Convergence - The Last Science #2.2 - Heroes and Villains

B2: Chapter 21 - A Return to Form - II

  Rachel left the room, and her group followed her out. Maddie left too, muttering something about getting a bite to eat before they drove all the way back to Seattle. Jeremy and Will were the only ones left, and Will was already back on his laptop. He didn't ever actually touch it. By all appearances, the keys were pressing themselves, while his eyes flicked around the screen. Still, he could type faster than Jeremy ever could, so he didn't seem to be slowed down in the slightest.

  "Hey, Will," Jeremy started, taking a seat by his bed.

  "Hmm?"

  "I gotta know. Are you really okay with this?"

  "What?"

  Jeremy shrugged. "With us just usin' you. You're stuck up here solo and we'll just be usin' you whenever we need a readin', right? Sounds like a bad deal to me."

  Will frowned. "I can't do much else."

  "Yeah, but—"

  "I've got a talent nobody has. I've got Knowledge affinity. That's rare. If I can do some good, I will."

  Jeremy nodded. "All right. I just wanted to make sure."

  "I'm supporting Rachel," he added. "That makes me happy."

  "Well lucky you." Jeremy frowned. "Actually, I had another question for you."

  "Hm?"

  "If you're a Knowledge guy, does that mean you can figure out other magic like that? Other... uhh, spells?"

  "Maybe."

  "Right." Jeremy dug through his pockets for the stone. He set it in Will's outstretched hand. "Tell me what this thing is doin', then."

  Will frowned, his eyes locked on the small stone with the rune-like carving in the middle. Jeremy wanted to know what that meant too, but he couldn't think of a way without taking a photo and uploading it to the internet—and fuck that. Lani and Maddie didn't have a clue either.

  "I'm not sure," he said finally, but a moment later his eyes widened. "Oh!"

  "What?" asked Rachel, who had walked into the room at the same moment.

  "It detects magic," said Will, before another cough overtook him. A glass of water hovered into his hand, which he took a drink from awkwardly before continuing. "Not very well, but it works."

  "Where did you get that?" she asked Jeremy.

  "...Stole it off a guy who was stalking a kid down in Tacoma. One of the ones from the bar standoff." Jeremy shrugged. "We guessed what it could do. They were using it to pick out your people in the bar, so they could execute 'em." He shivered. "Cold as fuck."

  "Omega must have given it to them..." Rachel murmured, picking it up from Will and turning it over in her hand. "Those symbols."

  "Yeah. What's that mean?"

  "Truth. Jinsil," she added. "It's in Korean."

  "...Okay?"

  "I don't know why. Maybe he was learning Korean. I didn't really know him very well." Rachel sighed. "Specifically, it refers to a sort of general truth of the world. Like physics, or religion in some contexts. Something that does not change and will never change. Universal and rigid."

  "So you carve this thing onto a rock and it'll tell if people got magic?"

  "No. Symbols like this have nothing to do with magic. He was always a bit theatrical." