《Why I Left a Sorcerer's Heaven》 The First Job The inherent jitteriness of home was gone. Fortress Maxime was exposed to an equal amount of the five true Elements. It was weird learning that Earth, Fire, Water, Lightning and Wind were not considered elements among the Diaspora. Instead, of being exposed to five elements and prefering two his whole life, Lowell had one constant element for his whole life: Arcana. The element of magic, explosions, possibilities (physical rather than imaginative), kinetics and so on. The amount of Arcana he was exposed to now was a hundredfold less, which was why he didn''t feel that jitteriness. He was avidly reading about the other elements: Holy, Logos, Jester and Musea, when he ran into Kate at the library. The was a regular flotilla of the Holy diaspora that went around and took on emmigrants from the Holy worlds. Teaching them that they had been exposed to dangerous levels of Holy elemental radiation, and they didn''t actually have any insight into the true creation or divine, but that it was caused by the elemental itself. He had been interested in her story, of becoming disillusioned when the denomination she believed in completely broken into three denominations that started arguing, disagreeing and then warring with each other. She was also the muscle of their group. Kate had combined the traditional ideas of holy knights on her homeworld with advanced tech armor and a lightning-hammer (he called it that at least). She didn''t have a horse, but her armor and weapon made her an imposing presence. Lowell himself still wore his robes depicting blue flames criss-crossed with silver lightning bolts. He''d added a modern pair of computing goggles, it had an advanced crystal processor, zoomable optics and protected his eyes. Stolen novel; please report. How Kate ever learned to reprogram Crystal Processors, he wasn''t sure, but it was helpful. She had been part of the diaspora for ten years already, while he was only six months in. They were waiting in the lobby of the Maxime''s security division headquarters. For a job. He and Kate had tracked down a thief stealing the station''s Jester supply, but they both agreed they needed a third partner. Maybe choosing the Jester thief was a bad idea. Keith was, of course, a Jester world survivor. Cramming a whole planet full of parodyists and comics and jesters sounded awful to Lowell. Keith explained that no one would tell a joke until they knew it was completely perfect. Jokes were these perfect little things, but capers were where it was at, so half of his planet had skills in thievery and heists, that sort of thing. Lowell kinda thought Keith wanted to go back to his world, but the heat was just too much. They could have added a Logos or Musean exile to the group, but in the first case, they would never get anything done, and in the second case, most Museans weren''t fast moving or combat rated, and it was best if there wasn''t any artwork or poetry of their job on the galactinet. Keith wore a black, tight-fitting outfit, a ridiculous toolbelt, which Lowell wasn''t sure was for the job, or for comedic effect. And a hat, a ridiculous massive hat that Keith said was part of "Western Parody" style. Neither Kate or Lowell had any idea what he was talking about. Kate was taller than both of them. While Keith was mumbling the words of some joke he was working on, Kate was sitting on the floor, reassembling her crystal processor again. She had supplemented a basic processor with additional advanced processing cores that could do analytics or generative work. She was always talking about communication limitations between the two coprocessors and the main core. She wore a large backpack just to carry the whole crystal monstrosity around, but it meant she could be our backup sensor specialist and do more analysis and detective work. If she would stop reassembling the processor every five minutes. He had been an avid tinkerer with his magic when he was younger, so he somewhat understood, but this was the waiting room for the station security, perhaps not the time or place. Pursuit pt. 1 Kate''s crystal processor wasn''t anything standard. It looked like a custom juryrigged system with two co-processors. There were many strands connecting the two coprocessors and the main core. It just looked like a jumbled mess on her back. No one would be eager to go near our table. The armor and the massive warhammer had to be a strong statement as well. "I just got the Director''s email with all of the details. I''m going to run a full analysis to see if we can find any clues as to the theft, and where the thief might be hiding out," Kate said. "They''ve got to be storing the fuel somewhere on station, unless they''ve already escaped the station," I said. If I was going to steal arcana, what would I do, I pondered. On one hand, you could be trying to store it and sell it later, or you could be an addict who just wants to dose