Freedom, Humanity, and Other Delusions (Death's Handmaiden Book 3) Read online

  ‘My family,’ Carina began, looking embarrassed. ‘Well, my entire clan, really, doesn’t entirely trust outsiders. They had this idea that a change of scenery would make me change and unlock my seals, but they don’t like the idea that I might suddenly become more powerful and give away family secrets.’

  ‘And if she did suddenly gain power,’ Nava continued, ‘they wanted to be sure that she came right back home. When I started spending time with Carina, they had a small fit. They were still trying to work out whether they needed to intervene, and now they don’t get the chance.’

  ‘Not with that one,’ Courtney said. ‘We agreed not to prosecute for trespass if he left the planet, but they could send someone else.’

  ‘I suggested that I wouldn’t be as nice to the next one,’ Nava said. ‘I pointed out that she was quite safe and that she had made friends here. I suggested that further activities of a similar nature would have both the ASF and the Greylings looking very closely at the Malkin clan. It might not keep them away, but if they do come back, we can hope they do it openly and officially.’

  ‘Well,’ Carina said, ‘I suppose that’s that explained. Maybe the Key to Darkness isn’t watching me at the moment.’

  ‘You’re still convinced they exist though?’ Melissa asked.

  ‘I wouldn’t have sealed my power away if they hadn’t revealed themselves when they kidnapped me.’

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘At this point,’ Courtney said, ‘it’s doubtful there’ll ever be enough evidence to say for sure who kidnapped Carina. Unless they do come back for her anyway. Sorry, Carina, but I don’t believe in the Key to Darkness. I also can’t say they don’t exist with any certainty. Someone kidnapped you. That’s a recorded fact.’

  ‘It’s unfalsifiable,’ Rochester said in a manner which suggested he thought such a situation had equal standing to genocide.

  Courtney shrugged. ‘All the best conspiracy theories are.’

  236/1/24.

  ‘Well, that’s everything,’ Hoshi said. She had just finished laying out the pieces of the shattered prison device that had caused so much trouble the year before on the lounge table.

  Nava nodded. She was watching as Trudy – the real Trudy revealed with See Spirits – began examining the various parts set out on the table. Turning from the Harbinger, Nava looked at Carina who was sitting beside her on the sofa and looking like she was covering nerves with bravado. ‘Are you quite sure you want to be here for this? The real Trudy doesn’t look anything like the one you’re used to seeing.’

  ‘Of course I’m sure,’ Carina replied. ‘She’ll still be Trudy. And it’ll prove that my invisible friend is real. Most people can’t say that.’

  ‘Makes you wonder though,’ Melissa said. ‘How many kids have invisible friends? How many of those are actually Harbingers? Or something else?’

  ‘Hopefully,’ Nava replied, ‘not many. Okay then. Before Trudy reveals herself, most of you have heard me talk about what Harbingers look like, but this is the first time any of you are going to meet an alien. She’s big. She’s over two metres in height. And, frankly, she’s kind of scary. I realise this may sound strange coming from me but try to avoid firing off spells by reflex.’

  ‘I think it has more weight coming from you,’ Courtney said. ‘If you aren’t going to try to kill her, then this must be okay.’

  ‘Hm. Trudy, show yourself.’

  Trudy appeared, standing beside the table and looking nervous. It was hard to tell how you could tell she was nervous; she just was not human and gave away few of the usual indicators. Maybe it was the way she glanced quickly around the assembled humans and then fixed her blue eyes on Carina. ‘Uh, hello,’ she said in her oddly accented voice.

  ‘Oh… wow,’ Melissa said, her voice hushed, breathy.

  ‘You fought one of those?’ Courtney asked.

  ‘Amazing,’ Rochester said.

  ‘Hello, Real Trudy,’ Carina said. Something about the alien relaxed imperceptibly. ‘I think I prefer the illusion,’ Carina went on, ‘but your real shape isn’t too bad.’

  ‘I’m glad you prefer the illusion,’ Trudy replied, ‘because it’s a lot easier to do than this is. With one person. It gets harder with this many, and I wouldn’t be able to touch these… Hm. These largely broken components.’

  Hoshi and Rochester perked up as Trudy got down onto her knees and picked up one of the bits from the table. ‘Largely broken?’ Hoshi asked.

