《The Survivor》


 The Cruise

    It has been a harrowing month, and I needed a break. My accounts linked to my family, in any way, are going to be frozen tomorrow. But it won''t matter, I''ll be in interplanetary space, and nobody can take this cruise away from me; it''s already paid for.


    Grandma passing away suddenly got the whole family riled up, fighting over her trinkets. I didn''t care about the trinkets as much as I wanted her back. The reading of the will took nearly nine hours; and made some insane demands. Most shocking was that all of us were required to change our names, and grandma had already chosen what they were to be.


    A month ago, I was Ashley Sullivan; heiress-apparent of grandma''s multi-trillion dollar a day trading empire. I had helped her run the company behind the scenes for the last eight years, and even the investors thought I had been groomed to take over.


    I knew that wasn''t the case, grandma saw me as a freeloader, even though I put in hundred hour work-weeks just to keep Sullivan Enterprises competitive, and in the black. Yeah, I lived on grandma''s couch, and ate her leftovers, and other than a three hundred dollar a week allowance for clothes, makeup, and hygiene needs, I got nothing more from her. Not even the right to keep my own name.


    "Your suite is this way Miss Biggs." The attendant said after looking at my ticket. A week long cruise of the stars, just what I need to clear my head.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    Perhaps when I get back, I can apply for one of the temporary positions on the ground floor. I know how to do all of that stuff, I might get hired on full time if I do good enough at the ground floor.


    "Your Suite, Miss Biggs. Tonight''s Dinner service will start at 6pm local time, and coincides with our extra-orbital burn. Please avoid wearing clothing that you do not wish to damage." The man tells me as I walk into the room he had put my only suitcase in.


    It was common practice to have the first dinner service at the same time as the burn to leave the planet''s orbit. This way, most passengers would be in the center of the ship, and if something went wrong, we would be closer to the escape pods, all located behind the walls of the dining hall.


    At a quarter till six, I entered the room, and took a seat that had my nameplate on it. As a single woman, I would be at a table with other singles. The old style oak wood table was refreshing, it''s dark polished luster giving a warm charm to the cruise liner designed for ten thousand guests. A few minutes later all the tables were filled, and the ship''s staff began bringing out salads. The large thrusters would fire for thirty minutes as soon as the last salad was delivered. The two other women and three men at my table seemed apprehensive, and not talking with each other. Of course, I wasn''t helping to break the ice, either.


    The last waiter went back into the kitchen, and a few seconds later the smooth, calming, music stopped, and the ship felt as though it lurched. The thrusters were firing.


    the fifty gigaton ship needed a lot of force to break orbit, but it was expected.


    Most of us started eating our salads, and conversations began cropping up. It was a common belief that the first three minutes of the first burn are the most likely to have a malfunction.


    we were wrong. So very wrong.

 News flash

    It''s been a year since the Corvalax Industries Starliner: Serindipity vanished, without a trace just after their initial extra-orbital burn. Six hours after departure, the crew that was supposed to be trained to handle the newest Corvalax Starliner were found deceased in the waiting room when the next Starliner docked.


    The news producers handed me everything that hadn''t been redacted from the initial investigation so I could go over it for the anneversary special. It''s a rough read.


    "Beth, you ready?" Steven, my producer, yells out.


    "As soon as Trinity finishes my hair." I call out. With it being an outdoor broadcast, my personal stylist is taking her time to make sure the style can stand up to the costal winds.


    "It''s a far cry from your usual style, but I think this should work." Trinity tells me as she turns my chair to look in the mirror. She braided my hair from my temples, to the thick bun on the back of my head, and did a good job of hiding how long my hair really was.


    "It looks regal. I like it." I said to her as the sun glinted off my auburn hair, hiding the plethora of bobby pins I know she must have used to accomplish the look.


    I walked over, in the middle of the six cameras that will be recording my report. It took me a few seconds to get my nerves under control, and I looked up at Steven. I was ready. His hand counted down, then pointed at me, and my report began just as Orbital Port 4''s main ring crested the horizon over the ocean.


    "good evening. I am Elizabeth Fern, with channel 8 news; bringing you a special report. One year ago today, Corvalax Industries'' newest Starliner went missing with nine thousand eight hundred seven passengers on board. Her designated crew had been found still on board the Orbital Port six hours later when the next Starliner used that docking ring. On board were some of..."


    A loud thunderclap resounded in the air, making me loose composure for a brief second. I turn around, and see something falling, and it''s massive. "Cameras, zoom in on that." I point, and hear the cameras move to face that direction. One of the cameras display an image on the sidewalk at my feet of what it''s seeing. My eyes go wide.


    "Steven, camera six, now." I yell, "camera four, on me." I wait for the camera''s lens to focus, and I start talking again. "Ladies and gentlemen, if you are near Ponder Sound; take cover, go to your storm shelters, away from the water. Starliner Serindipity has been found, and appears to be on a direct impact course with the sound."


    I turn and watch the screen of camera six, keeping the ship in its view, watching the hulking mass plummet toward the water below. Static begins to interfere with camera six, and I order the remaining cameras to focus on the ship as well.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    as I stood there, mesmerized by the falling ship, audio came over the camera''s general communications system.


    "Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. Power failure, and life-support failure. Alert emergency agencies, I''m trying to aim for water, but controls are sporadic." It was a woman''s voice, one I thought I recognized, but wasn''t sure.


    "Please, goddess, let me not kill anyone today, let me get this thing on the surface safely." The voice said through my cameras again.


    I called the port authority, and relayed the two messages to them; and they confirmed that it was broadcast through every object that could receive general transmissions; in other words, every electronic device in the broadcast range heard it.


    "Steven, can we set a beam toward it?"


    "I can try." I see him take out a different broadcast antenna, connect it to a booste, and put a splitter on my microphone receiver, then points at me.


    "Serindipity, this is Elizabeth Fern, with channel 8; you''ve been heard." I broadcast.


    "Thank the goddess, I''m not sure where I''m going down, I don''t want to hurt anyone." The woman''s voice calls.


    "tell her to try to fire the main forward thrusters for as long as she can." An older man says as he walks up. "She is facing the right direction, it will push her further from shore, and reduce injuries when the wave makes landfall."


    "Serindipity, can you fire the main thrusters? Burn the last of the fuel with them if you can."


    Thelarge thrusters produce a beautiful orange light as they come to life, and for a brief second, the ship seems to shift further out to sea. After ten seconds; they shut off.


    "That''s all the fuel Miss Fern." She says. I look over at Steven, and he rolls his hand to tell me to ask questions, keep the girl talking.


    "What is your name?" I ask.


    "Ash...Trillion Biggs." She tells me.


    "Where has the ship been for the last year?"


    "Year? It''s only been a year?" She was silent for a second, before her voice came back across. "I''m afraid." She whispered; and I heard her pray again. "My dear goddess, take my fear, let me harness it, let it work for me. Help me keep these people safe, show me what to do."


    just as her prayer finished, I was told by the uniformed man to ask how many survivors were onboard.


    "I''m the last." She said through tears. The uniformed man took my microphone from me, and spoke to her.


    "Trillion, get to an escape pod. You''ve done good, you won''t hurt as many people now, but we need you alive. Get to an escape pod."


    "I can''t. They are all gone." She inhaled deeply, and continued. "I recognize the shoreline; this is Ponder Sound. I''m aiming for Davidson''s Bar. I say again, I''m going down over Davidson''s Bar."


    the uniformed man began shouting into his communicator with her last statement, and began giving orders for rescue equipment that would be needed.


    "goddess protect me." She said as the massive hulk slammed into the water''s surface.


    "Miss Fern; with me." The uniformed man yelled, as he and Steven grabbed all but camera one and six. I grabbed camera six, leaving one to watch the wave hit the shore. The seven hundred dollar camera would be lost, but we would get the shot.

 Flaw of Serindipity

    "Are you sure it''s her?" I asked the doctor again.


    "It''s a perfect DNA match. There is no question. It''s her, it''s Ashley Sullivan." She replied. "She was born in this hospital, as was her mother, father, and all grandparents, on both sides. Our records are independent of the Galactic Center; it''s her."


    This whole thing keeps getting better and better. Trillion Biggs, is Ashley Sullivan; the most well known name this side of the Galaxy. If she is Ashley Sullivan, then who is the woman running Sullivan Enterprises?


    Well thank goodness I''ve been given exclusive rights to speak with her. Whenever she wakes up anyway. That''s the deal the other news channels brokered to be able to use our footage of the ship''s planet fall.


    Right now the poor woman is covered in bandages, both legs in a cast, and one of her arms. There are scars all over her body, and a magic expert had to be called in to assist with her surgeries, as there was an enchantment circuit tattooed onto her back. We still don''t know what it''s for.


    I walk back into the room, and sit down in the chair next to her. I run my fingers through her chocolate colored hair, cut so short that I can''t curl a lock around my finger. Her eyes slowly open, and violet irises look at me, the vivid flash of mana being called ran through the fibers of her eyes, I pulled my hand back, and smiled at her.


