Its been Six Months, Today.

I had stood in front of Elizabeth, working the extra cameras for the report that was mandated by the planetary government; but none of the stations wanted to do. I had reluctantly agreed after the other channel heads postured their way out of it. And then; the broadcast last night. although it wasn't part of the exclusivity contract; last night thrust our little money maker back into the limelight, making every milisecond of coverage worth three times the ammount it had been previously; and now, even off world organizations were taking notice of our little drama stage.

An extra 800 Trillion Interplanetary Credits rolled into Channel 8 coffers overnight. One IC would be enough, here on Cassius IV at least, to live in luxury for ten years; and was equivelent to about 90 million dollars of this planet's internal currency. The accounting staff all looked at me as it came in, while sweating bullets. None of us were used to seeing that many zeros on purchasing orders. Its high-time I meet the reason for this.

"What are you doing here, Steven?" Elizabeth asked me when she walked into the lobby of our charge's accomodations.

"I have to meet her. Today." I say it in a way that tells her that no matter her arguement, I will meet Trillion Biggs, today.

"If you come up now, she won't appreciate it."

"Don't care. I am going."

"If she tells you to leave, you have to..."

"I know about her status, I will acknowledge, and adhere to her boundries. and I already know that she doesn't like men. I also know that she has been up for the past couple hours using the E-book journal to write down some events for us."

"Asshole." Elizabeth says as she walks by me. I know its in reference to the journal comment, the fact that she still thinks that I am an emotionless blob who only cares about the finances of the station. Well, I don't only care about the finances of the station.

I sit down in the chair, seeing as Trillion had a very displeased look on her face when Dean sat on the couch, lets not start this off with her disliking me. Elizabeth makes a white tea, and sets a teaset in a bamboo tray on the Walnut table in front of the chair I sat in. As I reach for a glass, to pour myself some tea, a woman comes out of one of the three doors leading to this room. She is riddled with scars from her ankles to her neck, with very few on her arms; wearing only a grey bra, and a pair of seamless panties, that matched her skintone.

Elizabeth chastized her, and she appeared embarassed as she spun and reentered her room; the enchantment circuit that covered her back, had a trace of violet run through it. I knew enough about enchantments. that this was especially dangerous.

"STOP!" I shouted. both women in the room froze. "Trillion, that enchantment on your back, its the one that was forcebly put there, right?" she nodded. "Could you turn back around, and not move for a moment." she easily complied; but Elizabeth looked bewilderd. "Fern, turn on one of the cameras, record this." I said as I approached the almost nude woman. Two camera orbs came into my periphery, and I began studying the runes.

"Steven, what are you doing?" Elizabeth asks.

"You met me after I took ownership of XWCV TV, and rebranded it. I was 34, when I bought the station. I spent my entire time in college studying enchantments; and I sent the notes you handed me to some friends who have stayed in the enchantment guilds since college. My Masters degree is in Artificing." I told the women present.

"And to think, I just saw you as a lazy cameraman; Trillion, Steven here was the camera operator on the day Serindipity had her planetfall; he is also the owner of Channel 8."

"So you are who I have to thank for the apartment?"

"Yes, but please don't talk right now. There is a lot of magical power built up in this circuit; enough to fully power a yacht from here to Orion-6."

"It doesn't feel any different than normal" Trillion says to me. wait, she can feel how much is here?

"What do you mean?" I ask quickly.

"Its like this almost every morning; the sensation is a bit prickly. But. after I drink a cup of tea, it goes away."

"Would you mind getting dressed, with garments meant to show your back? I want to observe this, and make sure you arn't in any danger." she nods, and goes back into her room.

"Steven, you never told me you studied to be an Artificer."

"It wasn't important. But, some of the runes used on her back were only taught to me as theoretical. They aren't supposed to exist. Whatever that formation is doing, it requires a hell of a lot of energy to fuel."

"How much?" she asks, I can tell she is in reporter mode now, and I am her target.

"if it were, say a starship, like I mentioned earlier; a yacht, or even a Cruiser class battleship; it could make it from here to Orion-6 in a day."

"Steven, thats a three month journey for a Cruiser."

"Only because of the artifice engines they use can only accumulate energy at a set rate; a couple of the runes that I do recognize; their purpose is to increase absorbsion." I look around the room quickly, and notice that most of the magic based appliances are either in safety mode, or have shut off completely. "She is absorbing energy, through that formation, quicker than what even the magical appliances of this apartment can. A mage would feel unusually comfortable in her presence; but someone with a magecraft limb, would loose the ability to use it."