themself. There was a water planet in system, so Maxime Station was supposed to have good seafood. He ordered the shrimp appetizer and a water. Kate ordered tea. You just couldn''t get good coffee among the diaspora. He hadn''t found anyplace that served it, at least. "Well I''ve got a first place we can check," Kate said as I was halfway through the shrimp. "Where?" "There''s a comedy club on station. Improv, that kind of thing." I finished the appetizer, and we left. "I used to think eating seafood was blasphemy," she said as they left. "Still can''t eat it myself. Anyway, Let''s stop at my place so I can change." ~o~ I wasn''t yet registered for a stateroom. Most stations had several tiers of quality and square feet. Kate''s seemed a bit spacious with two rooms. There were crystal processor components and wires on the table. I waited while she went into the bedroom to remove her armor and find something to wear that would attract less attention. I''d bought my first crystal processor a few months after leaving home. The galactinet was great for news and reference, and the amount of entertainment that was available was ridiculous. Most of it was not for me, but still I''d found a few gems to watch while traveling. Kate came back out wearing a gray sweater and white pants. ~o~ Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. We entered the comedy club discretely, watching from the back of the room. There seemed to be an Open Mic night with a line of people waiting their turn. There were thirty or so seats in the audience area, about half full. "What happens when you try play poker with only jokers? I tried it but the Jokers didn''t know how to hold their cards. We''ve been playing 52 pickup since." "Comedians," Kate muttered. If there was a back room where they were storing stolen jester, they wouldn''t be able to reach it with so many eyes watching. "What''s the local station time?" I asked quietly. But someone else heard me, because from the entryway, someone answered, "1800. Happy hour. We got some newbies here!" "Shit" Several people in the audience stood up and looked their way. Why were Jester exiles almost all men? Was there some kind of gender imbalance on their worlds, or did the women just not leave. "Newbies, huh," said one of the audience members. Hooded sweatshirts and baggy jeans seemed to be the most common attire among the crew. The guy up on the stage was flustered by the commotion. "Name''s Nate," said the first guy who had spotted us. "You gotta go mic up. Those are the newbie rules." The club actually had a bar. Lack of inhibitation and elevated Jester levels would be a volatile combination. "I''m sure you''ve got some funnier stories than me," I said to Kate, as I nudged her to go up first. Nate went up on stage, bypassing that line, and stole the mic from the sputtering comic. The few comedy club''s I''d passed by on other stations were full of hillarious laughter. After the last comedian''s jokes fell flat, maybe the station finally depleted all of it''s Jester storage? As far as I knew, Comedy clubs had to pay the station extra for an additional allotment of Jester. Kate looked awkward up there, but at least she didn''t stutter. "My master used to have this saying, ''If you''re always trying to be the wisest person in the room, you''ll end up leading fools. The most foolish thing you can do is believe that you can avoid being foolish by just having a serious scowl on your face all the time.'' So I decided to be the wisest fool." Nate was disturbed by her poor attempt at joking, "Usually we get newbies with a bit of Jester they are making the whole group roar in laughter. Let me check the back room." I took that opportunity to follow Nate.. "I''ve never known her to be funny, I want to see if she''s immune," I said to try to get a laugh and deflect attention. Turning on the light, Nate headed to the back corner of the room, following a line of white pipe that lead to a gauge. The gauge needle was on zero. "What the hell, I paid last month''s payment," Nate said. I discretely looked around to see any signs that the Jeser was being diverted into another container. I didn''t see anything, and I didn''t have much time before I had to follow Nate back out to the stage. Kate was looking at another comedian who had decided to join her on the stage. "I used to go to Holy worlds, just to go talk to the prophets. I''d say, ''Look, your holy Lion god is just an animal that drinks Holiness, just like you drink water. He''s not even immortal. And I would take this deer head I had preserved. I took that with me everywhere. ''This was a Deer God. Shot him at 50 yards.'', I would say. I had the army on me that time. So-called Holy knights just like you and your master." "I don''t worship the divine whale anymore, so I don''t care about your story," Kate said. "I''ve met you guys, dozens of times as the Exile fleet would stop at a station. Trying to sneak onto the