Stopping the Machine Part 2

Fiivon walked towards Vivian’s desk. With each echoing footstep, her anger grew and she flicked her pencil faster.

“Umm… hello miss. I was told by Mary to wait here until she was done talking to Jesper.”

Vivian let out an exhausted sigh. The flicking stopped. She pointed her pencil at a spot on the floor near the entrance. “There. Sit.” Her eyes flaunted the utter contempt she held for Fiivon.

“o… of course miss. Th... thank you miss.” Fiivon ran back towards the entrance and sat on the floor.

Jesper’s voice crackled through the gramophone. “Welcome to my abode love.”

Vivian snapped her pencil. “First the kid, now this!”

“This is where you’ll be ba—”

Vivian violently shoved a foam cylinder into the gramophone behind her desk. Her body slumped over the desk and attempted to flick a non-existent pencil. “Of course.” She violently righted herself and opened a drawer nearly overflowing with skewed pencils. The sharpest pencil she could find at a glance was promptly whisked away from its home.

Flick, flick, flick…

Fiivon stared, then looked away once Vivan shot him a spiteful glance.

Hours passed.

———————————————————————————————————————

“Ooooookay.” Vivian shot upward, glaring at Fiivon. “He never takes this long and I’m tired of being your babysitter.”

Fiivon shrunk back towards the door.

A pink glow emanated from the bird's nest of a staff she removed from beneath her desk.

Fiivon scrambled towards the door. “M…miss p…please calm down.

“No.” Vivian flicked a wand out of her sleeve as a magenta hue surrounded her body. She aimed the wand. A fuschia beam connected her wand to the door  and enveloped the door in a similar hue.

The beam hovered centimeters from Fiivon's head. He tried to open the door but it wouldn’t budge.

“You’re coming with me.” She threw Fiivon over her shoulder.

“H… hey. P... put me down miss!” He thrashed about to no effect.

“Let’s go see your mom, kids like their parents right.” Her unblinking eyes stared straight ahead as she marched up the stairs.

“Miss Mary isn’t my mom!” He attempted to put more weight behind his flailing blows.

Vivian looked annoyed, like a fly she batted away insisted on returning. “Of course she isn’t, why would she be? That was a rhetorical question, and because you’re a stupid kid; that means don’t answer it.”

Upon seeing how unproductive his actions were, Fiivon stopped. “Miss Mary killed my master and his other apprentice, but she was nice and offered to teach me.”

“That’s nice.” Vivian ignored Fiivon and sped up her march. Her feet loudly clomped against the marble stairs.

“I’ve only been following Miss Mary for two days, but so far it has been better than being Galorex’s apprentice, so it is nice.”

“THAT’S NICE!” Vivan forced an end to the conversation.

———————————————————————————————————————

Mary froze.

“Mary! Please! get up!” Lena’s voice echoed in her mind.

“Miss…” Cassius waited before clearing his throat and trying again louder. “Miss. If you are requiring me to remain at a distance, I highly doubt now is the best time to take an impromptu nap.”

“Sorry.” Mary tried to remain focused while the ticking ate away at her.

*Tick Tk Tk Tk Tk Tick Tk Tick Tk Tk…*

Two gleaming hemispheres threatened to approach each other in the farthest corners of the lead box. On the other side was a pipe which was split in the middle by a strange glass-like box with a hole at the top.

*Tick Tk Tk Tk Tk Tick Tk Tick Tk Tk…*

Mary removed one of the spheres. The smooth object was heavy, heavy enough she knew it wasn’t far from reaching critical mass on its own. A Borclay box attached to a spring was hidden beneath it. She removed the box before returning the hemisphere and repeated the process for the other side.

*Tick Tk Tk Tk Tk Tick Tk Tick Tk Tk…*

She checked her device and the time. The clock was hours ahead of what it should have been, but it still served an important purpose. “Fifteen more minutes. More than enough time.” She placed the removed pipes between the two hemispheres ensuring they remained separated. Both borclay boxes were next to her and no screws were missing. Mary put the lid back on and retrieved two lead pipe caps which she used to seal the container.