    "good morning, Trillion; do you remember me?" I asked cautiously. Mana only flashes like that if the Mage in question intends to kill with whatever they have planned. "I''m Elizabeth Fern, we spoke while you were falling. Do you remember that?" She nods, and I see the flash of mana again as she recalls whatever spell she had prepared. "I need to call the doctor back, don''t be alarmed." She nodded again, slower.


    "Doctor Chalmers! She is awake!" I shouted, my eyes never leaving hers. I saw her cringe at the noise, but her eyes also didn''t leave mine.


    The woman I had just been talking to came back into the room, and looked straight at the woman in the bed. "There are those Sullivan Eyes." The doctor said, the flash of mana occurred again, and the doctor saw it, and all her enthusiasm stopped. "That''s new. You weren''t a listed as a mage." The doctor turned all business quickly, but I noticed that Trillion hadn''t recalled the spell yet. Checking vitals, and going through her professional routine, pointedly ignoring the fact that she was checking on a patient that has already shown a lethal intent. "Trillion, I don''t know what you''ve been through the last year; but I am here to help you. Not cause you pain. Since you''re awake, can you state your name for me."


    "Trillion Biggs."


    the doctor nodded, "and your legal name."


    "Trillion Biggs." She sighed, "my grandmother''s last will and testament was quite clear. I followed it to the letter. My legal name is Trillion Biggs."Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    the doctor looked at me, and I nodded; left the room, and called Steven. I asked him to find Carolyn Sullivan''s last will and testament, as well as research Trillion Biggs name change after Carolyn''s death last year, as well as anyone who changed their name to Ashley Sullivan in the past decade. By what I was asking for, he gathered what was going on.


    As I walked back into the room, I put away the communicator. I needed to be on point while I was around this girl. The way she says things tells me that she is used to hiding things while telling the truth.


    "...plenty of fluids; you''re mildly malnourished. Now none of our records show you as having awakened to magic, but it''s obvious, now, that you have. Sometimes this changes food preferences; so don''t be afraid to tell us not to bring certain foods to you."


    Trillion nodded, and the doctor left the room.


    "you''re a reporter?" She asked. I pointed to the airbrushed emblem on my cheek, and nodded.


    "last year they started requiring us to do this whenever we aren''t in front of cameras. Too many reporters were reporting real news, and ignoring smokescreens, so they took away our choice, and made us publicize who we are when we aren''t in front of a camera."


    "Sounds like something the politicians would do. So why are you here?"


    "Anything dealing with Serindipity is huge news, and my channel brokered an exclusivity contract with all the other channels."


    "And being on the Starliner makes me your exclusive." She rolled her eyes. "Great! More publicity!" She said with mock excitement.


    "what do you mean?" I ask, making it obvious I''m recording her response, but not her.


    "Serindipity malfunctioned when it''s Extra-Orbital burn shut down. Partly because it was crewed by pirates instead of who should have been there, and partly because of a mechanical failure in the core output boosters; they weren''t shielded from residual Bosen particles reacting with the trapped photons of the core boosters."


    "That''s an aweful technical response from a, once, trading baroness."


    "turn off the recorder." She says. So I comply, and move next to her, instead of across the room. "The effect forced us into a time-dilation bubble, something that isn''t supposed to exist. My mind tells me I have lived nearly three hundred years, but I know that I didn''t. As far as food, we figured out fairly quickly that we needed a way to survive without it. One of the rats was an artificer, guess who his artifactexperiments were tried on. It took six weeks to perfect the part that makes me not need food. Nearly a month to be able to breath with as little as one part per zillion oxygen in the air; by this point, five hundred of the original passengers had died. Either being shot for attempting to rebel, or the fact that their bodies didn''t take the enchantment ink well, and they died of an alergic reaction. By the end of our first year, we all started studying the ship, we knew it was keeping us in that pocket. One by one, people slowly gave up. Strangely, the Pirates gave up first, and killed themselves in various ways. By the time the last pirate died, only one hundred passengers remained."


    "you don''t want people to know this?" I asked, honestly.


    "no. The masses need confidence in starship construction, and their design engineers. I know how to fix the flaws that Serindipity had, so my situation doesn''t happen again. But the effect of the flaw that caused this; should never be revealed. I''m telling you, because if it''s ever leaked, I know who it came from."


    "So you''re testing me."


    "I''m giving you a chance to prove humanity isn''t as corrupt as the last three centuries has taught me; or if you prefer, the last year."

 Of Nightmares

    I stood and watched the scene unfolding before me; knowing I should run, but so afraid to that I just stood and watched. Nine sorcerers, six warlocks, three witches, and three more wizards were binding and weaving their spells, creating a barrier around the wild magi strapped to the bed. And they were loosing the battle.


    Trillion was obviously having a nightmare, as a result her body was firing off whisps of energy that were cutting the walls around her, she had already destroyed her casts, and about half of the monitoring equipment in her room before the first of the casters arrived to erect the barriers.


    one of the witches collapsed, wearing the symbol of a Jasmine tree on her cloak; a young witch, just out of schooling to control her gift. The copper sorcerer collapsed next, they were both completely exhausted.


    I had never seen this many people from multiple disciplines working together so fluidly; and still be so obviously on the loosing end against a single opponent, one that''s unconscious at that.


    the reporter had left at ten, when visiting hours were closed, and Trillion went to sleep shortly after that. About two thirty, all hell broke loose, and the mana alarms went off; telling everyone that uncontrolled spells were being cast, and to evacuate.


    in my twenty-six years as a nurse here, I had never heard that particular alarm outside of the dedicated testing times. I knew I was in mortal danger, but I was stunned in place by my own fears.


    The spells coming off Trillion''s body were beautiful, deadly, but beautiful. Another sorcerer fell, a brass class, shortly followed by the two birch witches. The first witch to fall was beginning to stir, her body still showing the signs of how close to death the girl truely was.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    she came out of the room, grabbed my shoulders, and shoved me toward the exit, at a near run, her hands never left my shoulders. We got on the elevator, and I watched as her hand slammed into the button for the ground floor.


    "I never imagined a wild magi to have that much control, even when asleep; or that much mana. A star barrier erected by twenty one casters, and she tears through them like they are wet paper bags."


    the girl''s eyes are wide as she talks, obviously on the verge of tears. The elevator slides open, she shoves me through before following me out, forcing me to run to the exit.


    once outside, her words hit me, twenty one star barriers; the strongest that can be made without enchantments, or previous planning, and she is tearing through them. Just what did her year in space do to her?


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    i awoke with a start, and saw residuals of my mana punching through a barrier of some kind; or at least a piss poor excuse for one.


    four people were still standing, three wizards, and a sorcerer; their abilities interlaced, and weaving the barrier over me in fluidic grace. It was beautiful to see the prismatic colors over me. And then it hit me; I had lost control of my magic.


    "how many did I hurt?" I ask, noticing the casts over my arm and legs were gone as well.


    the four around me stopped their spell, and the prismatic dome of criss-crossing bands of translucent rainbows fell from existence.


    "we kept you from hurting anyone, but there are a few here who have exhausted themselves to ensure that. A man with a winged shepherd''s hook pin on his collar replied; a grand wizard.


    i felt the bile rise from my gut, the realization that I was too relaxed hit me; I could have killed a great many people. I leaned over, and vomited. And then the tears flooded my eyes.


    "what have I done?" I ask myself aloud, while still wretching.


    "you survived, however you could to accomplish that; that''s all you have done. Now that you survived, we need to teach you how to live again." The wizard finished.

 The Visitor

    The young witch in front of me reminded me of Crystal too much. Her personality, her strawberry blonde hair, even the way she wore her blouse with every button buttoned, and her neck tab in perfect order.


    I Can''t look her in the eyes. After living on a ship with a person as long as I did, everyone becomes family; especially those of us who almost made it back.


    "Trillion, can I ask a personal question?" She exhaled, and began stumbling over her words as she continued, "you don''t have to, I''m just curious."


    "it''s alright."


    "Your nightmare three nights ago; do you remember it?" She asked.


    "I remember the gist of it, not many specifics." I lied. I remember every second of that dream. How could I forget a dream where my grandmother is dressed as the leader of the pirates, and I pelt her with hailstorm, until she dies; how could I forget the look on Crystal''s face in the mirror as she punches the enchantment needles through my skin, with sick, sadistic, pleasure. That''s when I knew it was a dream. Worse, seeing her face when I spaced the idiot who put this damn ink in me. The only other person to make it as long as I did, and she was lost in the end. I remember every single detail of that dream. But this witch doesn''t need to know that.


    "I see." She slumps slightly. "My study in school was dreams. I''ve never spoken with someone about a nightmare before, so I was hoping; well never mind."


    "I kept seeing faces of people I cared for on the bodies of people who hurt me; that''s all I remember." I lied again.


    her eyes looked up at me from the floor, slightly surprised. She nodded once, and left; our session, for seeing if my wild talent lies within the discipline for the witch''s school, over. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    I lay in peaceful silence for a few minutes, listening to the creaking of the air vent as the metal constricts under the frigid air being forced through it.


