If I did not know Technica as well as I did, I would be intimidated by her whole demeanor and presence. A short glance at Nisha showed that she was intimidated, to the point that she subconsciously moved behind me, as if to hide.

“Metis, please step aside for a moment.” Fey asked me, her voice controlled but polite. Not quite sure just how serious the two of them were, I could easily see Technica playing a prank on either me or one of my friends, I stepped aside with a nod. Fey raised a hand, and for a moment, I could see a multi-coloured light around me that was not there, at least not in the sensors contained within my nanites. My eyes could perceive it, my technical sensors could not, which meant that either my sensors were defective or there was something more going on. Looking over to Nisha, I could see a similar light wash over her, making me raise an eyebrow.

“Would you please explain? I asked for advice, not for whatever that was.” I complained, trying to sound both polite but firm at the same time.

“You’re clean, no worries. And she’s purely receptive, no projective capabilities unless she’s able to shroud herself from my spell.” Fey announced, essentially ignoring me.

“Good.” Technica nodded, her focus remaining on Nisha, “Young lady, please state the full name of the person who brought you here.” she ordered, leaving me confused for a moment. Curiously, the false light was still there, gently surrounding her form.

“Her name is Diana Hunt, her costumed identity uses the name Metis.” Nisha replied after a moment, her voice making me think that she was even more confused than I was. Fey gave Technica a nod and suddenly, the tension seemed to flow out of them.

“Apologies for the slightly invasive treatment.” Technica started, standing from her chair. “Welcome to my lair, I am known as Councillor Technica and this here is Councillor Fey.” she introduced herself, a part of me still not sure if this was some sort of elaborate prank.

“Good afternoon, my name is Nisha Acharya.” she looked for a moment over to me, looking confused.

“Let me explain what just happened. We, the Guild that is, were aware of your existence and had some information on your powers, but when my student asked for advice regarding a normally small problem of another Powered, especially one politically connected and with a psychic power, alarm-bells went off.” Technica explained, sounding so very reasonable.

“Given who she is, she needs to be on her guard regarding casual favours and even friendships, as political connections, especially once she ascends to my current position, will be both helpful and harmful. Anyone sinking a psychic hook into her at this stage would be dangerous for decades to come.” Technica continued.

“What I did was make sure that your powers are what was reported and that Metis is free of outside influence. Additionally, I made sure you could not lie to me and that I would know if you tried. There are a few people that have the strength of mind to break through that particular spell, but I doubt anyone would be able to do so without prior preparation.” Fey interjected and suddenly, the question about my name made sense. If Nisha had been aware that Diana Hunt was Alexandria King, she might have approached me before my connection to Technica had been officially established, banking on the fact that Technica, my mother, would at some point contact me. Or maybe simply hoping to establish a connection with me, for later use against my father. Those realisations reminded me just how much I disliked politics.

“That explains your actions, though I will reserve judgement on their reasonableness.” I replied, a part of me still unhappy that my friend had been under suspicion, no matter how reasonable they might have been from their vantage-point. “Could we get to the reason we are here? Nisha is barely able to function, due to stress put on her by her empathic abilities, making it difficult for her to function during finals, which is obviously a problem, while I can only imagine how unpleasant it is for her.” I asked, making my displeasure known.

“Certainly.” Fey responded, while Technica sat back down, leaving us standing before her desk. “Now, there are two things we can offer. One would be a list of generally remote locations on the island, so you can go there and simply be away from people. That is the easy thing to do, though I’m not certain just how much it would help.” she explained, her focus on Nisha.

“Or you I can create you a charm, something simple that will block your empathic abilities for a time, or rather, hem them in to the point that you’d have to touch someone to use them.” she continued, leaving me quite surprised. I had not been aware that there were such objects, though I knew very little about what Technica, and Fey for that matter, called magic.

“That sounds like there’s a catch somewhere.” Nisha replied, understandably wary.

“Of a sort, yes. Objects like such a charm are rare, frankly, they are almost unique as they have to be made by a skilled Mage, with individual alterations to suit their intended user. In simple words, you’d have to pay one of maybe a dozen people world-wide to invest quite a bit of effort for you. That ain’t cheap.” Fey’s voice was almost mocking at the end. I could see her point though, as I would certainly want a lot of money to create a specialised device for someone else, something like my Railgun for example. Or rather, I most likely would not create that for anyone but myself and Sophia, with Technica being a potential third. No amount of money would make me willing to give away that kind of destructive potential to anyone I did not trust.

“What is your price?” I asked instead, curious if it would be money or one of the favours Technica had told me about prior.

“That’s where you come in, Metis. I’ve got some things I need manufactured and Mordred told me that the foci you made for him work perfectly. I would be willing to trade my efforts in making a charm for your friend for your efforts in creating a set of foci for me.” she suggested. Uncertain just how equitable such a trade would be, I looked over to Technica, trying to get her opinion.

“What you need to consider is how much effort you would have to put into the work she requires, how important the charm for your friend is for you and if you want to make the connection with Fey. Generally, simply working with someone in such a capacity might link you with them in the future. For example, if the foci you make are used by Fey in some sort of nefarious deed, there will be people who will hold you responsible.” Technica explained, turning the situation into a lesson. From the look on Nisha’s face, she was not appreciative to be made an object lesson, not that I could begrudge her that.

“That, I understand. What I do not know is how much effort is actually needed on Fey’s part, how many others could perform the same service and constraints like that. In addition, I do not know how to compare the value of one of my work-hours with the value one of hers has.” I told her, asking for more information in the process.

“Good questions, but ultimately moot questions. The only one you know with the ability to make such a charm is Mordred, a connection you have due to Fey. Unless and until you’ve grown your own web of contacts, you are limited, so the answer to your first question, how many can perform the service is wrongly phrased, you should be asking, how many can perform that service for me. The answer to that, is none. Mordred wouldn’t do so, not when it means cutting out his Teacher, at least not unless you gave him something that made up for what it would cost him.” Technica’s words made me realise that there were also time-constraints to worry about, in addition to something else, namely, that I was talking to the most powerful Mage willing to sit on the Guild’s Council. Refusing her offer might offend her, making future negotiations harder, or there might be another lesson hidden in the decision.

After a few moments of contemplation, I decided that trying to second-guess two experienced negotiators would most likely fail, thus allowing me to make a snap-decision and go with what I thought was right.

“I would be amiable to the proposed trade, though I would need to see the blue-prints of your foci to make commitments regarding a time-frame. How long do you need to provide the charm for Nisha?” I asked, noticing that Nisha looked at me with wide eyes.

“I’ve sent you the blue-prints just now.” Technica interjected and right at that moment, I received her mail, making me roll my eyes. The plans looked simple, at least for someone with ultra-high-precision engraving-tools. While I doubted normal, state-of-the-art equipment would be able to reliably produce within the tolerances needed, with enough tries, it should be possible. On the other hand, for the nano-fabricators I had been playing with, it was a piece of cake.

“It is possible.” I nodded, after a few moments.

“Excellent. Do you want to watch as I make the charm? It won’t take but ten minutes.” Fey promised, “Now, little one, come with me, this won’t hurt a bit…” she ominously added, looking at Nisha and I was almost certain I could hear cackling laughter in the air, though there was no sound.