Author's Comment:

I was asked about reading my work on other sites.

The answer is simple: Currently I am not active in any other networks than royalroadl.com. Only here, I correct mistakes and errors.

If you read it anywhere else and have to pay for it, or have to deal with an annoying amount of advertisement, You Are Being Betrayed.

You would do good if you make other people in that network aware of it. This is a free project of mine for the purpose of having fun. And if people try to make money with it you shouldn't bother visiting their website.

The only one whom I actually allowed to have my work on his website is Armaell who invested the time to compile them into pdf.

(http://armaell-library.net/author/andur)

If you find mistakes, pls tell, thx. I don't like mistakes.

Also feel free to ask for more background information on the world. I am somehow running out of interesting points regarding the small comments at the beginning of the chapters.

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“The resource wars two hundred years ago caused the collapse of almost all industrial nations of that time. Nordas formed out of the remains of the European Union and controls parts of the old Russia and the coastline of northern Africa. They are currently taking a neutral stance towards political affairs, but showed that their military can't be underestimated.

During the midnight war, the Central African Union tried a land grab to acquire important farm land and to unify their continent. Nordas's military struck the attempt down with an iron fist, leaving the C.A.U. unable to undertake any operations besides national defence.”

History Lesson I

***Aether, The floating City, above the Atlantic Ocean***

***Rhiannon Alvar***

“To run across a wild techno-mage while we were searching for your sister doesn't happen every day. I am truly interested in who the father is. Maybe we can blackmail him to vote in our favour?” Arend starts fantasizing about the boy's origin. “If the father belongs to the upper classes our family may get an additional voice in the Council of Elders. Rhia? Dear? Are you listening to me honey?”

We are in Aether's main hospital and waiting in front of the examination room where a doctor is taking a look at the boy. In absence of anyone else who would take this task from us we decided to wait here until the officials arrive to take charge of the kid.

I shake my head and continue to file the report about our visit to the city of normals. As mages of Aether we have to report all our interactions with non-magicians. There is nothing as important as keeping our existence a secret. “I am sorry, but I don't think that blackmailing an elder is a good idea. Though I would like to know how someone can be as cruel as to leave a young techno-mage like that child to himself.”

As I think about the boy I wince. In my family tree are a lot of magicians with the particular trait of techno-magic, which is a higher form of the elemental electro-magic branch. The problem with this power is that your mind gets accelerated. Affected children have to be treated with extraordinary care and require special guidance.

Arend sighs upon realizing that I am not entirely with him. “Was it that bad? Being in his mind?”

“I didn't fully realize his state that time, but he shut himself in a single empty room with a few screens to interact with the outside world. Apparently he was using the internet quite excessively. There was nothing else there.” Taking a look at the file, which we gathered on him, I can't help it but to feel sad for the child. “Gideon Oberon, six years old. Mother died when he was one. The supposed father had to face a trial for child abuse when the kid was four. The child was brought to the asylum around that time because he entered a comatose state.”

I add the dates up and wince. “That means he was a little over a year in that state. And there was nobody who could help him to understand his circumstances.”

“Depending on his ability he probably spent years in his own little world.” My husband shakes his head and corrects his short, dark hair with one hand.

I smile at his rough looks. He isn't taking it very seriously with his outside appearance, which often results in him carrying a beard of several days age.

Our conversation is interrupted by a doctor exiting the examination room. He is slim and wearing much too big clothes for him. His hair is grey and his face has more wrinkles than I want to count. I notice that his use of magic caused his ears to turn long and pointy. He doesn't bother with hiding his deformation and carries it with dignity. Upon noticing us, he looks up from a sheet of paper in his hand. “Ah, it's good that the two of you were waiting for me. We have some things to discuss.”

I blink and hand the report to the doctor. “Of course were waiting for you. Can you give this to the faceless who are going to show up for the kid?”

The faceless are the magical police, but they don't deserve to be called that way. They are tough guys and a word from them is enough to cause someone serious problems. Cause problems to one of them and you can be sure that your place is crawling with dozens of them within minutes.

I don't want to meet them since they have the tendency to ask unpleasant questions. “They'll bring the kid to the ones who are responsible for him.”

The doctor shakes his head. “I called them off since they aren't needed.” He smiles weakly and seems to be happy that there aren't going to be any inquisitive people with far too many rights in his office.

“What do you mean by that?” My husband asks.

“I mean that the people who are responsible for this child are you two.” He points a haggard finger at us. “We analysed his DNA and compared it to the mage population in our database. Surprisingly we couldn't find a match for the father, which is surprising since he is a pure mage.

But there is match for the mother, there are two in fact: Rhiannon Alvar and Sadina Alvar. Since we have a complete record for you, the only one who can be the boy's mother is your sister Sadina Alvar. But she went missing twelve years ago.” The old man hands me a sheet of paper, which is snatched away by my husband.

“Are you absolutely sure of this!?” He snaps at the old man, who is so surprised that he takes a step back.

“Please don't doubt my professionalism. I am absolutely sure that our results are correct. I am sorry if this information causes trouble for you.” The doctor places his hands behind his back and struggles to keep a friendly expression.