fleet. We were ecumenical, we don''t hold anymore onto the specific form of belief we grew up with. One thing I found is, Jesters can''t give up trying to be funny or they''ll explode. Ever watch one of your friends trying to sit still?" "Come on Kate," I said, approaching her. "Enjoy your unfunny comedy club," she quipped and followed me out of the club. Pursuit, pt. 2 Station Comms were specific to each Fortress Station and I hadn''t set mine up yet. It worked like a two-way radio. Kate had been at the station for a few months, and she got the radio blast from one of the director''s men. "Possible suspect fleeing from the Residental Corridor, Ring 6, Third Floor. Guards are checking the rooms near where the suspect was found. The director wants your team on the pursuit. Suspect was headed down to the main floor and possibly towards the outer edge of the station." "Confirmed, we''ll head that way," Kate said. "There''s no point in going back for your armor. Let''s continue to be discrete, and I''ve got enough magic to subdue almost anyone," I said. "Follow me then." I hadn''t really learned the station''s layout yet, but it seemed to have most of the entertainment, shopping and commercial functions in the inner area, with the mid-rings being filled with residential areas as well as industries, maintenance. Supplies needed by arriving and departing ships were on the outermost ring. I thought there were probably unused sections there, part of the most recent expansion that were either filled with low value things, or were unused at all. Kate seemed to know her way around. We headed into one restaurant and left by the other exit to bypass a more roundabout path. We passed through most of the central entertainment and services area, but Security suspected the suspect was headed for the fringe rings It would be easy to hide something if there were a lot of unused areas. "There''s no one out here." It was in between residential and central areas, but the long hallway connecting modules of the station was eerily empty. We were running out of time until this suspect ducked into a residence or hid in an empty part of the station. The flow of Arcana on the station was smooth and steady. It was just a speck of power compared to his homeworld, but I knew what magic was, and how it was powered now. Drawing on the arcana surrounding us, I sent it wrapping around my pointer finger, then consumed in, transformed it really. Arcs of lightning formed around Kate''s black boots, and after a moment, my loafers as well. "Let''s hurry." Kate didn''t say anything about my unauthorized use of magic. I hadn''t asked for specific clearance from the director, and I didn''t think he would give it. Forgiveness is better than permission. It wasn''t much more than a cantrip really. We were running as fast as a track star could run a 400 meter, but it felt like a casual sunday run. The connecting hallway ended as we passed into the vast high ceilings of an atrium. Must be a central gathering space for this residential block. "We don''t know exactly where he is now," Kate said. "We can only take chances and hope to find someone." "There''s a massive storage area on this side of the last ring. Let''s check that." They saw two guards in the distance in the atrium, but they weren''t staying to chat, and the guards ducked into a hallway leading to a row of staterooms. The lightning speed wore off as they were leaving from the other side of the atrium. He had never had a master like Kate apparently did on her world. He picked up bits of knowledge and wisdom about magic from many different people. One of the pieces of advise was not to use lightning speed multiple times within an hour. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it It''s basically tricking your muscles, increasing their ability to fire, but when it wears off, reapplying the spell right away tends to cause muscle damage. The next module over was dark, except for the hallway that lead straight to the last ring. In the absence of sight, I tried to listen to any sounds, but it was silent. I attached my visix smart goggles, adjusting the light sensitivity to get a bit of thermal imaging. Everything was cold as we jogged down the long hallway. i swung my head around, checking to the left and right wherever the hallway opened up into another room. I was trying to spot anything incongruous. "Can you transmit the visix to my processor?" Kate asked. I fiddled with the holographic menu, finally finding the setting as we reached the end of the hallway. The outer walls of the last ring were transparent and looked out into space beyond the station. "My fellow exiles call this Acausal or Anti-causal magic," Kate said. I couldn''t see or directly detect Holy, only Arcana. The hallway filled with a soft blue light, and then nothing happened. Kate was looking around the room, and so he just waited, and watched, until a few minutes later a holographic figure entered