*Tick … … Tick … … … … Tick … … …Tick…*

“Not a perfect seal, but it is safe.” She returned the box to its spot inside the control panel. “I would rather leave this somewhere less accessible, but I have yet to find a place.”

“I could deposit it into my magical storage.”

“Would the lead and plutonium contaminate the other items in your storage?”

“It…” Cassius placed a fist over his mouth as he thought. “That is an entirely possible scenario. I don’t believe there has ever been any sort of discussion or research on the matter.” A mischievous gleam entered his eyes. “Perhaps if there were some fledgling mage who has yet to accumulate a significant quantity of wares…”

“I would need to find something safer before I have Fiivon test it.” Mary finished screwing the panel back in. “I also need to figure out what these are first.” She picked up one of the borclay boxes.

It was shockingly light and plain with a top that looked like it could slide off at any moment.

Mary removed the top. Black emanated from the box and began to spill out of it.
Cassius leaned over to pick up the black crystal inside causing it to stop leaking. “Anti-magic crystals, the bane of wizards everywhere. To think those Brass Armada scoundrels have actually discovered a method to mass produce these affronts to all things magical.”

These must have been too rare to use for something like this. If mass producing them is that easy…” Mary looked at the box then took out her notebook and recorded their findings. “I believe they are being used as a power source.” She retrieved one of the crystals from her pocket. “I removed these from the steambot heads in the other room.”

“They’re using them as a power source!?” Cassius jumped back. “Never in my life would I have anticipated such a thing was even possible.”

Mary removed the other box’s crystal. Four metal plates jutted out from the box’s inner walls; two more on the top and bottom of the box ensured each point of the crystal would be touching a metal plate. “How do the crystals react to magic?”

“They consume nearly all magic that nears them.” Red briefly flowed from his hand into the crystal. “I can’t fathom how those scoundrels even considered using them as such.”

“Energy can not be destroyed, which means the crystals absorb magical energy which is then stored inside them. They are just magical batteries; It makes sense the Brass Armada would use them that way.”

“Batteries? I’ll need to prevent the Consulate of Mages from getting their hands on you. You are far too useful to let that happen. The things I’ve seen those dastardly poltroons do to you unfortunate faded.”

“Why are people from other worlds referred to as ‘the faded?’”

“The Consulate likes to capture you lot, use you for the excess magical energy produced by your doubled souls. Those miscreants even designed despicable devices to control you poor pigeons. Truthfully it’s a terrible thing to call you, derived from what those horrible things do.”

Mary reached into her coat and produced a collar. “Do you know how they work?”

“Despite my best efforts, I have never been privy to such information, I am only aware of their effects. How did you acquire one of them, this is a fantastic opportunity?”

“Galorex tried to have his apprentices use it on me.”

“Galorex, that cantankerous chap. How’s he doing these days? More importantly, how did you manage to convince that old sack of foibles to release you?”

“He’s dead.”

“Good riddance.”

“The collar did not work on me.”

“Balderdash. Unless” A red glow breached his glasses as he studied Mary. “Fascinating. You aren’t like the others miss. The fates must favor me more than I previously expected. Meeting you has been a boon of the ages.” He adjusted his hat. “If you are not opposed, I will be traveling with you henceforth.”

“You know I just killed a high ranking military officer-”

“I was going to anyway, or at least try and as far as I’m concerned, you did myself and the world a favor miss. I also have reason to believe you will proceed in the same manner. If you have no other complaints or objections, let’s make this a deal.” He held his hand out.

“It would be useful to have someone skilled with magic on my side.” Mary shook his hand then pointed up the stairs. “The machine itself is on the roof. I will see you up there.” She removed a flashlight from one of her pockets and ran up the stairs.

“I hope you don’t mind theatrics. The night is a performer’s time to truly shine.” A royal flush fanned out in each of hands as he trailed behind.