2: Pay to Win B
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Mathias and his father lived in a small downtown apartment, on the sixth floor of a building in downtown Evermarsh. The kitchen and main room shared the same space, and they had only two miserable bedrooms. Concordian gave all their citizens free lodging, but only the amount of space strictly needed.

Even with only two occupants, the apartment felt crowded. Mathias had sacrificed his prized book collection, and his father his sports equipment for breathing space and a Holo-TV. Their home was all white in color and had no decorations, and with walls that were made brighter by the windows’ light. All in all, it felt closer to a hospital room than a home; perhaps Concordian authorities intended for that effect when they moved them here. It suited the Martels just fine, since neither of them stayed there often.

Upon closing the door behind him, Mathias found his father, Victor, writing an article on his laptop behind the kitchen table. His coffee cup was still fuming next to two empty cups. Sol, a friend of the family, drank tea on the other side of the table with calm, soothing dignity.

Save for his mother’s blue eyes and his own short height, Mathias had inherited most of his features from his dad. Strong and tall, with pale brown hair and striking amber eyes, Victor wore only the simplest of clothes. An adventurer, he could, and had, bailed on everything to pursue a story that mattered to him.

Like every journalist, however, Victor had to live with Concordian censorship, especially online. Gone were the days where one could write articles decrying the powers that be; like many, and especially after mom’s arrest, his father had to sacrifice his freedom for the sake of giving his son a family.

He did keep some photos to himself, however, in a secret stash that Mathias had found and peeked at. Pictures of Gearsmen malfunctioning and killing bystanders swept under the rug, of police opening fire on Chinese rioters, and of Concordia’s complex in Great Britain where many protesters went in and none came out. Pictures that revealed the true face of Concordia.

Dad risked much by keeping those pictures, which made Mathias all the prouder of him.

“Greetings, Mathias,” Sol welcomed the young man first, putting his tea aside. The man had a personable face that made you trust him at first sight, with gentle grey eyes and a white beard; he looked like the consummate televangelist he had used to be before the Conquest. He wore a priest’s black garb, and kept his hair well-groomed, exposing the scar on his forehead. “You have grown an inch.”

“You say that every time you see me,” Mathias replied with a smile, giving a brief hug to the grandfather he never had, and felt a surge of energy rush through his veins as he did. “What are you doing here?”

“Helping me with the case, son,” Dad spoke, upon hugging Mathias next, the same surge of energy spreading through him as he did. “How did the day go?”

— Victor looked at Mathias’ grades with apprehension. While he disliked everything linked to Concordia, his son had the potential of joining their Institute. To make a difference and safeguard his future. If only he applied himself more —

“Fine, sort of,” Mathias replied. His father raised an eyebrow, but didn’t push the envelope. He had learned to respect his son’s right to privacy. Next, he moved to look at his father’s computer screen, reading the article. “The Invisible Hand?”

“So far, no corpses, no witness, no M.O.,” Victor had been investigating the missing person cases for two months now, since Sol had first alerted the authorities that a member of his dwindling yet tight congregation hadn’t shown up in two weeks. Local police, led by chief Henry Powells, had made it a priority, yet their efforts had yet to yield dividends. “And the count keeps climbing.”

“There was another disappearance yesterday. The thirteenth.” Sol shook his head in anger and sadness. “No day passes without a family praying for a sign.”

So far nobody had died on the case. But only so far, was what Mathias always reminded himself of.

“Once, criminal activities were synonymous with blood and intimidation, but since the dragons took over secrecy and low profiles have become the norm,” Victor explained. Since Gearsmen used lethal force on sight, criminal organizations faced high turnover rates. “The Mexican drug trade has been all but eradicated, the Cosa Nostra is gone, and the Russian Mafia…”

Victor didn’t finish his sentence. He didn’t need to. Everyone knew what happened to the Russians when they tried to resist the Conquest. The fires could be seen from Belgrade.

“I do not think this is an organized syndicate,” Sol voiced his opinion. Having spent twenty years of his life fighting them in South America, he knew those groups intimately. “We received no ransom demand, and the missing people are ordinary citizens. I believe the responsible’s motives are more malicious than mere greed.”

— Solomon looked into the sicario’s eyes. In them, he found no pity, nor humanity. No recognition that he existed as a fellow human being. “Do you have any idea of how many people tried to threaten me into silence?” Solomon said. “There is no way. No money can buy the life of a man.”

“You are wrong on both counts, Father,” The man smiled, and in his eyes Solomon saw Hell itself. “I am not paid for what I do, and there is a way to silence you.”