    A short man entering the room without Beth or the doctor put me on guard, and I readied my hailstorm spell, waiting to see what he would do.


    with him standing on the floor, his head was barely above my feet in the bed. Despite being short, his body, arms and legs, were perfectly proportioned for an average sized human.


    "Cautious; I like that. We could use that. But that''s not what I''m here for." He sits in the chair that Susie vacated minutes ago. "I''m Cory Dunn. I''m here on behalf of Corvalax, and they want you to walk them through Ponder Sound''s newest landmark. When you''re up to it."


    "Why?"


    "the engineers have already said the ship shows signs of extreme aging, parts that should have lasted decades in peak conditions are so worn out that they barely count as scrap; and the changes to the bridge; so that only one person was needed to fly it, instead of the normal six; and then there is the strange shaped metal that was added to the photonic capacitors..."


    "don''t touch those!" I said involuntarily. I almost lost the hold on my spell in that instance.


    "... Thank you for making my point. The engineers want you to walk them through your changes, and explain them." He stands and sets a business card on the meal tray that still holds my breakfast, and lunch, for today. "For when you''re ready." He says, and leaves.


    I recall my spell, and decide to actually try and eat something. I grab the breakfast tray, and stare at the fluffy waffle for only a second before I pick it up with my fingers, and devour it.


    As I eat, I feel the runes on my back flair. Helping my body process the food quicker, and more efficiently than it would have otherwise. I take a bite of the bacon, and spit it back out. It''s disgusting; verging on rotten, I know it''s just food preferences changing, but still, I used to love bacon. The eggs tasted almost confectionary sweet, but they were good.


    a wave of euphoria washed over me suddenly, and I fell asleep. Deep, dreamless, wondrous sleep.

 The Tour

    Finally, I was being released from the hospital, but still basically under lock and key. For nearly a century I wanted to be around people again, and now that I am, walking along the public boulevard; I want nothing more than to be back on the ship with the familiar faces, and the events that shaped my memories. Miss Fern and one of her cameras is following me, I gave her permission, but it''s still strange that I''m a short-term celebrity at the moment.


    all because I did the one thing that nobody else aboard my cruise did: survive.


    its not like today doesn''t have a purpose, it does, but I''ve felt as though I''ve been gone a long, long time; and in reality, only a year passed.


    but in that year, teenager''s mindsets changed, lingo that I''ve never heard enters my ears; articles of clothing these people are wearing today, they would have thought hideous, ridiculous, stupid, or any number of other things used to describe the unfashionable. Machines that were barely in prototyping to assist companies, and reduce labor costs, are now at every street corner, and every reception desk behind the plate glass windows.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    music, and bands I''ve never heard of are on repeat all over the station I listened to most of my youth, and I recognize almost none of the hit songs; making me feel even more out of place in a city that rejected me after grandma''s passing.


    I walk into an old hangout of mine, the hair stylist, and am quickly set upon by my best friend from high-school.


    "Ashley! Where in the nine hells have you been!?" She nearly shouts.


    "In the eighth one." I replied, I was only partially joking. "But I got my name changed a while back as part of grandma''s will. I''m now called Trillion." At my statement, every pair of sheers, every blow dryer, and the hum of conversation stopped.


    Delana''s expression faltered slightly, then asked the obvious question; "so you''re ''the'' Trillion? The one that landed a spaceship in the sound two and half months ago?" She seemed to just now see the news camera. "Sit your happy ass in my chair. This one is on me." She grins mischievously. "And I know, no changes, same cut you always get."


    "thanks Delana."

 Back on Board

    Fresh out of Delana''s chair, my hair cut in a short pixie, and blended into my bangs. I headed toward Corvalax''s office building, where Mr. Dunn said he would be waiting. He had only come to visit me the once, but apparently he had been in contact with Ms. Fern, and they arranged this meeting.


    It felt good to stretch my legs, and walk the six blocks from the hospital to the office. The nice summer day felt good on my exposed arms. The red tank top exposed some of the enchantment ink on my back, its unmistakable copper-green color letting everyone know I had permanently enchanted by body in some way.


    I opened the door and was face to face with a team of twenty smiling faces, that immediately began applauding as I entered the building''s lobby. At their head was the short man who arranged this.


    "Ms. Biggs, Welcome to Corvalax. I know its only been a couple of months, but would you mind visiting the Serendipity with the engineering team today?" he smiles a hopeful smile, but one I can tell isn''t genuine. He wants me to say no.


    "When do we leave?" I asked. He smile falters, he hesitates, then regains composure as he extends his arm to his left. The group behind him immediately begin filing through the door he pointed to. We enter the parking garage, and get onto a pair of busses, marked with the yellow and orange Corvalax logo.


    The bus I get in, leaves second; and although the man in charge of this is talking to me, I have tuned it out. The twenty minute ride to Davidson''s Bar went by quickly. I watched the men and women in the other bus get out, and seemingly take up positions pertaining to various sections of the ship, then enter the hulking mass, still listing toward its port side, barely hanging on the bar.


    "Looks like we need to make this quick." I said as we filed off my bus. It was then that I noticed the mobile cranes coming in, they were going to attempt to stabilize it on the bar, so it could be studied in place. So maybe not so quick.


    A young lady, probably twenty or twenty one, walked up to Ms. Fern, and then me. "Ms. Biggs, we would like for you to start on the bridge, if you don''t mind." she asked meekly.


    "What is your name?" I asked her.


    "I am Erika Elliot, Miss." she said respectfully, and still with a bit of shyness.


    "Call me Trillion." I smiled at her, "and sure, the bridge is as good of place as any." and I started walking toward the back of the ship.


    "Trillion, the bridge is in the center." Erika says, and points to the ramp about mid way down the vessel.


    "Erika, your bridge is there. Not the one the rats had us make, the one we called the battle bridge. The rats originally wanted to ransom the passengers back to their families, and convert this into a warship, which I can tell you isn''t that difficult, so as soon as they came on board, they began designing, programming, and building their own bridge. Its the one I used to land the ship. That''s where we are going."


    Ms. Fern was obviously paying close attention, and Mr. Dunn seemed to be bored, but Erika seemed stunned, and excited.


    "I didn''t know there was a second bridge on board." she seemed to open up a bit more, and wasn''t as shy.


    We walked through the ramp at the back, and began going through the engine maintenance causeways. A few were fairly tight, but we quickly came to the bridge nestled between the center four main engines. I walked around the makeshift chair that was probably in the worst possible position to control a ship of this size, but it worked.


    "Erika, have a seat." I said pointing to the only chair here. "don''t trip on the wires, it may cause a short, and then you wont be able to get any data from back here." I pointed to the trunk of wires that were just laid across the expanded steel of the causeway the equipment was bolted to.


    "This is the place you piloted this ship from?" she asked after being seated.


    "yes. Now, I am going to push some of my mana into this capacitor bank on the back of the chair. Don''t be alarmed when the screens move." I told her. She nodded, as I extended my hand toward the six capacitors that provided power to this control point. I felt the familiar pull of energy in my body, its even flow throughout my self, I condensed the feeling, forcing the flow to move toward my arm, and imagined it slamming through my hand, and into the bank I was aiming at.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    In the instance of thought, the green glow I had become so familiar with left my body, and entered the capacitors, making the equipment come to life. The screens moved only slightly, aligning themselves with Erika in the chair, and began showing the data for each of the major stations of the bridge, as well as a view of the top of the ship, facing forward. The view I had when landing this hulk.


    "so all of the systems are powered by a person, not the ship?" Ms. Fern asked.


    "No. If it were that simple, we could have returned sooner. We had to stop the reaction in the boosters first. But we didn''t know that for a while. Lets head there next, but I''ll have to ask that you not record anything there." I told her.


    "I agree with Trillion, Ms. Fern. Our systems in that room are proprietary, and the patent for the changes the missing passengers made to that room hasn''t been granted yet." Mr.. Dunn said.


    "Cory, stop worrying about the bottom line, and start worrying about PR. That''s your job." Erika said to him, seeming to be annoyed with his demeanor. "Okay, Trillion, can you walk me through the Interface, and why you placed these things where you did? I mean, I can understand some of it, but we can''t mimic your design, at least not without understanding why you placed these things where you did."


    "I didn''t design this. Crystal Tillisman did." I say, and see Ms. Fern quickly jot the name down. "she was a robotics designer, and made this whole setup back here. If anyone''s name should go on the patent for this, its hers. She was the fourth to last, she almost made it back; and she was a good friend."


    I spend the next two hours explaining how everything worked, why Crystal had placed stuff where she did, how to change things if you wanted to, although even Ms. Fern agreed that she could even understand at a glance what was going on. When the energy ran out of the capacitors, and the seat shut down, we decided to move on, partially because I didn''t have enough energy to turn it on again, and then it would last another two hours, and we wouldn''t have needed that time.


    We moved on to the booster room next, and there were six other engineers in the room, with clipboards, calipers, micrometers, protractors and angle-finders, measuring everything in the room, but staying away from the shields on the photonic capacitors.