the area and passed right through Kate and beyond, turning left. Kate followed the figure, and I followed her, watching as the figure outran her before turning into one of the storage bays along the outer edge of the ring. "Be ready," Kate whispered as they crept up to the bay they thought the figure had entered. The blue tint of the magic effect made it hard to tell what this person had looked like. There was a large rollup door which lead into the bay, so no easy way to be sneaky about this. I gathered a large amount of arcana around me, and activated flaming fingers with a small portion of the total. The flames that engulfed my fingers weren''t hot, they wouldn''t be until I released them at a target. Kate fiercely pushing the rollup door up, and they spotted the figure in question. He tried to run and I launched a line of fire from my fingers in front of him, as a warning and to prevent his escape. "You might want to sit down," Kate told him. "Ok, Let''s talk," the stranger said as he flipped the knife closed and put it in his pocket. "I''m on an official job from the Director''s top assistant. I realized halfway through that he''s being dishonet with the director and planning on framing me and taking off with the Jester. Everywhere knows we steal the funny juice, right?" ~o~ They had caught the thief, and now Kate and I were waiting outside the security director''s office, with the thief as our new third team member. It was awkward even if I bought the guy''s story. Kate''s radio had been a point in his favor. Station Security announced they had found what was missing, and claimed it was an accident. This station was a mess, and I didn''t want to stay for a moment longer. Keith muttered, "that''s the director''s top guy," when another man left the Director''s office. "Come on in," said the director. His office was only big enough for a single extra chair, so he and Keith stood behind Kate. "Sorry about the runaround. Turns out it was all a big mistake. There was a big sovereign buyer looking to purchase Jester from us, and my team got confused." The director wrung his hands nervously. "There''s another job, if you''re going to add a Jester as your third, which I really don''t recommend, at least you chose a pilot." "This is something off the station then?" Kate asked. "Something that could pull all the exile fleets together. It''s just a rumor at this point, or I would be making those calls myself. I want you three to chase own this rumor, and if it''s fake, bring the liar to local security. It looks like the Rumor starts in Virgo sector, at the Logos Muse station. There was an exile community meeting there years ago, don''t ask me why the station still has that name. Anyway, if it really is true, I want you to broadcast that shit. Widely." The director had been through a lot, with the theft, and now having to send someone out to look into this issue. But what was the rumor? "What is the horrible rumor that could bring all the fleets together?" Kate asked. "Most planets are formed and only have one dominant element, these are all the worlds you''ve been exiles from. Sometimes, extreme stellar weather, or alternatively a collision of two planets, can cause a Hybrid world scenario. There are three Hybrid scenarios that force the exile communities to come together and evacuate a planet." "Why don''t you just tell us exactly?" Keith blurted out. "It''s Arcana Jester isn''t it?" "Well-- I was going to send an email so we don''t have more rumors spreading, but yes. The most volatile scenario imaginable. Anyway, now that that''s out in the open, there''s a corvette in dock. It''s Maxine Security property, and it will remain Maxime Security property, but your team may use it for the duration." "What are the payment details?" Kate asked. "The first lump is half now, half when you determine the situation in Logos Muse. If it''s even possibly true, the job will continue after, and we will provide additional payment while you try to track down this planet." Corvette "Isn''t that a bit excessive?" he said, as Kate came through the central area of their new ship, overladen with grocery bags. "If we end up on a long chase. Plus I''ve never had a kitchen I could even sorta call my own," she said. This girl. She looked more like a human with the armor off. He was apt to forget what he was doing. With Kate''s help, they had wired in a battery charging port inside the ship, in the central hallway between the pilot area in front, and the multi-purpose rooms in the back. It was the smallest ship he had been on, by two orders of magnitude. Focussing on the battery charging port, he drew in the radiant arcana surrounding Station Maxine, and focused a steady stream of lightning to gradually charge the ship''s batteries. The director had given them a wide ranging assignment with a ship only half charged. Two days of eight hours each charging, and then taking a long night''s sleep, would replace