He raised the gun, pointed at Sol’s forehead, and pressed the trigger. —

Mathias winced at the memory. Sol had told him this story before — one of the reasons Mathias had labeled him a closet badass — but seeing it through the priest’s own eyes felt way more terrible than hearing it. Sol had spent a month in a coma afterwards before the doctors could wake him up.

“Yet I cannot imagine a lone individual able to pull this kidnapping spree off,” Victor replied. “I know there’s a strong hand behind it, and not a human hand.”

“Organizations make more mistakes the bigger they grow,” Sol agreed. “This one, if it exists, has yet to reveal anything sensitive.”

“The leader may have a strong hold over its staff. Could be a vampire or salamander. I’ve just got to figure out how the responsible keep getting ahead of investigations.”

“Victor, at the risk of repeating myself, I only see two possibilities.” Sol put his tea aside, his face grim. “Either the responsible has informants among law enforcement, or thay are the law enforcement.”

Mathias remembered the memory flash he had received from Jack. Sol’s instincts may be on point. He kept his mouth shut however, as he couldn’t prove anything yet.

“That is a very strong accusation that you make,” Victor replied. “However, Concordia seems to share it. A source in the Blue Ministry told me they have taken an interest in the case, and will take it from the local forces’ hands soon.”

From what Mathias gathered, the missing people conspiracy abducted isolated people on a weekly basis, never at the same place and without any witness. Which implied a tight schedule, and tighter teamwork. Mathias mind went to work, he envisioned a cell within the police force, convincing people to go with them for a routine check up and then abducting them by surprise. It would be easy to hide in plain sight, to transport the victims to an isolated area. Political ties would give them key intel, and allow them to stave off Concordian interference.

An interesting deduction, too clear and precise to fully be his own.

For the first time since he downloaded the spell, Network provided Mathias with information that didn’t involve psychological insight. He fought the urge to open his account, almost on reflex.

For the safety of his mind, he couldn’t keep ignoring what he had seen. It only brought him more questions. He had to deal with them here and now.

“I’ve got to make a call,” Mathias declared. “It’s really important, and I don’t want to be bothered.”

Sol gave him a knowing look. “Wouldn’t that be this girl you keep telling me about?”

“A girl?” Amusement spread over Dad’s face. “You’ve been seeing a girl Mathias? And you didn’t tell your old man?”

“That’s not…” And now it was just embarrassing. “It’s just a crush. I haven’t told her anything.”

“Fine, fine,” Dad replied, deciding not to tease his son further. “Just be ready for dinner. Sol will be joining us.”

Mathias kissed his father on the forehead, said goodbye to Sol, went to his room, and locked the door behind him. Putting his school bag on the side of his small bed, he then flipped the blinders on the window closed, blanketing his bedroom in comforting darkness.

Lying on the bed, Mathias mentally focused, summoning the Magik Browser in front of him. It had taken the teen some effort to learn how to open and close it with thought alone, but whatever kind of tech powered the app, it was directly linked to his brain. He suspected he might even be able to ‘click’ without moving his hand, if given enough time to figure it out.  

The Network Icon had moved into the main screen after activation, right to the Spellcoin wallet. Mathias clicked on it without hesitation.

Like the other apps on Magik, the application had a short explanation: Provides understanding and power over social networks.

So far it had provided him with oddly specific information, such as memories of others in a specific context. Yet the name of the app was Network, not Mind Reader. What information Mathias’ mind received were either personal psychological insights, or information on how individuals related to one another. What the app provided him wasn’t so much as telepathic communication, but advanced individual and social profiling.

There, the lightning in the bottle: he could understand how a network of people worked, and how to influence all its components. He didn’t even need to meet individual members; as the epiphany on the police proved, even the mere evidence that the network existed could allow him to extrapolate information. He could also orient the information flow, based on questions or circumstantial needs.

Could the power affect even non-human networks, such as Hob clans? The internet, railroads, supply chains, all of those were networks that weren’t fully automated and could potentially fall under his purview. How far was the limit? If he kept observing a network, would his power and understanding grow ever sharper? He would have to check.

Properly applied, this power could be devastating. If Mathias could approach members of the Concordian authorities, he could insidiously sabotage them. Or form a resistance cell out of previously unconnected individuals.

Clicking on the app again changed his screen into five sets of smaller visual feeds, each showing a video in real time. One of them portrayed Perse arguing with the camera, with the one right next to her point of view showing Ulysses in the same position. The third portrayed an emptied cup of tea, while the fourth livestreamed two hands preparing coffee in Mathias’ own kitchen.