Elizabeth looks around, and seems to notice for the first time that some of the appliances are in safety mode, something that is only supposed to happen in low-magic environments.

Trillion comes out of her room, her chocolate, and turquoise hair neatly combed; wearing a light-weight yellow jumper, leaving her back exposed, with a white fabric belt tied into a bow on the side of her hip, it's sides drooping down to be even with the hem of the shorts part of the jumper.

"Will this work for you?" she asked, turning arround, the whole of the formation visible.

"yes; would you mind if I touched it? sometimes its easier to understand, if an artificer traces the formation."

"Do what you need to, I only understand some of what it does; but not everything."

"Usually a formation will impart its own purpose to the person whom its applied to." I tell her.

"Thats what it feels like; but there is a part that is incomplete." she tells me.

"Do you know which part?" I ask, and the violet trace of power in the formation shifts and seems to highlight a part of the formation, a part that I know what it does, its the same one that my wife once had.

"Dear Goddess." I accedentally say aloud.

"What?" she turns to face me abruptly.

"I know what that part of the formation does; but I wouldn't recomend finishing it. I have seen it only once before; on my wife a week before she died."

"What is it?"

"An obediance bind." I state flatly. "my wife had been kidnapped, to pressure me into not broadcasting a story; she came back to me with this on her left butt cheek. when we broadcasted the story, someone remotely took control of her though it; the artificer who had put it there, or someone they had designated." I traced two runes, and the light shifted colors for a second. "These two runes, connected the way they are; are called a slave-bind. whoever did this intended for you to be a slave to them." she walked away, and took a drink of the white tea on the table, while sitting on a foot-stool, her back facing me.

all of the violet energy rushed to a different part of the formation, then disipated. I didn't understand what those runes were for; but thats the pattern that had the runes in it that werent supposed to exist.

"That part that the energy just went to; do you know it's purpose?" I asked. she nodded.

"Yes, although I wish I didn't" she held a hand out, and verdant emerald green whisps of magical energy forced themselves through her skin, her eyes flashed in a way that even non-mages are told only happens when a spell being used has the purpose of being lethal; I was scared stiff. The whisps formed a ball around her hand, and then shifted into a bright white light. "If someone was wanting to control me, its because of this spell, that the enchantments gave me the knowledge of."

"What is it?" Elizabeth asked.

"The knowledge tells me its called 'War Wizard's Secret' however, its a healing spell. its sole purpose is to heal everything within a set area."

"Why would someone want to control you because of that?" I ask.

"It heals unconditionally, ultimately, and permenantly." the whisps fall away, and the energy reenters her body. "I will never age beyond what I am today, I can't heal myself with it, but I can't age. Anyone who it is used on can't die of natural causes, nor are they able to age any further."

"An imortality spell?" Elizabeth asks.

"Close." she sighs, and sits on the couch, spreading her arms over the back, seeming as though she doesn't want to talk about it. "Lets say a battle is going on, and the oxygen seal is broken on the ship I am on. a quick cast of the spell, will revive all of the people who haven't fully died yet. in that way, it seems like an altruistic spell. however, lets say on the same battlefield, I cast it on my enemies, who are being tortured for information. if thats the case, then their bodies will constantly heal quickly, but their minds will remember the pain of a few seconds ago; and then the torturer continues their work; over and over again I cast the spell. not so alturistic then is it?"

"No." I answer.

"I don't have an option about how the spell effects me; as it can't be used on me; and just the knowledge of how its cast has made me unable to age; and anyone who its cast on also, can not age. Seridipity was in time Dilation, I have lived for over three centuries, as did those who almost made it back with me. take a guess at why they had survived." she finished with tears forming in her eyes.

"I wouldn't wish this life on my worst enemies." she looked at me pointedly, but I heard no words from her mouth; but I definately heard her voice.

"Trillion, I am sorry I asked this of you." I told her, honestly.

"I know; so why did you come this morning?"

with everything else, I had completely forgotten about the reason for my visit in the first place.

"Well, the contract that allows us to keep you from being set on by other stations has netted us quite a bit of income; and it also states that once the station reaches a certain profit margin, in percentage, then everything that remains is to go through our accounts, directly to you. I am here to pass on the account information."

"couldn't you just have one of the accountants do this?" Elizabeth asks.

"Not for this ammount." I replied as I handed the information over; along with the current account balance.