I sit down on one of the chairs which are lining the corridor's walls and start chewing on my nail. “My sister had a child? And left it with the normals?” I would have never thought that someone from my family could fall so deep, but apparently my sister caused us more trouble than I expected until now. The world starts spinning as I try to make sense of everything.

Years ago my sister hurt a lot of people and fled from the authorities for unknown reasons. She went into hiding and we searched for her ever since. After some years I thought that I would never see her again and got over it, accepting her disappearance.

A day ago we found an unexpected hint on her whereabouts. It led us to a small town in Nordas, where we stumbled across weak magical activity and found the boy instead of her. “We have to check if she is really dead.”

Arend grabs my hand to reassure me. “I think that matter won't run away from us.” He turns to the doctor. “What about the boy.”

The doctor shrugs his shoulders. “He'll survive, though he has to undergo heavy treatment. His muscles are atrophied. Some organs were about to fail, but it was nothing which we can't cure. The child was about to die when you found him.”

The doctor pauses for a moment to collect his thoughts. “He is stable for now. I am much more concerned about his mental state. He woke up during our examination and tried to cut my assistant with a scalpel. You know someone who is specialized on 'cases' like him?”

I nod. “We have several techno mages in our family tree. They tend to show... strange behaviour.”

“That's good. Coincidentally I know a little about this affinity and he is a very problematic case. I put the boy to sleep and sealed his magic. You know how to remove a basic rune seal?” He waits until my husband nods in confirmation and goes on. “Then all that's left for you to do is to take him with you. Here are my recommendations regarding his treatment and I want to see the child once a week.” He hands my husband a sheet of paper and leaves, walking down the corridor and turning around a corner.

Arend looks down on me. “Are you alright?”

I sigh and get to my feet. “Yes, it just got to me.” Upon entering the examination room I find the boy lying on the only bed in the room. The child looks like a zombie with his eyes deep in their sockets and all signs of undernourishment. The only thing that hints at him being my sister's son is the black hair which is similar to hers. At least as I remember her.

Sighing, I lift the boy from the bed and carry him out of the room, heading for one of the teleportation devices all around the hospital.

“Shouldn't I carry him?” My husband offers, but I just smile at him. The child is very light and I can carry him even without enhancing myself with magic. “Just dial the destination for home.” I walk towards a circular indention in the corridor's wall. Complicated runes are filling the golden plate on the ground and silver runes are attached to the walls. It's necessary to stabilize a blind teleportation with a magical device. Devices like this are placed all around the city for public use.

I step into the device and my husband joins me, manipulating the runes of the teleportation device. A moment later the scene around us shifts seamlessly to a walkway through a garden. Our family's estate is located in the outer areas of Aether and while we aren't belonging to the most powerful magical bloodlines, we still own a lot of property. Having access to a lot of techno mages makes you rich, but doesn't give much influence in the upper societies.

It's evening and the dark towers of our mansion are rising high above us. Forcing myself to stop staring, I enter the mansion and ask my husband to inform the rest of the family.

Minutes later we are all together in our mansion's living room. My father Hedeon and mother Melan are sitting together on the sofa.

My daughters are at the table, eyeing the unconscious boy who is lying on one of the couches. Saden is the younger of the two with nine years and Galia is with fourteen about to join the university.

Arend's parents weren't invited to this meeting since he is from a branch family and essentially only married into our household. It also would have been a little troublesome for them since they are living on Jupiter. A direct teleport from Jupiter to Earth is costly, even for a family with a lot of resources.

“So you are telling us that this boy is Sadina's son? Did you find her?” Mother asks concernedly. She is old, even for a mage. Though her body still belongs to a woman in her twenties. The only sign which is showing her age are her eyes and hair, which turned completely silver. But she can still see perfectly through them.

“If the information which we got from the normals is correct, then she is dead. We'll confirm them tomorrow.” I close my eyes tiredly.

“The information about the father at least can't be true.” Hedeon, my father, gestures at the boy. “If it's true that he created his own virtuality, then he is very talented. That's impossible if one of his parents was a normal.”

A lifetime of using magic caused two horns to grow on my father's forehead, which makes him look like a demon. But unlike my mother he still looks like a man in his thirties.

“We will learn the truth tomorrow.” Arend tilts his head in a questioning manner. “The question is what to do with the boy.”

“Can he be saved?” Melan asks.

“That's what I wanted you to find out, Mother.” I look at her pleadingly. “I don't think that I can distance myself from the situation. It's better if you have a look at him.”

“As if my situation is any different.” Melan sighs, looking down at the floor. “The problem lies in how long he isolated himself and if he can be taught to deal with other humans. Judging from your description I don't have much hope. What did his avatar look like?”

“A normal child, five years old and healthy.” I answer.

“Hm.” Grandmother nods solemnly. “Then it means that he still sees himself as a child in his subconsciousness. It may take a lot of work, but it could be possible to save him. If he had regarded himself as an adult or something completely inhuman I would have said that it's best to put him silently to rest.”

My mother's words may be harsh, but that's unfortunately the fate of many young techno-mages. Losing yourself in your own ability leads to the comatose state in which we found the boy. It's possible to force someone out of that state, but most victims become so addicted to their own reality that they can't deal with the real world any more.

Their fate is to slowly wither away until they die, forever caught in their own desires.

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