introduce it to the world, after all, did he not?”

“Yes, but ‘magic’ is such a loaded term.”

“And yet, still the right one.”

“That remains to be seen. Once the eggheads figure it out, there will be a better one. Setting that aside, though… so if you were made, what do you remember from before?”

“Not existing. Existing is much better.”

“How can you remember not existing?”

“I don’t know how it works. And yet, I do remember.”

The reporter seems to be looking for questions now… “Do you know your carbon footprint?”

“Carbon footprint? What’s that?”

“Ah… you don’t know anything about global warming, then?”

“Oh, Chris imprinted us with modern general knowledge when he made us. I’m just teasing you. Our carbon footprint is basically nothing, or maybe even negative, as far as anyone can figure. The lights, the plants, the portals, myself, even the very ground you’re standing on was all created by Chris. There’s no manufacturing, no jet fuel, no electricity needed to maintain this place. The servers running our reservation system use electricity we didn’t generate, and we purchased the check-in equipment, but other than that? Zero emissions. The goddess simply created it all with his power. And we’ve got plants in here, so if anything we’re removing a little carbon from the air.”

The questions (and answers) grow progressively less relevant, and I lose interest. I do watch it through, though: They visit four different states, take some videos of going through the portals, of the airport at each location, brief interviews of people at the various distant terminals to confirm that’s where they are, and the reporter even shows the GPS on her cell phone giving the current location. Eventually, the reporter runs out of questions, and cuts things off.

Huh. That’s actually a pretty good news spot. I’m “Green” travel, apparently. Didn’t think of that. I was just figuring I’d dominate on price and speed.