Arcane Tethers

Chapter 3: Too Many Questions

Somewhere, in the center of the city of Arcanmir, a man sits in a luxurious office chair, hunched over his computer-riddled desk. He looks through his schedule for tomorrow and sighs. Another busy day. He leans back and looks out of his window. From 35 storeys high, he can see the entire city, bustling with life as the people of the city turn in for the day. The neon lights shimmer between the shadows of the buildings below, as the setting sun falls below the ocean to the west. He knows that the life of the city at night is much more energetic than it might seem. He yawns. It's time to go home. He turns off his computers, making sure to disconnect the wires afterwards, and puts on his overcoat.

Just as he was about to leave the office, however, he hears the transceiver implant in his ear start ringing. His left eye lights up to reveal his heads-up display. It's Connor. Why is he calling now of all times? He looks at the phone icon in his eye with disdain, wondering whether or not to leave it alone. He sighs once more. The now annoyed man picks up the call.

"I was about to clock out, so keep it brief, please."

A young voice replies in a hushed tone, "Hey boss. Remember the museum girl I mentioned before?"

"Right." He looks back out through the window of his office. He doesn't think this report would be of any interest. If anything, he thinks that Connor only called about how another intrepid explorer couldn't find anything of interest. But that's not what Connor's report is about. His brows furrow, and his teeth clench. From his transceiver, he hears words he didn't think he would hear in his entire time on Earth.

"She did what?"

"--And that's when the first moon landing happened! That's when all of humanity realised at the same time; "Wow humans really can push beyond our limits..." And I totally agree!" Alfonso grins as the old man stares at the back of Alfonso's head with wide eyes. It's hard to tell what expression he's making under all that facial hair, but Alfonso believes that he's been listening to every word. Even if the old man told him to shut up ten times during the ride.

It had only been one hour since they left the mountain, but to Val, it felt like an eternity. Listening to Al break down the progress of humanity to the old king felt like a toddler trying to explain astrophysics. It was full of misinformation, old wives' tales, and some of it was probably stuff he made up himself! It was torture to a researcher like her, but she won't interject from fear of listening to some of Alfonso's wilder conspiracy theories. Einar had learned the hard way, that when Alfie starts talking, there's no way to stop him. Thankfully, her destination is coming up soon.

"And, while going to the moon is fantastic, I think mankind's greatest achievement has to be cybernetics—"

"And we're here!" 'And just in the nick of time too.' Val thought to herself. The car swerves into the driveway of a modest looking house. To the surprise of Alfonso.

"Wait, what are we doing at our house? I thought you wanted to drive to the museum."

The familiar suburban neighbourhood seems empty. The siblings' parent's house is right on the edge of the bustling city of Arcanmir. Most people would rather live under the neon lights of the world, famous city, but the siblings' parents wanted them to live in a quieter area, away from the blinding city lights. Of course they couldn't just leave the city entirely, they still had jobs to do there. So when Valentina was born, they moved out, closer to the coast. The house they bought wasn't as fancy as their old apartment, in fact, it looks like it was made in the last century. The walls were made of wood, a luxury for the modern home, but they're poorly maintained. A sloped roof with actual tiles, instead of the industry-standard reinforced polymer. The neighbourhood itself isn't all that remarkable either. The road was uneven, the beaches were full of rocks, and there was only one person they could contact for any kind of house maintenance, but as long as it wasn't the steel jungle of the city centre, they were satisfied. Their small, two-storey house is their home.