    I pointed to one of them. "these were designed by Blake. Blake Boyd. He had been a professor of microphysics, and figured out how to shield the chain reaction from expanding, and to eventually stop it. He died placing these here." he died only minutes before planetfall. He and I were the last. But they don''t need to know that.


    I went over how he explained to me they worked, and why they were important, telling me over and over again for the week leading up to them being placed how important certain aspects were, he knew he would die by placing them, and it wouldn''t have been a pretty death. So he made sure I could tell people, if I survived, how they worked. The six engineers in the room were scribbling notes as fast as I was talking, and even Erika seemed to be pleased about something.


    Next we went to the room where the rats experimented on us. I pulled up the artificer''s notes, how he conducted his experiments, what he did and why. Ms. Fern handed me a data cube, and I saved the notes for her, asking her to give them to someone who could make heads or tails of the enchantments on me.


    The next room was life-support, the room I ultimately became responsible for, well I say room, it was more like the hallway in the center, and running the length of the ship. The most protected objects of the entire ship were the scrubbers, and oxygen tanks dedicated for lifesupport. Everything in this room was broken. I had pulled parts from every single pump in this hall to keep only one station alive. Every station, except that one, in this hall had been cannibalized to keep that one running, and even it was on its last legs.


    We went to the normal bridge next, and I showed Erika how we tied into the control systems here, as well as explaining that we went to the source itself, creating parallel bridges, that could override each other. This wouldn''t have worked with a full crew, but made it to where the whole system could be controlled by one person, if multiples were available, that was still best.


    The last place I took them, was a room that had been voiceprint locked, the Starboard, amidships observation deck. The blast panels had been closed from the inside, and as it was, I was the only one who could open this room. I stopped at the door, and placed my hand on it.


    "Goddess, forgive me." I said softly. But that was the code for the voiceprint, and the door opened right up.


    Erika went to walk into the room, and I barred her way. "No." I said firmly. "Do not enter this room." I said looking at the inner door, the airlock in case something was amiss, and the large window vented the room. I looked past Ms. Fern, at the camera behind her, she didn''t say a word. "In this room, are the remains of everyone who wasn''t spaced, or left remains. Preserved with ice magic to the best of my ability, then refreshed as often as I could. Even standing here, I can feel the chill of the room, after two and a half months of not being on this ship. All but three of the pirates who captured this ship, are also in here. The three that arent, are their captain, their artificer, and their pilot. I am sorry for all of the loss, and I am sorry that this is the best I could do for your families." I turn and walk away, leaving the voicelocked door open.


    I walk straight back to the bus, and sit in the seat which brought me here. And that''s when it finally hit me. Three centuries of living on that ship, all the people lost, all the good and bad memories, and only I survived. I sat on the bus, and cried.


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    I knew something was up as we walked to the last room. Trillion became quiet, she had been pointing things out the whole day, and seemed excited. But when she turned down this hallway, her expression became somber. She prayed at a voicelocked door and it opened. A wave of cold air brushed across me as it did; but the air didn''t seem to warm back up.


    Her arm barring Erika from going into the room surprised all three of us, and she looked at the camera floating behind me as she explained what was there. I was stunned. I had never thought to ask what had happened to the bodies of those who didn''t make it.


    When she said her peace, she turned and walked away, making it obvious she didn''t want to be followed. I pushed the camera up to the inner airlock door, and had it peer through the window. Perfect rectangular blocks of ice stood there, various colors shown through them, but the faces were covered. I shut the camera off, and walked through the door; assaulted by the super chilled air of the room. The blocks closest to the walls were obviously the oldest, there was a lot of red peeking through those.


    The ones closest to the door seemed to be placed in reverence, and only one of the blocks was the face visible, a young girl with every button clasped on a neck length blouse, and a refreshing smile on her face. I looked down, and her arms were missing from the elbows down. A black charring visible on the remains of her arms. This must have been crystal, the woman who designed the second bridge, we had already been told, while examining the battle bridge, that she died while connecting the main power trunk to it, we weren''t told that she had passed with this peaceful expression on her face.


    Her face looks just like the young witch that has been visiting Trillion. Then it hit me. The young witch''s name was Susanne Tillisman.

 Discipline? perhaps not.

    Trillion was walking in public. A wild mage, without a declared discipline, was walking around in public, with news cameras following her, and she was being flaunted as a hero. A new landmark was added to our beloved sound, environmentalists were having a field day with Corvalax leaving it there for the time being, and here I have to sit, in another meeting with the chairmen of the various magical disciplines, to discuss this issue.


    The Witches and Warlocks, who use trees for their ranking structure, both sit together; the sorcerer, and sorceress branches, who use metals to denote their rank to their left; the highest two Druids, sit together, using flowers to denote their inner ranks; then the Wizard, and Witcher, to whom I belong, we use animals for all but our highest two ranks, which are a shepherd''s hook, and a shepherd''s hook with dove wings.


    The eight most prominent magicians of the country, sitting in one room. If it weren''t for this one girl, this meeting would never occur. We usually use video chat services to discuss matters like this, but we all agreed, we didn''t want the actual contents of our discussion to be able to be overheard, and we all knew, no matter how tight the security, hackers always find a way. So this meeting had to occur.


    "So the fact still remains, that nineteen casters suffered from Mind-Down while erecting a star barrier to keep this girl from destroying the hospital. a single Jasmine, Daisy, Iron, or Toad caster from any of our disciplines should have been enough to handle a single unconscious wild caster who had been awakened less than a year." the Tulip druid reiterated why we were all here.


    "I agree, Julie." the Willow Witch, voices her opinion, "The simple fact that she caused as much havoc as she did, perhaps we should look at the patterns for the star barrier again, or tighten the standards for graduation for all but our youngest casters." Amber''s answer to problems like this. its always the same, make it harder for our students to gain their ranks.


    "My Dear, that''s not the best course of action at the moment." Alex, the Platinum Sorceress states. "Our requirements for graduating our academies is already so tight that some students are choosing not to gain rank, and stay at our entry level grades, despite having the ability to pass their finals and be considered full members of our society."


    "We are discussing one Wild Caster, not the entire human race." I remind my colleagues. "Also, if I read the reports right, although she was missing for only a year, the engineers that are going over the Serendipity have stated several times in their report that wear patterns of moving parts are indicative of nearly three centuries of wear. So we should be looking at her, not as a fledgling, but as someone of equal, or perhaps better, magical footing as everyone in this room."


    "That reporter complicates things." Amber stated, but didn''t add to it. basically admitting that the witches were going to attempt a kidnapping, if they could get the camera away from the girl.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    "Its not just the reporter, Amber." the warlock next to her states. "Everyone in this room knows that the person in question has allowed more visits from your young Jasmine Witch, Susanne Tillisman, than any other that has been sent. if your Jasmine cant convince her to join your branch, then perhaps its time all of us in this room visit her."


    "Michael, I don''t think that would help this situation." Alex rebuts. "from what I can tell, and this includes the portions of the young Jasmine''s reports we have been given, this person is on guard all the time. and is more scared of unjustly hurting people than anything else. We may never see this person''s true capacities; and if we do, we might actually have to deal with the first Grand Magician that could forcibly take control of this council." she pauses for a moment, to let her thoughts permeate to all of us. "That woman almost always has a spell at the ready, a lethal one at that, and has enough control, and enough energy to keep it on the cusp of casting for an entire day. I don''t know about any of you, but I begin to struggle after 18 hours to hold a basic cast; let alone a lethal one." she leans back in her chair for a moment. "honestly, the opinion of the Sorceresses, is to let the woman be. If she chooses to approach the schools, I say we don''t bar her, but otherwise, we ignore her. This course of action may even encourage other Wild Casters to come out into the open, ones that we can forcibly require to join a discipline. by leaving the big fish alone, we will net a meal for the masses."


    I honestly couldn''t argue with her logic. by not going after this girl, we may actually gain more students when Wild Casters begin to attempt to live openly.


    "If," I begin, "If we take this course of action, we cant collect the Wild Casters that expose themselves at first. we will need to let a few stay on the streets. lets say that we put out a public policy, that the only Wild Casters we will collect for the foreseeable future are those that get into trouble."


    "What do you mean, Dean?" Amber asks me.


    "Simple. we leave the Wild Casters alone for a while. and publicly announce that as long as a caster has no criminal record, we will not pursue them."


    "But..." Amber begins to argue, but Alex interrupts her.


    "I get it. most casters, when they awaken, will cause a disturbance. I think everyone in this room has at least one public order disturbance in their history. Our ''recruiters'' only visit the jails from now on, and those who were arrested; as a newly awakened, they will end up in jail."


    "And the Wild Casters who act irresponsibly, they will be picked up by normal police, and of course, if they don''t go quietly, ours." the Witcher next to me answers mischievously. "Dean, I think this plan will work best." she finishes.


    "So do we have an accord?" I ask.


    Within seconds, all of the chairmen have lit the green crystals on the table in front of them. its decided. we will only recruit from the criminal element from now on.

 Edge of Sanity

    The runes on my back were causing me pain. It was a warning that I had drawn a lot more mana in than I could use in a single spell, and attempting it would cause the spell to go wild.