the 20,000 credits the station wanted to charge the batteries out of their reserves. Kate''s charge meter was helpful as he gradually ramped up the amount of current provided by his lightning. He was used to using magic quickly and in intense situations. Using magic at a slow rate for eight hours was very exhausting. Now on day two, he was just waiting for when he could go to bed. After learning that Arcana was the true element behind his spells, and reading the Arcana textbooks, he was much more capable of fine control. The books also say there''s so much Arcana on those pure elemental worlds that everything is amplified and extreme. He had a better mindset now too, without the mensogenic effects of extreme Arcana radiation. Keith came through an hour later with a few odds and ends and repair equipment they might need. "I''ve got a good test joke," he said. Lowell shook his head. "I don''t want to lose control of this if I start laughing." Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Keith left him alone again. The corvette didn''t even have any emergency hydrocarbon fuel, if the electric motors stopped working. Keith explained that the fuel-based motor didn''t have much power. So they decided not to pay the cost to have the station resupply them. * After a second long night''s sleep, they were ready to leave and requested undocking approval. Even though it was their own ship, Station Security boarded and went through everything onboard. Kate had stocked them up well for a three day trip. Snacks, meals, even a bit of liquor for the only drinker onboard. There was a crystalline gateway connection that could take them pretty close to Logos Muse in the Virgo sector. Two days of travel to get to the gateway origin point, and then a half day on the other side to get to the station. After that, they could be in for weeks of travel to chase this down, but hopefully it was just a stupid rumor someone made up. After Kate re-organized everything that security had rifled through, they left the station. Other than security and military vessels, there was a recommended top speed. He and Kate strapped into chairs behind Keith''s pilot chair, while they spent the next eight hours getting up to this standard cruise speed. Converting from electricity to Arcana was inefficient, but by relying on advanced arcana motors, they could violate the notional speed of light. Lowell had, in affect, drawn in a large amount of Arcana from the station''s surrounds to charge the electric batteries, and then converted it all back to arcana to power the motors, at an efficiency loss each way. There had to be a better way, and maybe a better ship than this little corvette did operate at greater efficiencies. "I''ve looked up the Stellar weather report. There''s a musea front on the way to the relay, and then heavy arcana storms once we get to the Virgo sector," Kate said, looking at the holographic display her processor was projecting in front of them." Keith piped up, "I''ve heard there''s a new Exile Comedy Tour episode." "No!" he and Kate both shouted. "We haven''t tried that elemental board game yet," he offered. "Too complicated if Keith''s watching the nav-net. Have you heard the recent Ecumenical Exile Choir?" "Ok," Lowell interrupted. "We''ve all got our own interests, but if we want to keep Keith entertained, and not be bored ourselfs, we should find something we can all listen to." Sirius XGM: Traveler''s News and Speculation, Chanell 21-18. "At the top of the hour, for you spaceheads out there. We''ve been hearing..." "Well, it is job related," Keith said. Laughing did occur. Muse The game of draw and react came upon them spontaneously the first night of their travel. Lowell never slept well while traveling between stations. The shifting sands of space weather always made sure of that. But he had never experienced Musea like that night. Steak and rehydrated potato had been delicious, and he had fallen asleep almost by accident when Kate and Keith stopped talking. A bit later, he jolted awake, still sitting in one of the reclining chairs of the lounge slash dining multi-purpose room. Oddly, he felt interested in drawing, so he put on his visix goggles, and configured the processor to display a holographic canvas in front of him. Using his finger, he could pick out different drawing tools or editing functionality. He chose the paintbrush and began drawing. Usually if he tried to force himself to recreate some of his artistic moods, he was too anal about all of his artistic flaws, but he didn''t think about flaws, or the fact that they were supposed to have a Musea weather event. He just drew. He had seen this lightning storm, the day he went on his first trip to the mountain. Lava no longer flowed, but the place was latent in Fire, and then the daily storms in the afternoon on the mountaintop made it an iconic trip for any rising Fire and Lightning adept like himself. He was thirteen. He drew his