The fifth livestream started normal before going into somewhat disturbing territory. The viewer looked at the dwindling ratings of a video game online channel on his laptop, then closed it, and sat before a red wall. The livestreamer didn’t move, didn’t shake, just standing there unblinking.

Just staring.

Names were shown in bright blue letters under each of the livestreams. Ulysses Werner, Persephone Werner, Solomon Nicholae, Victor Martell, Jack Powells.  

Mathias enabled sound on the Ulysses video, finding himself in the middle of a conversation between him and Perse. “ — Ulysses, you are such a jerk, you can’t ask out Maggy dressed like this!”Much like a livestream application, some settings were set at the bottom of each individual screens labeled: Sound disabled; and Communication disabled.

“It’s all about inner confidence,” the offscreen Ulysses replied.

The quality of the sound was sharper than any video Mathias had ever watched. He almost felt physically present at the scene. Because, in a way, he was. Mathias watched the scene through Ulysses’ own ears and eyes.

His eyes fidgeted to the door. “Sorry if I make too much noise!” Mathias called out.

“It’s fine, we don’t hear a thing at all!” his father replied through the door. As Mathias suspected, the sound was only in his mind.

Why could he do this with these five people, and not, say, Samantha? What was the common thread that bound them?

Mathias had touched each of them.

He had kissed his father, hugged Sol, Perse had knocked him on the elbow, Jack had shaked his hand, while Ulysses gave him a back pat whenever they met. Samantha was the only one with whom Mathias had no physical contact in the entire day.

Anyone Mathias touched became his eyes and ears. In effect, he assimilated people into his own network, and the application turned them into living nods.

He was a one-man spy agency.

What about the communication setting? Did it mean he could communicate with the person he had touched over long distances, the same way he could share their auditory experience?

He couldn’t test that theory with any of them, lest they learn about Magik. And could it also work with non-human targets? He shuddered at the possibilities.

Yet, Mathias had seen enough to feel tantalized. He closed Network and opened Magik proper.

Mathias clicked on the Compendium first. The screen revealed a color wheel, a circle divided into seven colors: a sphere of white at the center, then six shards colored red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet surrounding it.

Each shard was divided into five layers, with an ascending number of dots marked on them. The farther they were from the white center, the greater the number of dots. The white color at the center followed an opposite color scheme, with five circles of white ranking one to five the closest to the center.

Mathias instinctively clicked on Blue Dot One. He found himself transported to an app store, with multiple different products available for purchase. A general explanation stood above all of the selection: Blue, the color of information. He promptly checked various offers, with textual information appearing upon clicking. Various products, each with a Blue Circle for an icon, laid bare before his eyes in a list.

Blue World

Affinity: Blue

Dot: 1

Price: 3

Activation: Active, Voice Vector.

Stop the perception of time of any person within earshot of the spell’s activation for five seconds.

 

Premium Thoughts

Affinity: Blue

Dot: 1

Price: 3

Activation: Passive, App Switch.

Magically boosts the user’s cognitive processes, memory retention, multi-focus, and learning ability.

 

Psychometry

Affinity: Blue

Dot: 1

Price: 3

Activation: Passive, Physical Touch.

Learn the existence and memories of an item upon touch.

The longer the physical contact, the farther the user can reach into the item’s life.

The list went on, with Mathias noticing some similar elements. Each of the products were worth three Spellcoins, and dealt in some way with either the mind, knowledge, or communication in general. All of these abilities pleased Mathias, but the young man decided to examine the rest of the Compendium in-depth before settling on a product.

He moved to the Green appstore, which declared Green to be the color of life. Unlike the Blue appstore, those abilities each cost four Spellcoins each.

Berserk

Affinity: Green

Dot: 1

Price: 4

Activation: Active, Thought.

Turns off the natural limits of the user’s body for five minutes.

The user undergoes a constant adrenaline rush, does not feel pain, and achieves instinct unclouded by reason,

becoming a fighting machine unable to distinguish friend from foe.

 

Needless

Affinity: Green

Dot: 1

Price: 4

Activation: Passive, App Switch.

Removes basic biological needs from the user, such as eating, sleeping, reproducing, or breathing.

 Unlike Blue, all the spells cost four Spellcoins. Violet spells, the color of ‘space and time,’ also cost four Spellcoins.

Switch

Affinity: Violet

Dot: 1

Price: 4

Activation: Active, Thought.

Switch places with an object or person within a five meter radius with near equivalent-mass to the user.

The target must be within sight; the wider the mass difference, the more likely the spell will fail.

 

Timesense

Affinity: Violet

Dot: 1

Price: 4

Activation: Passive, App Switch.