    Miss Fern quickly placed her hand on my wrist, and I felt myself purposefully purge the excess mana. Her contact made my mind unconciously calm down.


    "I will kill him." I said outloud; knowing full well the cameras were recording.


    "You physically can, and nobody can stop you." The man across the desk tells me, while appearing very nervous. "But, I would recomend something a bit more drastic. You see, death is a quick way out, and although initially gratifying, it will result in you having to build everything from scratch again." The man began reasoning with me, "killing him is one form of punishment, and it will work, but, he won''t learn anything from it. He will have escaped any long-term consequences. If there is any way to prove that he intentionally killed off the sullivan family, to which you are currently the only survivor of the will reading; then the consequences will end up being far more reaching."


    I had just been told that the attourney who did the will readings, had forged the will read at the meetings. And because of the public nature of Sullivan Enterprises, grandma''s actual will was required to be publicly published three months after the reading. I procede to get told that all of my cousins, aunts, uncles, and my one great-aunt, had all been declared deceased in some way shape or form before the public record was published.


    The public will was two sentances long. that was it. And I had already been able to commit it to memory.


    "To my loving granddaughter, who I treated horribly every day, so that I may bring out her spirit; I leave every worldly asset, may Ashley do with it as she wishes. To every other member of the family, those who doubted, and those who mooched: go screw yourselves, and leave Ashley alone; that girl has worked harder than any six employees of my company combined, and has done it for breadcrumbs since she moved back in with me."


    Thats it. Thats all my grandmother''s published will says.


    All the insane demands, all the crazy hoops we were required to jump through, all the negative thoughts I have had about my grandma since leaving on the cruise: I want them all back.


    "I agree. he needs to suffer a public, a very public, social death." I say aloud, "a death of the body would be the easy way out. I won''t kill his body. Miss Fern; I have to ask you to shut off the cameras for a moment." I say without turning my head off the gentleman in front of me. as soon as the two floating balls are powered down, I tell them what I have planned. "You two are going to witness one of my spells, one that I used on the artificer just before I spaced him, to see if he had any redeemable qualities; he didn''t."Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    I looked to Miss Fern. "The spell is a memory spell. It will display the memory of an individual I set, we will see the entire life of the target. It will feel like we lived his lifetime, seeing everything he saw, in real time. In reality, we can see every memory in vivid detail, even the ones the target doesn''t remember, in a couple of seconds."


    "Why are you telling me this?" she asks.


    "Reporters report." I answer. "Take this as an anonomus source. This spell has a huge drawback, because I awoke to magic with this spell, I didn''t experience them at the time, I will experience it now; but I think its worth it, in this instance. It requires every last bit of power in my body to do this. I will sleep for the next three days, nothing will wake me. use everything you learn from this to legally prove that he has done these things, if need be, gain his trust by proving the good things he has done; then the shady things, and break him by revealing all of the immoral things."


    She looks at me, eyes full of conviction. "Trillion, this is an invasion of privacy." she gives the response I have come to expect from her.


    "And with your cameras off, nobody will know how you got the information. Mr. Lyle here is also an attourney, there may be methods he can tell you to prove the things we will witness." When she looks like she is going to argue again, I start the spell. "Memory Capture, Target, Alfred Bennings." I picture his face as I speak the words, and the three of us witness his entire life in a fraction of a second. every desicion, every choice, the reasoning behind them, and how he hid his tracks. the number of lives lost because of his plans.


    I woke up in the hospital, as predicted, three days later. The news channel was on; and Miss Fern was talking to another reporter, speaking on what had been found.


    "So, what you are telling us, is that Trillion Biggs, the one who landed Serindipity on Cassius IV a few months ago, was actually born Ashley Sullivan of Sullivan Enterprises? Then who has been running Sullivan Enterprises for the past year?"


    "A pawn of Alfred Bennings. We uncoverd records of him adopting children, and naming them with the same names of influential people''s children or grand children when they came to name those individuals in their last wills and testiments. He then created false wills to read, mandating the individuals change their names to that of the birth names of the children he had adopted, and groomed for these positions; and just as the wills were required to become public domain, the original people in question would all pass away from something or another. This plan spanned decades, in some cases."


    I knew she would use it. The sheer number of people cheated out of their inheritances, as well as their lives, was too mind boggleing; and the kickbacks he was getting from these groomed children numberd in the hundreds of trillions of dollars a month. I forced mana into my mind, and erased the man''s memories, keeping only the memories I had of him before I cast the spell.


    A nurse came in, and had a tray of food on it. I could smell the bacon in it. "Take the bacon off of that, outside the room, then bring it back, please." I said to her. She looked at me stragely, then left with the tray, comming back a few seconds later, without the rancid smell of, my once, favorite meat.

 The Double Switch

    "Would you prefer me to call you Ms. Sullivan, or Ms. Biggs?" The man sitting on my brand new couch asked me.


    The movers had just taken the plastic off of it thrity minutes ago, I haven''t even gotten to sit on it yet. Beth''s news station apparently has made so much off of advertisment revenue that they purchased this apartment for me, and are covering the utilities and building association dues for the next year. I spent the morning telling the moving company where to put furniture as it came in, with Beth''s cameras watching my every move.


    Honestly, it felt good to finally be in control of something once again. It seems like the last six months have just been, me being jostled around. I decided to let my hair grow out, as a sign of the new me, but even that has come with an issue. Because of the ammount of mana in my body, some of the strands have taken on a turquoise hue; something said to only occour in the most powerful of the magic society.


    "I''ve come used to Trillion. Please, use that." even though the words were polite, I made sure my tone wasn''t, and that I didn''t want this person here. But because of the nature of my magic, I couldn''t very well ask Dean Westman, the highest ranked Wizard on this planet, to jump off a cliff.


    "Thanks." he said as he leaned back in the couch. Beth''s cameras now floated in a way to capture this conversation from multiple angles while she sat on one of the new barstools that she picked out. "Can the reporter shut off the cameras?" he asked.


    "No." I answered quickly, before she could perform the hand guesture to stop their recording function. "You are here, univited, and I feel as though I need a recording of this meeting; I will ask that she delay publishing our conversation for a month, but the cameras stay on." I tell him. he nods while pursing his lips.


    "I understand your aprehension." he gives an honest, genuine, smile. the first person besides Beth to show one to me since Planet Fall. "But she would only need to hold the recording for three days." he says, seeming to decide something on the spot. "I came here today to let you know something, at least know before the general public." he looks over to Beth, "can you swear on your channel''s contract to not release any of this conversation for at least three days?"


    "I so swear." he nods at her response, and then looks back to me.


    "Good enough. The mage council responsible for this region will be releasing a statement at some point within the next three days, reguarding Wild Magi, or Wilders as we call them. since you are the most prominent one at the moment, I felt that I needed to tell you in person what the public statement will entail." It feels like this is going to be more of a conversation rather than just him spouting descisions, so I decide to take a seat in the new chair adjacent to the couch. It felt comfrotable, but the armrests were slightly lower than what I would like, it encouraged slouching; I wasn''t going to do that in front of this man. "First and foremost, we are amending our recruitment policies, as well as our policy on how we handle Wilders. These two policies directly effect you, and as well, you are the cause of these amendments."


    "You aren''t hiding much, are you?" Beth asks.


    "I am the one who proposed these specific changes, and honestly, the amount of mana Trillon has, means that she can read my emotions without casting a spell, it will do me no good, and only harm her oppinon of the Diciplines if I lie or attempt to hide anything from her. This ability of hers, that I suspected, but didn''t know the extent until I came into the room, is exactally why I wanted to do this in person, Ms. Fern."


    "So, how did I cause these changes?"


    "Your nightmare in the hospital." he answers plainly. "My son was one of the wizards who helped with the star barriers that night." his smile appears more bitter than proud, but both emotions are fairly strong. "It made me, us, realize exactally how powerful you, as a Wilder, are. It also told us that if we were to force you into a dicipline, it would only hamper your growth. So the first change, is that we will no longer force Wilders, who stay out of trouble with the law, into a dicipline, they will remain free." I felt that he had an ultirior motive here, but his words were true. "So for the foreseable future, we will only ''recruit'' from jails, as long as a Wilder remains a law abiding citizen, they will not meet with one of our recruiters." by recruiters, he means someone who forcibly enrols a wild magi into their diciplines.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    "And my nightmare, nearly killing the mages that prevented the hospital collapsing, was the direct cause of this?"


    "Without a doubt." he pauses and looks at beth, then back to me. "I won''t ask that this next statement gets hidden, but I will ask that if it gets released, the channel thinks about the consequences first. I won''t lie and say that this decision is altruistic, it is more of a fight or flight response of the Grand Magic Council. Some of the sects are planning on using even a peace disturbance arrest as a reason to bring in recuiters, but that wasn''t the goal or purpose of this change, it was more meant to keep mages accountable for their actions, and aid the police in protecting the non-magic public. In my oppinon, this is a good trial run to see if the diciplines are still required to regulate the Magic Society."


    "And, the reason, you are telling me this first?"


    "I want you to be present at the press conference when we release this information. Specifically, I want you to be there to publicly ask something of the mage council; keep in mind, I will have to be sitting at that table."


