Interlude 1: Life of a Vision

It was dark by the time Casey walked up to her door. The two guards in front of it looked at her, and then at the bag of food in her hand.

“Show us the bag, Casey.” The guard on the left stopped her before she could enter her room. The usual request had come up.

“Just my dinner for tonight, Adam,” Casey explained what was in the bag as she held it open for inspection. She was used to being treated like this. After all, she was the current Vision. The guard on the right simply stood at attention as the left guard quickly looked through the bag. After checking it, he stepped aside, letting Casey through.

“You’re good to go. Have a good rest, Vision.”

“You too.”

Casey opened her door and stepped inside. The room itself was quite small. Only a few mer wide in both directions, most of the space was taken up by appliances. One side was taken up by her bed and dresser. Above her dresser was a map of the world. On the other side of the room was the rest of her stuff. A small portion in the far right corner was walled off. Inside was her bathroom. Right next to that, on the right wall, were a few magical implements. One created a small flame on top of it. Mix in the small iron bars over the flame and it was used for cooking food. Next to it was a small tub with a cover on it. The tub was always cold, allowing for the preservation of food.

Casey took out a few food items and put the rest in the cooler. The few she had grabbed for that night didn’t require any prep, so she began eating them instantly. As she did, she walked over to her dresser and looked at the map hanging on the wall.

Unlike most people, Casey could never escape her job. Whenever she looked at a map, she was doing her job. That’s because, unlike most people, Casey didn’t see just a map when she looked at one. As a Vision, whenever she looked at a map, she saw the spread of Irradiation.

Vision’s are people with a rare magic that allows them to see Irradiation. There is only one Vision in the world at a time, meaning that whatever nation or city-state that they are born into will have a major advantage in the pursuit of non-Irradiated lands to add to their nations. However this is a double edged sword. The nation that the Vision resides in must also be actively making first contact with any rad-towns that turn into city-states.

Even now, in the safety of her own abode, Casey stood staring at a map, looking for any changes that she would have to tell the Minister about. Most days, this extra watching of maps amounted to nothing. Most days. But not today. On this night, Casey saw one of three black dots that resided in the nearby rad-town, was now dramatically east of it. In fact, the black dot, which represented members of the Verilo lineage, was practically on top of the place where Noah Verilo caused the first Irradiated winter.

This was a big deal. No one knew what would happen if a Verilo went back to that place. At best, nothing would happen. But at worst, a second Irradiated Winter could be brought down on the world. Casey had to make sure that didn’t happen.

She put down her food and walked to her door. Opening it, she found the same guard as before, Adam, blocking her way.

“Hey, you know you’re not allowed to leave the room at night. Get back inside.”

“I know. I know. I’m not trying to leave. I need to ask a favor of you.” Casey made sure to stay inside the room while leaving the door open so she could talk.

“What is it?”
“Could you send someone to get Jack Cariatel for me?”

“Jack Car- The Hunter?”

“That’s the one.” Casey nodded to his question. The guard seemed hesitant, but eventually shrugged and decided to help Casey.

“Fine, I’ll go get him. You wait here.”

Casey closed the door and went to sit on her bed. In reality, something this big should have been reported to the Minister. But instead, she had called someone far lower on the hierarchy. And she had done it solely to help him. After all, who wouldn’t want to help the one they love move up in their work?