  ‘This,’ Trudy said, waving the component she was holding, ‘was the power core. The casing’s cracked. Trying to repair it with your technology would be very difficult and a mistake could result in any of several very nasty accidents. That one there is the shield generator. Or part of it. That bit there, and that one, and that one. Those are the other parts. Do I need to say how hard that would be to fix?’

  Hoshi sagged visibly. ‘Not really.’

  ‘On the other hand, it’s broken beyond repair, so you can dismantle it with impunity. I think you could learn a lot by examining the parts. I’d be willing to help where I can, but I should point out that this kind of engineering isn’t my speciality. I’m a biologist, not an engineer. I’m actually not too bad at basic repairs, but not so great at how these things work in the first place.’

  ‘And it’s hard for her to think down to our level for what she does know,’ Carina put in.

  ‘Also true, sort of. We, the Harbingers, advanced beyond your understanding of sorcery and its relationship to the universe a long time ago. I studied the practical applications of physics to help with casting unlearned spells. I didn’t learn so much about the underlying theories. You are all still at the stage where the practical aspects and the theories behind it all are still a mixed, developing discipline. I can usually figure out Cari’s metaphysics homework, but it’s not as easy as you might think.’

  Hoshi nodded. ‘I can understand that. It would be like… someone who had only ever known gravity through general relativity trying to help someone only used to working with Newtonian gravity.’

  ‘I’m going to have to take your word for that.’

  ‘Well, so much for a new age of advancement in sorcery,’ Mitsuko said.

  ‘We’ll get something out of this,’ Hoshi said. ‘We have to. This is the greatest opportunity we’ve ever had as far as understanding Harbinger artefacts is concerned.’

  ‘At the very least,’ Rochester said, ‘Trudy can tell us what the writing says.’

  ‘Yes!’ Melissa burst out. ‘Just knowing how to read the language would be amazing!’

  Trudy picked up a relatively unbroken section of the device’s casing and peered at the glyphs carved into it. ‘Oh,’ she said.

  ‘W-what does it say?’ Hoshi asked, her expression almost rapturous.

  ‘“Do not open. Contents dangerous.’”

  Part Two: Dirty Fighting

  Shinden Alliance School of Sorcery, Shinden, 236/1/33.

  ‘Taryn Borchardt, you wished to make an announcement?’ The teacher looked down the classroom at the tall girl, and Taryn got to her feet with a smile. As Mitsuko turned to look in Taryn’s direction, she noticed the look on the teacher’s face and began to wonder what Taryn was going to announce.

  ‘I just wanted to make this to my class before anyone else,’ Taryn said. ‘I’ve decided to stand for student council president. I realise that puts me in competition with Mitsuko Trenton. I hope there are no hard feelings.’

  Mitsuko glanced at the teacher and then got to her feet. It seemed like Taryn was expecting a response and Mitsuko was happy to give one. ‘That’s excellent news, Taryn,’ Mitsuko said. ‘I was beginning to think I’d be running unopposed this year. Now I have a competitor. The democratic process doesn’t really work if there’s only one candidate. I look forward to hearing how you’d like to improve SAS-squared.’