    "What are you wanting me to do?" I can tell he is leading me, and his pauses are to force me to ask these stupid questions.


    "I want you to ask the council to appoint two representives to the council to represent Wilders. The needs of the Wild Magi, or their wants, has never been accounted for on the council before, because their isn''t a leader for Wilders. We are entering completely new ground here, and if there is a sect of The Society that isn''t represented, then that needs to be rectified. All the other branches'' represenitives are based on power and ability, the Wilders have been forcibly recruited into the other diciplines for as long as man has traveled the stars, never before have we agreed to leave them alone, even for a trial run. We don''t even know what challenges Wilders will face, we need someone on the council to represent that."


    "Now I see why you wanted the cameras off." Beth said. "Trillion, he is basically telling you that whoever these two represenitives are, will be able to directly petition the council for anything, as well as have a hand in directly controling the Mage Society for the foreseable future."


    "Beth, if I propose this, at that press conference, they will appoint me to that post. you know that right?" she seemed to have missed that point. "If the Wild Magi need a powerful representive, and one quickly, they will have one sitting in the conference, right there, that everyone in your broadcast area will know as a Wilder. If they don''t appoint that person as a represenitive on the spot, then it will show that they aren''t really commited to letting Wilders live publicly, and the policy is a ruse. Dean, here, is counting on that, and wants to force the council''s hand in the matter. What I haven''t been able to figure out, is why."


    "As long as the cameras are rolling, I am under a magical oath that will prevent me from telling you the reason, I can say, without violating the oath, that I have my reasons to specifically ask ''you'' to do this."


    The way he pointedly refered to me, told me enough that I would agree to do it.


    "What other changes are they announcing?" I asked instead of telling him my desicion.


    "The qualifying exams for the mid level ranks are being eased a bit, too many people are stagnating, and not becoming full memebers of the branches; the restrictions on inter-branch romantic relationships are being eased up, and we will also allow training at any branch school for Wilders without forcing them to join; however they won''t be able to take the promotional exams to get into the advanced courses without doing so, they will only be able to take classes for basic control."


    "I am guessing that a Wilder representive to the Magi Council would be there to explain how a neutral school would be needed, so that Wilders wouldn''t feel overly pressured?"


    "I can''t answer that, but it seems like you would fall into the roll of a council member nicely." he stands, rather abruptly. "I have been here too long, and I need to go. Please don''t tell me wether or not you will be there, or if you plan on asking the council this. I need to be at least moderately surprised at the conference." With that, he stepped forward, and disappeared.


    "Teleportation magic. Its shotty, he just teleported to the lobby." I say aloud.


    "You can tell where he went?" Beth asked.


    "It felt like a child using the spell to me. Almost like he wanted me to know where he went. But, I can tell that someone with the same mana capacity, and control as him, wouldn''t be able to feel the spell." I let out a sigh as I fall back into the chair. "I know he is the highest ranked Wizard in this region; but the spells he cast while he was here felt, to me, like they were cast by a fledgling attempting magic for the first time. Its scary how much control I have." I tell Beth truthfully.


    "Are you going to go?"


    "If I don''t then someone else will probably make the demand, and take one of the spots. If I go, I may fall into a trap, as it is, either way, its bad. Being on the Magi Council means I have to take the time to actually learn about all the nuances of Magic Society, plus listen to the requests of Wilders who will be able to live in the public eye for the first time in generations. Likewise, not being on the council means that I have to depend on someone else making desicions that directly effect me; Dean just nicely baited a double-switch trap for me."

 The Start of a New Life

    I did what I needed to do. Trillion Biggs, Ashley Sullivan, was told about the conference. Those who were around me, didn''t want her to know about the press conference; but I went to her apartment two days ago, just to make sure she was aware of it. The tracking spell Witcher Cailie Wells used on me, to check my location, pinged back to her every half hour. I left the hook on my self as to not alarm her, just as she had left the hook of a similar spell attached to herself for the same reason.


    For the third time, in as many days, the most powerful of magic society would be gathered. Only this time, it would be in front of cameras. I glanced at the monitors in the security room, and noticed the press hall was filling up quickly. Ms. Fern, and our new Wilder were present already, drawing a lot of attention from the other channels for her presence, and using this opportunity to get images on their channels of her without having to pay Channel 8 for the screen time, as an outing such as this was stated in the contract as ''fair use.''


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    My hair was becomming annoying. The entire time on the ship, my hair hardly grew. Since Delana cut it, a few months ago, it has grown four and a half inches, and was getting in the way. The stylist Beth uses for her broadcasts, Trinity, worked on it for about twenty minutes today, and managed to make it look somewhat stylish for its current length, and she brought out the shine of the strands that are much brighter than my, otherwise, brown hair.


    I sat down in the press room, and immediately realized that every camera was aimed at me, not the stage.


    "Ms. Sullivan; would you mind if I asked a couple of questions?" a reporter I didn''t know approached me, I looked at Beth.


    "I can''t interfere here. Since you are in a press room, they can use any image of you they get, and ask any questions of you they want; provided, you give permission beforehand. It''s the fair use clause of the exclusivity contract." she says, her feelings on the subject were all over the place. I look back to the room of reporters, and give my desicion.


    "I will answer only one question from each reporter, provided it is not a repeat, or rewording, of another question; and I will ignore any questions about Serindipity, or the events that occorued there, as I haven''t finished discussing those things with Channel 8."


    With my response being in the positive for some of these guys, a reporter from the public television station came forward to ask the first question; A refreshing baratone voice poured from the skinny man, making me wonder how his body could produce the sound.


    "Mike Chamberlain, Intersystem Broadcasting Systems; What brought you here, a press conference from the Mage Society heads, it doesn''t seem like something that coincides with where your talents were before the cruise?"


    "Well, I am what magic society considers a Wilder, a person who has not studied any of the four diciplines, however has come to control magic to some degree. So when Channel 8 told me of this conference, I figured I should be here, instead of watching in my own home." I answered somewhat cryptically. Because my status as a Wilder had not been released to the general public yet, several of the reporters were now discussing amongst themselves as to what questions to ask, as each reporter would only get one; as thats all I gave permission for.


    "Alice Winters, Magi Magazine. Wern''t you afraid that your Wilder status would get you forcibly enrolled into a dicipline?" an obviously novice reporter asked from behind me. Because the group of television reporters stopped talking, It was easy to guess one of them was about to ask that question, and were now releived that their question wouldn''t be wasted on this.


    "No." I answered while turning to face her. "While I was recovering from my injuries, each dicipline sent people to my room, once they were notified, to see if my particular talents fell within the way each group taught the use of magic. My methods do not align with any dicipline that sent visitors to me." I answered as truthfully as I could, and not lead myself to being questioned about the Planet Fall itself.


    "Kyle Brishner, Channel 11; If I may, what have you been doing since the event that pushed you into the limelight; and are there any intentions of reclaiming your former name?" an older man jumped in as I finished the previous question.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    "Thats two questions, Mr. Brishner. choose one for me to answer, the other, I will not answer no matter who asks it now." I stated, firmly setting my foot down about the established rules.


    "Ehm.... then, I would ask about your name." he replied, almost immediately getting jostled away from me as I answered.


    "I am unsure, right now. When the litigations against my grandmother''s former attourney are completed, I will revisit that question myself." I answered completely truthfully. As another reporter was going to ask me a question, the press secretary for the Magi Council walked on stage, making all the other reporters leave me for the time being. As we took our seats, I leaned over to Beth, and whispered to her. "would you mind if I teleported out of here once the conference is completed?"


    "Only if you take me with you." she grinned. "I don''t want to deal with those sharks either. just because, I generally don''t act as agressive as they did, doesn''t mean I don''t get what I want, I got exclusive rights to interview you after all."


    "Gentlemen, and Ladies of the press." The press secretary called out, as the eight most promenant figures of the Magic Council stepped onto the stage behind him. "Today, the Council of Mages wishes to adress the members of the press directly. I will field questions after the announcements."


    It was nearly thirty minutes of fluff-speaches from each of the people, along with drawn out introductions, and lists of accolades for each person, before the real reason for the meeting today was even broached. Dean was the person to announce the reasons. The loosening of the standards of the mid-level ranking exams was listed first, the removal of the ban on interdicipline daiting was second; to which the members of the press begain talking to one another quickly; it seemed the aged Wizard had epected the reaction, and waited for them to get quiet again, ignoring any questions thrown out to him.


    That distraction paled in comparison to the uproar created by him announcing that the wilders would be, for the most part, left alone, on our planet for the forseeable future; provided they stay out of jail. and then it was my turn.


    "How do you plan to give confidence to the Wilders, who wish to live openly, after this announcement?" Beth shouted above everyone.


    "Ms. Fern;" Dean began, "your agency has tasked you with following a Wilder, have they not? Are you fearful of their presence? Do you worry for your safety, of the safety of your loved ones while around your charge?" he asked leadingly; obvious to everyone, was that he wanted no response from these questions.


