A Magical Word Revealed: The World Unravelled

Day Two, Chapter Five, The Florianas' Involvement

Keeper's Order HQ, Northern Territory, Australia

Friday, 2/2/2024

10:02

Alexandria Morticaya sat on her infirmary bed, frustrated. On the foot of the bed, a laptop sat open. The screen showed a video conference. There were four participants. Miranda Deimos, the first Director; Felicia Janus, the second Director and head researcher; Killian Solace, their Government representative; and finally Alexandria herself. All participants had their cameras turned off. Sitting on a chair next to Alexandria's bed, Talia put down her phone.

'I just received a call from Empath. Pendragon declined once again. He is openly hostile towards us and can very definitively be classified as an enemy.'

An AI-generated female voice echoed from the laptop in place of Janus' voice.

'That is a shame. I would love to study someone with Escalate. After all, little is known about it despite its incredible usefulness.'

'I too am disappointed.'

Deimos' voice, her real voice, played.

'Should he have joined our ranks, that would have given us the edge we needed. A combined assault with myself, Janus, Duper and Pendragon would allow us to take on any opponent. With his aid, we could finally take the fight to the MRC. And the ability to copy Magicae Powers would put us on equal footing with the Emerald Demon. But I guess it can't be helped.'

Killian now gave his input.

'The Government is losing confidence in the Keeper's Order. We are currently the favourites to gain UN endorsement, however recent events have not gone in our favour. The increased amount of rogue Magicae thanks to the MRC's intervention, the establishment of the now popular HUI, the disastrous fight against the Emerald Demon which has now left most of the Order compromised and now this. You don't even have a proper read on Pendragon's strength yet. If all he can do is copy abilities, he should be manageable, however reports suggest he can alter existing powers to exponentially increase their effects.'

'Tell me about it,' Alexandria grumbled.

Talia shot her a warning look. Deimos sighed.

'If it is reaching this point, I may have to step in myself.'

'I disagree,' Talia interrupted. 'The last thing we need is the Emerald Demon locating you. Until we find a way to remove his power's influence, we cannot allow you to meet.'

'Indeed,' Janus agreed. 'You two are the most powerful Magicae alive. If he steals your strength once again, no one will be able to stop him.'

Deimos scoffed.

'The Demon and his Society are currently wreaking havoc in North America. Even if he heads back as soon as I reveal myself, it would be at least a day before he arrives. One day is all I need.'

'A quick resolution would improve the Government's trust in us,' Killian added.

'No!'

Talia interrupted them once again.

'I underestimated him, it's my fault that Pendragon got away. I will kill him myself. Just... give me a bit of time.'

There was silence for about a minute.

'Fine.'

Finally, Deimos answered.

'One chance, okay. Just one chance. We cannot risk this situation getting any more out of hand.'

龍 將 飛 翔

Nathan Pendragon was wiretapping. As it turned out, Re-Tool was great for intercepting airwaves. He had spent half an hour using the Escalate-improved Re-tool, which he had christened "Developer Mode" or "Devmode". He was learning to control Escalate. Yesterday, the effects had only worn off after he fell asleep. As a result, he nearly died from the strain. Now, he could turn it on and off as he wished. It turned out that Escalate had major drawbacks. Even though he only used it for thirty minutes, a couple more strands of hair had turned white. But it was worth it. Using Devmode, he had heavily modified his Tablet and a jumper that he had lying around. His Tablet could now shrink to the size of a smartphone, intercept airwaves and had a direct link to the Order's databases. He now had access to the majority of their online information, including the names of members, recorded Magicae Powers and internal communications. The jumper had now become a dark blue trench coat with golden buttons and accents. The newly dubbed "Copycoat" functioned like an extension of his body. He could move it, and use it to activate powers. It was also highly resistant to damage, extreme temperatures, liquids and Magicae Powers. It was essentially magical body armour.