  Briefly, Taryn seemed surprised at the response. Very briefly – it was barely noticeable, in fact. Mitsuko almost felt like she had imagin
ed it. ‘I’m glad you’re taking it so well,’ Taryn said. ‘May the best woman win.’

  ~~~

  Nava shrugged. ‘She seems the type.’

  ‘Type?’ Mitsuko asked.

  ‘The competitive type. It doesn’t surprise me that she’d want to try her hand at student politics, especially if she’s running against a Trenton Sonkei.’

  ‘You may have a point. She’s been rather competitive in combat classes. I just put that down to her being a Firmin.’

  Nava considered her lunch briefly and then shrugged again. ‘Maybe it is. I’ve met very few Firmins and the others were not really open to communication.’

  ‘The mercenaries in the forest?’ Melissa asked.

  ‘Yes. They really didn’t even try to talk to me. Then again, I wasn’t very interested in listening. It should be interesting to see what Taryn has to say.’

  ‘Yes,’ Mitsuko agreed. ‘I’m rather looking forward to this year’s campaign. Hopefully, there’ll be no need for bodyguards this time.’

  ‘And I thought you liked me guarding your body.’

  ‘There are other things I’d rather you did with my body, Nava.’

  Nava nodded slowly. ‘I’d get you to itemise them, but Chess is already turning a very unusual colour for a human.’

  ‘You could list a couple to see if his head explodes,’ Melissa suggested.

  ‘Still a little vindictive over Hoshi?’ Mitsuko asked.

  ‘No, of course not. Not at all. Well… Maybe just a little.’

  236/2/1.

  ‘Only two candidates this year,’ Luca Newton said. ‘Not exactly a great showing but it happens some years. Officially, campaigning starts today, but I don’t think we’ll see anything from them until Monday.’ She looked down the classroom toward Nava.

  ‘The current president has no plans to hold any meetings before next week,’ Nava said, assuming that her teacher wanted a response. ‘The EA fair will be keeping her busy over the weekend. I have no insight into Taryn Borchardt’s campaign strategy.’

  Luca nodded. ‘As with last year, lessons will end tomorrow at lunchtime to allow for the fair. Most of you won’t be changing clubs, I’d imagine, but some of you may be involved with recruiting. Don’t give the SSF too much to worry about this year. As for the presidential election… Well, we have the current president seeking re-election. We also have a Firmin seeking to displace her. It sounds like an interesting contest, even if it might have been better to have a few other candidates.’

  ‘Mitsuko was hoping there would be,’ Melissa said.

  ‘As I recall, she was unhappy when the majority of candidates dropped out last year.’

  ‘Yes, she was. I don’t think anyone aside from Taryn Borchardt thought they had a chance against her this year.’

  ‘Maybe they’re right.’

  ‘And then the question would be why Taryn Borchardt thinks she does,’ Nava said.

  ‘That,’ Luca said, ‘is what everyone has to work out for themselves.’

  Nava nodded agreement. ‘Yes, Miss Luca Newton, it certainly is.’

  236/2/3.

  The extracurricular activities fair was, in fact, of little interest to Nava. She was a member of the Flight Club and a sort-of-member of the MagiTag Club. She had an interest in dropping in on the latter to see what the new batch of first years were like, but neither club had asked her to assist with recruitment. Maybe they had decided she would be too intimidating. The Flight Club had asked Melissa to help, though at a reduced level from last year. Melissa had duties as the student council’s secretary to take care of this year.

  Despite her general lack of interest, Nava felt she should at least take a few turns around the club stands to see whether anything new had appeared. That was why she spotted something which was new but was also not a club. The stand was actually a little too professional for a club’s stand; someone very professional had constructed this, even if what it was displaying was not exactly exciting.

  ‘Are you interested in the Professional Society of Sorcery, young lady?’ one of the people on the stand asked as Nava took a few seconds to scan the displays.

  ‘I’ve never heard of it before,’ Nava replied.

  ‘Oh.’ The man deflated a little. He was typically handsome. His brown hair had a hint of red to it and his eyes were a pleasing shade of green. He looked to be not too far into his twenties, which probably meant he had not been a professional sorcerer for very long. Assuming he was a sorcerer, of course, and not just a man hired to be on the stand. Nava guessed that he was not handsome enough for that. ‘It’s the principal professional society for magicians. Established in one eighty-three and representing the rights of workers in sorcery for almost fifty-three years now.’

  ‘But you weren’t here last year,’ Nava countered.

  ‘We’re trying to get more recognition among students, that’s true. This is the first year we’ve had a stand here. It’s part of our mission to promote professional standards. We also want people in the profession to know there is a body devoted to enhancing magicians’ rights, enhancing working conditions, and generally making life better for those able to do sorcery.’

  ‘Interesting sales pitch,’ Nava said. ‘If you can provide me with appropriate information links, I’d like to learn more.’

  ‘I can do that,’ the young man said, smiling. ‘I’m here until Monday if you’d like to discuss it further.’

  Nava nodded. ‘I’ll keep that in mind.’ Somehow, she suspected his interest was not entirely professional. He was going to be disappointed, but she did not have to tell him that now and burst his happy little bubble.

  ~~~

  ‘They’re a legitimate organisation,’ Melissa said. ‘The request to have a stand at the fair came through the school and the council agreed to let them have one.’