    "Who would represent the Wilder''s viewpoint to your council?" I asked before he could continue, I then stood up. "How do those of us, who are Wilders, know you will keep good on your word to leave us be? Mage Society recives jobs as mages because of the backing of your council, and they recive fair wages because of that, how would a Wilder be able to take advantage of that, to be able to legally use their ability to earn a wage for their familes?" I rapid-fired questions until Witcher Wells stood up, and Dean''s hand guesture waved her back down.


    "All good questions; Wilder Biggs. since you broached these questions, surely you have a solution? I am familiar with your grandmother''s mantra: know of a solution before pointing at problems in public."


    "I have a couple of possible solutions, however none with favorable conditions for myself, or the council." I answered forcibly; all members of the press eerily quiet for the time being. I think they realize they were seeing history in the making here. "One solution would be to assign a member to the Grand Council whose sole purpose was to defend the positions of the Wilders, but this not only takes away power from the council members, it also removes the freedom of the Wilder who takes, or is appointed the position, thus no longer making them a Wilder, but a legitimate member of the magic society as a whole." I paused for a couple of seconds, and picked up a pad of paper that Beth had at the ready for me.


    "Another possible solution would be to create a seperate school that taught every awakened mage the basics of each dicipline, before forcing them into one, in which the current rules state they would have to remain within the bounds of for the remainder of their lives. In this way, a set amount of control would be guaranteed to non-magic society from anyone who had attended these courses; and if an individual chose not to progress further along any dicipline, they were no longer mandated to, however they would also not have a say in publicly voted actions of the diciplines, nor would they be allowed to bennifit from the current systems set forth by each discipline."


    As I flipped the page of the notepad, which was blank, I was asked to stop by Witcher Wells.


    "Ms. Biggs; how many of these ''possible solutions'' to the Wilder problem do you currently have?"


    "About seventy." I answered. I made actions to look as though I was annoyed by her actions, and had every intention on continuing on to my next, as of yet imaginary, solution to the ''problem'' of the Wilders; some of which had been tried in the past, and failed.


    "Ms. Biggs; would you mind discussing those ideas with this council in private?" she asked.


    "I would mind." I said flatly. "I am one of those Wilders, that you speak of; and I have no intention of secluding myself in a room with 8 of the most powerful mages on this planet. I will do this in public, or not at all." she looked as though she was going to interrupt, so I ended at almost a shout, "or, do you plan on forcing this Wilder into one of the diciplines in public, showing a public retraction of the policiy you just announced?" I tightened Dean''s noose.


    The room fell silent. it seemed everyone realized my true purpose here: to challenge the Grand Council of Mages.

 Awakening

    The room was covered in blood, the smell of iron, and plasma, hung heavy in the air. Six of us were tied down to makeshift beds, meant more for keeping us still than for comfort. My wrists hurt because of the bindings laced through holes meant to keep my arms straight so that my shoulders couldnt move. My head had an old leather belt around it, forcing my face against the hard wooden surface that was once a dining table. The rich oak that I appreciated on my first day aboard, no longer held the same appeal as splinters from the broken edge dug into my arm where the pirates had broken the tables.


    "Hello, my pr''ties." The sadistic grin on the pirate''s face could be heard though his voice; I didn''t need to try and look to know who was there. The fact that I could see it through the mirror placed on the floor made it all too clear. "The last six are now on ice, they didn''t make it. I don''t plan on you six making it either. I would say ''lets get along'' but, well, it would have a different meaning for you." as he finished talking, the mirror showed the artificer beginning to carve into someone else''s back. The screams of the man made me want to cover my ears, but tied in the way we were, none of us could move.


    The odor of copper began to mix with that of the blood that had already been there as the artificer began his work. as it mixed with the plasma of the man, it began to turn an eerie green. After a few hours, the man was silent. Unmoving. He was dead.


    "As expected, another failure." the Artificer said, as two silent pirates began to untie the man''s body and remove him from the room. As they went about their work, the Artificer continued his grizzly work on the next individual in the row. I would be the last one of this batch.


    Over the next seven hours I listened to the other people in the room scream until their hearts gave out.


    "Any Luck?" a new voice asked. The mirror was angled so that I couldn''t see who it was, however I didn''t need to see her to know who she was. If I survived whatever the artificer had planned, I would do everything I could to make sure she died, even if it meant that I would have to take a life for the first time.


    "None yet, Captain. The last two were close, their hearts giving out just before the hook could be established. The circuit has been verified, we just have to find someone with a strong enough heart to last the entire time it takes to carve it. it would be much easier if I could use an anesthetic...."


    "No!" she shouted. "We are stuck at the moment, and we don''t know for how long; until we figure it out, medical supplies are for absolute emergencies for our crew, nothing more. Your experements will just have to go without them."


    "understood; however the likelyhood of finding someone compatable, and survive is...."


    "Enough! you have my descision! If they aren''t strong enough to survive without an anesthetic, then we don''t have a use for them anyway." I heard the captain leave the room as soon as she was done talking.


    "I will show you, woman. You will rue the day you upset this artificer." He walked back into the view of the mirror as he spoke while looking down into it, making sure I knew he was talking to me. "It''s always hardest for the last. your flesh is so soft, it feels as though the hardest bit of work you ever did was being born. I expect you will disapoint as well." he sighed. "But just in case, do clench your teeth together; and make sure not to bite your tounge off. This is going to hurt, a lot."This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    He didn''t lie. for two hours I felt his knife and needle burn into the flesh on my back. The corse feeling of the copper ink being injected, the mix of red and green blood hitting the floor. I didn''t try to hide my screams. I felt something shift inside me. It felt like I was going to vomit, and then the temperature of the room plummeted. I thought of nothing other than the death of the person doing this to me. In the next instance of thought, it seemed as though his entire life, his every desicion, played through my mind, even memories he had forgotten, when it stopped, his head hit the floor next to me. I felt a swelling of power within myself, and the table I had been tied to for the past ten hours became splinters underneath me.


    I walked over to the airlock, and chucked the, now decapitated, body into it; along with the thing that had fallen off of it. the door behind me flew open, and in walked the only two people who I had ever wanted to kill.


    "Finally a success." the captain said; "and I see you have saved me the trouble of...." I didn''t want her to finish, I felt the power well within myself, and an emerald green aura flaired around my body, enveloping the two in front of me, binding them. Almost as though I was willing it to happen, the two people in front of me floated across the room and into the airlock. I felt another surge of power; and the airlock cycled.


    It was at that moment, I realized what had happened. I was now a mage, but, I had never heard of one being able to just think about what they wanted to do, and the magic work for them. I had always thought that it required years of study in order to acomplish even the smallest tasks. The inner door of the airlock opened again; not even a speck of blood remained in the small room.


    I walked over to the intercom, and pushed the button. "I, Trillion Biggs, have killed the pirate captain. Either space your weapons, or space yourselves; if you meet me with a weapon in hand, you will die." after about an hour; the intercom tone rang again, but not from me.


    "Trillion Biggs; we have surrendered our weapons. we want nothing more than to get out of here. The way things look, its doubtful many of us will survive. I propose all remaining persons on board meet in the main dinning room in one hour." the intercom tone rang, letting everyone know the intercom was free once again.


    I walked toward the dining hall; not worried about the fact that my shirt back had been ripped open, or the feeling of blood dripping all over my back from whatever that idiot did. I walked into the dining room, and reached for the feeling that I had in the room with the artificer, the green aura filled the space around me. I imagined a shield, the wisps of emerald became a dome around me, as I passed through the double-door threshold.


    "Shit; its a Wilder!" one of the men called out in the room, and threw the knife in his hand to the floor in front of him, putting his hands up. Three men didn''t hear his warning, the kitchen knives they had held, flew toward me. The three knives seemed to touch the emerald shield surrounding me, then flew back to their owners twice as fast as they had approached.


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    I woke up in a cold sweat, the vivid memory of the first time I had used magic; the first time I had ever heard the term ''Wilder'' all came back to me, no one on the ship had every used the term, so I had completely forgotten about it. The pirate who had identified me that way, was killed by his comrades a week after that incedent, for being a traitor to their cause.


    I got out of the bed, my sweat having ruined any modicum of comfort the blankets and sheets would have otherwise provided, and sat at the writing desk at the foot of the bed. I wrote the memory down, as best as I could. I knew Beth would read it; and it was part of the agreement I had made with her station; that I would write down things I could remember so there would be a recod of what had happened, and that they would know how they could better help me.


    They were making a ton of money off of the things they released about me; so this was the least I could do in return: continue to give them things they could make money with.


    I lost track of time, and the sun was already peeking though the closed curtains when I heard someone moving around in the living room. When I stepped out, Beth was setting down a tray with a tea kettle on it, in front of someone I didn''t know.


    "Trillion." she started in a warning tone. "I know you aren''t used to people yet, but could you refrain from leaving your bedroom wearing only undergarments?"


    I quickly looked from her, to the man in front of her, and then to my own attire. I felt my face flush as I ran back into my bedroom to get changed.

 Meeting

    Its been Six Months, Today.