reaction to seeing the intense lightning, booming thunder, and the howling wind, and the lightning powered steps as he tried to escape down the mountain. When he was done, he noticed both Kate and Keith were looking at him. "Draw and React?" Kate said, like we understood more than the individual components of that sentence. Katie projected a stylized painting of a man in full steel armor, and Kate herself, kneeling in front of the man. In the background, a monastery, and towering above the monastery was some symbol, likely the semoitics of her denomination. It looked as if the man was knighting her. "That''s a pretty happy picture. What is that weird star fish symbol on top of the church?" Keith asked. "The Divine Whale. Our prophets would only share that the angel had appeared to them as a sea creature, but clearly divine, with a glowing radiance unconcerned by Earthly viscitudes. The most faithful bishops lived on house ships on the sea. We would have all of our sermons on the water." Lowell pondered a good question. "But the monastery for your Knightly order was in the mountains." "I think it''s a universal, at least I''ve talked to dozens of exiles who all say, they had monasteries in the mountains. Something about being closer to the Waters Above." Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Keith''s question for him was, "How do you run faster... with lightning." "Electricity powers our muscles, in some sort of way. I guess you get more juice. I spent three weeks recovering after that trip." * They each drew five or six pieces of artwork that was meaningful, He thought all but one of the pictures was from their homeworlds (of course Kate had to draw a crystal processor). Kate set up her processor to project one of their pieces randomly every hour. But eventually the Musea storm faded and they reached the crystalline gateway. Keith was decelerating the corvette to match gateway speed. Kate was shooting O''s cereal into her mouth from a little launcher toy like they made for mints and candy. There was speculation on how much elemental storms could diffuse through a gateway, but he felt the tingly feeling of an abundance of Arcana. Crystalline gateways were made in different sizes, but each had a circular barrier that was closed on both ends until an authorized warp request was submitted. Maxime Station had an affiliate agreement with the sovereign who controlled this gate, but they had to wait for three other ships to pass through. The gateway to Virgo was not very large, only cruisers or smaller could pass through. The gateways were called Crystalline Gateways because of the amount of Crystal processors involved in the warp physics calculation, as well as the crystal barriers themselves. Gate security, beyond even the barrier itself, had two auto-defense turrets. 80,000 rounds a minute. He calculated the heat buildup those turrets must have. They couldn''t fire more than a minute at a time. They probably wouldn''t need too, and the ammo would have to be replaced anyway after extensive firing. XGM Channel 21-18 was still playing while they listened to the Gate chatter. Has there been an increase in high intensity storms? Our analysts say yes. Peace talks at the Aleph Six Conference were shattered earlier this year by a freak Holy storm that lead to new religious disagreements between the parties. That''s just one example recently. Many weather events happen and are not commented on, even though they can have major effects on travelers. Even the isolation systems of fortress stations have been disrupted. One common Fortress design is being deprecated after severe recent incidents. Some commentors even suggest that there''s one element that''s lead to the most freak storms recently. Stay after the break to find out which element. "It''s Musea, isn''t it," Lowell said. "Jester." "Holy," Kate said. "They even mentioned it in the Peace Talks bit." Virgo Connector Center Security: Maxime''s Joyride, Maxime''s Joyride, reduce speed by 20 knots, shift left by 150 feet.. "Anyway, why did you put your armor back on?" Keith asked Kate, briefly looking back at the two of them in the passenger chairs behind his pilot seat. "I don''t like gateways. You never know what the locals are going to do. The ecumenical fleet always got ready for anything." AD BREAK: Hab Colony Harmony is the lovely place to live. We have over ten thousand standard colony modules worth of space. Greeneries, social spaces, restaurants, bars -- Space Golf! Our elemental distribution is controlled and you can ask for extra dispensation in your living module. Located in the lovely Cetus Sector. ::: (interrupted)::: VIRGO CONNECTOR CENTER SECURITY: EMERGENCY ALERT. ARCANA STORM CONDITIONS AT THIS GATE''S ANTIPODE ARE BECOMING HOSTILE TO LIFE. PLEASE SEEK AN ALTERNATIVE ROUTE TO YOUR DESTINATION. WEATHER UPDATES ON THE VIRGO SUPER-ARCANA STORM WILL BE PROVIDED HOURLY. "Well shit," Keith said. "Son of a Drylander."