The user gains supernatural awareness of time, being able to tell the current time with perfect accuracy.

The user also instantly notices time magic affecting them.

 When Mathias clicked on Red, the ‘color of energy,’ he noticed a price surge. So did Orange, the ‘color of matter,’ and Yellow, ‘the color of the soul,’ spells.

Firekin

Affinity: Red

Dot: 1

Price: 5

Activation: Passive, App Switch.

The user gains the ability to psychically direct existing fire within sight, moving the flames in any direction he wishes.

The user cannot create or extinguish flames, however.

 

Reinforce

Affinity: Orange

Dot: 1

Price: 5

Activation: Active, Touch Vector.

The user permanently reinforces inanimate matter upon touch, increasing its density and resistance to damage.

 

Spiritsense

Affinity: Yellow

Dot: 1

Price: 5

Activation: Passive, App Switch.

The user becomes able to perceive and interact with astral entities, including ghosts, formless spirits, and egregores.

 But of all spells in the app store, it was the White, the color of Sorcery registry that confused Mathias most, besides its spells’ price matching Violet and Green ones.

Accel

Affinity: White

Dot: 1

Price: 4

Activation: Active, Thought.

Double the power and duration of the next spell used.

 

Encode

Affinity: White

Dot: 1

Price: 4

Activation: Active, Direct Touch Vector.  

Imbue a person or item with a spell for future activation.

The user sets the activation conditions upon activation.

White manipulated existing spells, instead of standing on its own. This could increase his flexibility. Yet, why did White, Violet and Green spells cost him more than Blue ones, and Yellow, Orange and Red more than those?

Mathias remembered that opening inscription on Magik, he had been given the affinity of Blue. Could that be the cause? It would make sense. Since Blue was his affinity, the closer the color on the wheel, the greater the discount. He could specialize in Blue, gaining more spells, or add some variety, but at a higher price.

Mathias lay in his bed for what felt like several minutes, his mind processing all of the information. Strangely, his Network sense hadn’t buzzed once during his investigation of Magik. He guessed the Administrator had put on a failsafe so that the platform’s spells couldn’t be used to pierce its secrets, or that unmanned automatic systems escaped his power’s purview.

Mathias’ thoughts quickly turned to resource management. With fifteen Spellcoins, he could either buy five Blue Spells, or three to four spells of various colors. Should he buy spells to increase his intelligence, and better figure it out? The ability to work full time without needing to sleep sounded very nice as well.

Why did he remain locked at level one, while clearly other levels existed beyond that state? Did he have to meet specific conditions to unlock them?

In the end, his investigation brought more questions than answers. Luckily, Mathias knew who could answer them. His finger moved to open his message box.

As expected, the Administrator, whoever he or she was — or if it was even a human — had been monitoring him.

ADMINISTRATOR: I trust that this little experiment convinced you of our goodwill.

SHROUD: you can monitor me the same way I can watch others, right?

ADMINISTRATOR: Of course. It comes with the privilege of managing a platform.

SHROUD: how does it work? This Network power? What are the mechanics? How can I unlock the rest of Magik?

ADMINISTRATOR: I cannot answer much on that front.

SHROUD: can’t, or won’t?

ADMINISTRATOR: Won’t. Self-education is the only one worth pursuing. I can give you pointers, though.

SHROUD: so what’s the deal? I fulfill quests and gain Spellcoins to purchase spells with?

ADMINISTRATOR: Exactly; check the Quest Log to get started. You may use your purchased spells however you wish, so long that you respect our policy.

How generous. So Mathias could walk away and keep his current powers, so long as he kept quiet about this platform and used his abilities to annoy Concordia. However, he would also remain locked with the level he had… and never get to the bottom of things. The sight of the locked powers would remain under his nose, forever out of reach.

Father wasn’t the only person driven by the search of the absolute truth. This was the occasion Mathias had been waiting for, the opportunity to strike back. He could do it. He had the brains, and more importantly, the power, to pull it off.

Leaving the conversation, Mathias moved to the Quest Log. The application looked like a red board with a skeleton watching on the side. One scroll was nailed on the board, Mathias clicked on it. The paper filled the screen, texts writing themselves on it. As he read, the scroll icon on the right side of his screen popped up, the number one materializing right beneath it.

Lost and Found

Difficulty: Dot Two

Sponsor: the Administrator

Any good game needs a tutorial, and your town needs a hero. Prove your skills and mastery of spells by solving the missing persons case.

Reward: Eight Spellcoins.

Nice. Mathias would get paid for something he was about to do for free. But he would need more equipment than Network alone. And he had fifteen Spellcoins left.

Time to cash in.

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