    I had stood in front of Elizabeth, working the extra cameras for the report that was mandated by the planetary government; but none of the stations wanted to do.  I had reluctantly agreed after the other channel heads postured their way out of it.  And then; the broadcast last night.  although it wasn''t part of the exclusivity contract; last night thrust our little money maker back into the limelight, making every milisecond of coverage worth three times the ammount it had been previously; and now, even off world organizations were taking notice of our little drama stage.


    An extra 800 Trillion Interplanetary Credits rolled into Channel 8 coffers overnight.  One IC would be enough, here on Cassius IV at least, to live in luxury for ten years; and was equivelent to about 90 million dollars of this planet''s internal currency.  The accounting staff all looked at me as it came in, while sweating bullets.  None of us were used to seeing that many zeros on purchasing orders.  Its high-time I meet the reason for this.


    "What are you doing here, Steven?"  Elizabeth asked me when she walked into the lobby of our charge''s accomodations.


    "I have to meet her.  Today."  I say it in a way that tells her that no matter her arguement, I will meet Trillion Biggs, today.


    "If you come up now, she won''t appreciate it."


    "Don''t care.  I am going."


    "If she tells you to leave, you have to..."


    "I know about her status, I will acknowledge, and adhere to her boundries.  and I already know that she doesn''t like men.  I also know that she has been up for the past couple hours using the E-book journal to write down some events for us."


    "Asshole."  Elizabeth says as she walks by me.  I know its in reference to the journal comment, the fact that she still thinks that I am an emotionless blob who only cares about the finances of the station.  Well, I don''t only care about the finances of the station.


    I sit down in the chair, seeing as Trillion had a very displeased look on her face when Dean sat on the couch, lets not start this off with her disliking me.  Elizabeth makes a white tea, and sets a teaset in a bamboo tray on the Walnut table in front of the chair I sat in.  As I reach for a glass, to pour myself some tea, a woman comes out of one of the three doors leading to this room.  She is riddled with scars from her ankles to her neck, with very few on her arms; wearing only a grey bra, and a pair of seamless panties, that matched her skintone.


    Elizabeth chastized her, and she appeared embarassed as she spun and reentered her room; the enchantment circuit that covered her back, had a trace of violet run through it.  I knew enough about enchantments. that this was especially dangerous.


    "STOP!"  I shouted.  both women in the room froze.  "Trillion, that enchantment on your back, its the one that was forcebly put there, right?"  she nodded.  "Could you turn back around, and not move for a moment."  she easily complied; but Elizabeth looked bewilderd.  "Fern, turn on one of the cameras, record this."  I said as I approached the almost nude woman.  Two camera orbs came into my periphery, and I began studying the runes.


    "Steven, what are you doing?"  Elizabeth asks.


    "You met me after I took ownership of XWCV TV, and rebranded it.  I was 34, when I bought the station.  I spent my entire time in college studying enchantments; and I sent the notes you handed me to some friends who have stayed in the enchantment guilds since college.  My Masters degree is in Artificing."  I told the women present.


    "And to think, I just saw you as a lazy cameraman; Trillion, Steven here was the camera operator on the day Serindipity had her planetfall; he is also the owner of Channel 8."


    "So you are who I have to thank for the apartment?"


    "Yes, but please don''t talk right now.  There is a lot of magical power built up in this circuit; enough to fully power a yacht from here to Orion-6."


    "It doesn''t feel any different than normal"  Trillion says to me.  wait, she can feel how much is here?


    "What do you mean?"  I ask quickly.


    "Its like this almost every morning; the sensation is a bit prickly.  But. after I drink a cup of tea, it goes away."


    "Would you mind getting dressed, with garments meant to show your back?  I want to observe this, and make sure you arn''t in any danger."  she nods, and goes back into her room.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    "Steven, you never told me you studied to be an Artificer."


    "It wasn''t important.  But, some of the runes used on her back were only taught to me as theoretical.  They aren''t supposed to exist.  Whatever that formation is doing, it requires a hell of a lot of energy to fuel."


    "How much?"  she asks, I can tell she is in reporter mode now, and I am her target.


    "if it were, say a starship, like I mentioned earlier; a yacht, or even a Cruiser class battleship; it could make it from here to Orion-6 in a day."


    "Steven, thats a three month journey for a Cruiser."


    "Only because of the artifice engines they use can only accumulate energy at a set rate; a couple of the runes that I do recognize; their purpose is to increase absorbsion."  I look around the room quickly, and notice that most of the magic based appliances are either in safety mode, or have shut off completely.  "She is absorbing energy, through that formation, quicker than what even the magical appliances of this apartment can.  A mage would feel unusually comfortable in her presence; but someone with a magecraft limb, would loose the ability to use it."


    Elizabeth looks around, and seems to notice for the first time that some of the appliances are in safety mode, something that is only supposed to happen in low-magic environments.


    Trillion comes out of her room, her chocolate, and turquoise hair neatly combed; wearing a light-weight yellow jumper, leaving her back exposed, with a white fabric belt tied into a bow on the side of her hip, it''s sides drooping down to be even with the hem of the shorts part of the jumper.


    "Will this work for you?"  she asked, turning arround, the whole of the formation visible.


    "yes; would you mind if I touched it?  sometimes its easier to understand, if an artificer traces the formation."


    "Do what you need to, I only understand some of what it does; but not everything."


    "Usually a formation will impart its own purpose to the person whom its applied to."  I tell her.


    "Thats what it feels like; but there is a part that is incomplete."  she tells me.


    "Do you know which part?"  I ask, and the violet trace of power in the formation shifts and seems to highlight a part of the formation, a part that I know what it does, its the same one that my wife once had.


    "Dear Goddess."  I accedentally say aloud.


    "What?"  she turns to face me abruptly.


    "I know what that part of the formation does; but I wouldn''t recomend finishing it.  I have seen it only once before; on my wife a week before she died."


    "What is it?"


    "An obediance bind."  I state flatly.  "my wife had been kidnapped, to pressure me into not broadcasting a story; she came back to me with this on her left butt cheek.  when we broadcasted the story, someone remotely took control of her though it; the artificer who had put it there, or someone they had designated."  I traced two runes, and the light shifted colors for a second.  "These two runes, connected the way they are; are called a slave-bind.  whoever did this intended for you to be a slave to them."  she walked away, and took a drink of the white tea on the table, while sitting on a foot-stool, her back facing me.


    all of the violet energy rushed to a different part of the formation, then disipated.  I didn''t understand what those runes were for; but thats the pattern that had the runes in it that werent supposed to exist.


    "That part that the energy just went to; do you know it''s purpose?"  I asked.  she nodded.


    "Yes, although I wish I didn''t"  she held a hand out, and verdant emerald green whisps of magical energy forced themselves through her skin, her eyes flashed in a way that even non-mages are told only happens when a spell being used has the purpose of being lethal; I was scared stiff.  The whisps formed a ball around her hand, and then shifted into a bright white light.  "If someone was wanting to control me, its because of this spell, that the enchantments gave me the knowledge of."


    "What is it?" Elizabeth asked.


    "The knowledge tells me its called ''War Wizard''s Secret''  however, its a healing spell.  its sole purpose is to heal everything within a set area."


    "Why would someone want to control you because of that?"  I ask.


    "It heals unconditionally, ultimately, and permenantly."  the whisps fall away, and the energy reenters her body.  "I will never age beyond what I am today, I can''t heal myself with it, but I can''t age.  Anyone who it is used on can''t die of natural causes, nor are they able to age any further."


    "An imortality spell?"  Elizabeth asks.


    "Close."  she sighs, and sits on the couch, spreading her arms over the back, seeming as though she doesn''t want to talk about it.  "Lets say a battle is going on, and the oxygen seal is broken on the ship I am on.  a quick cast of the spell, will revive all of the people who haven''t fully died yet.  in that way, it seems like an altruistic spell.  however, lets say on the same battlefield, I cast it on my enemies, who are being tortured for information.  if thats the case, then their bodies will constantly heal quickly, but their minds will remember the pain of a few seconds ago; and then the torturer continues their work; over and over again I cast the spell.  not so alturistic then is it?"


    "No."  I answer.


    "I don''t have an option about how the spell effects me; as it can''t be used on me; and just the knowledge of how its cast has made me unable to age; and anyone who its cast on also, can not age.  Seridipity was in time Dilation, I have lived for over three centuries, as did those who almost made it back with me.  take a guess at why they had survived."  she finished with tears forming in her eyes.


    "I wouldn''t wish this life on my worst enemies."  she looked at me pointedly, but I heard no words from her mouth; but I definately heard her voice.


    "Trillion, I am sorry I asked this of you."  I told her, honestly.


    "I know; so why did you come this morning?"


    with everything else, I had completely forgotten about the reason for my visit in the first place.


    "Well, the contract that allows us to keep you from being set on by other stations has netted us quite a bit of income; and it also states that once the station reaches a certain profit margin, in percentage, then everything that remains is to go through our accounts, directly to you.  I am here to pass on the account information."


    "couldn''t you just have one of the accountants do this?"  Elizabeth asks.


    "Not for this ammount."  I replied as I handed the information over; along with the current account balance.