  ‘They’ve been around for a while,’ Mitsuko went on. ‘Historically, they’ve been advocates for the rights of communications workers, but they’ve been expanding into areas like ethical standards and the rights of other magicians for a while. This year, they seem to have decided to push into schools.’ She paused. ‘You didn’t get a bad vibe off them, did you?’

  Nava paused in the chewing of her lunch, resumed, and swallowed. ‘No. I find the general concept of such a professional society interesting. I’m not sure how membership would work with my other commitments.’

  ‘That is something you’ve shown an interest in before,’ Melissa said. She meant that Nava had slaughtered an entire contingent of mercenaries and scientists in order to stop technology she considered unethical coming to light. It could certainly be considered an ‘interest’ in professional ethics. ‘What are you doing this afternoon?’

  ‘MagiTag,’ Nava replied. ‘I want to see what this year’s batch of first years are like.’

  ‘Try to leave them the use of their legs,’ Mitsuko said.

  ‘No promises.’

  ~~~

  ‘Good afternoon, Francis Goretti. How are the new students?’ Nava’s gaze wandered over the displays in the control room as she asked, taking in the scene below, in the simulation room, where ten young adults were attempting to track each other down and ‘kill’ their targets. Some were a lot better than others.

  ‘There are a couple who may be worth nurturing,’ Francis replied. He was not in charge of the MagiTag Club these days, having inherited the chairmanship of all extracurricular activities the previous autumn, but he still took an active interest. That was partially because of his history with the club and partially because the MagiTag Club was a major contributor to the school’s prestige. ‘No one who could really be said to be a threat to you…’ Francis flashed Nava a grin which switched suddenly to a frown. ‘Well, except for her, of course.’

  Nava followed his pointing finger and spotted the her in question: Taryn Borchardt Firmin. The statuesque woman was also watching the people engaging in battle. Her expression was some mix of thoughtful and amused, as though she was enj
oying the show while making assessments. She was dressed in the new school combat gear – as was Nava – so it seemed likely that she was planning to join a game or had already done so. Possibly both.

  ‘You’ve seen her fight?’ Nava asked.

  ‘She’s played in two games,’ Francis replied. ‘Won both. She’s good. Maybe as good as you.’

  ‘Maybe better?’

  ‘I couldn’t call it.’

  Nava’s gaze lingered on the other woman for a second. ‘I don’t think you’ll have to.’

  ‘Want to join me for a game?’ Taryn asked Nava about three minutes later as the last players trooped out of the room.

  Nava flashed a glance at Francis – who grinned – and then nodded. ‘Of course, Taryn Borchardt. It should be interesting.’

  ‘Oh yeah! I can’t wait to see if you’re as good as I’ve heard.’

  ‘I suppose we’ll find out.’

  Three of the ten combatants were out of play inside of the first minute. One of them fell to Taryn, but that was just because he had been in the way. Taryn was hunting Nava and Nava knew that was what was happening. It was, probably anyway, a good tactic if you had reasonable situational awareness and skill with a spell pistol. Taryn was aiming for the one person most likely to take her out of the game. Unfortunately for Taryn, Nava was also pretty good at tactics.

  The setting was ‘ruined city,’ which meant walls of various sizes and of random shapes. Unlike a real environment, the ground was level. Otherwise, it was more or less like hiding in the ruins of a battle-torn city. Cover was plentiful and Nava made the most of it. Magic providing concealment was not allowed in battle royal games, otherwise Nava would have used it. As it was, she moved between areas of concealment like a wraith. If necessary, she would have fired to eliminate anyone who became a danger to her, but she never needed to. Taryn and the others were doing a perfectly good job of taking each other down without Nava’s help.

  In the end, despite all the careful manoeuvring, it came down to sheer speed. Nava slid out from behind the cover of a wall and spotted Taryn. Taryn spotted Nava at the same time. They both moved to fire their weapons, but Nava fired first and she never missed what she aimed at. With the new suits, the panels over the shoulders which were normally blue went yellow or red depending upon the magnitude of the hit. Nava, as usual over short range, went for a headshot, pulled it off, and turned Taryn’s shoulders red in one hit. Taryn’s finger tightened on her trigger, but her pistol had registered the kill already and nothing happened. She looked almost surprised. Then the horn was sounding for the end of the match and there was a flash of something like anger across Taryn’s face before she got herself under control.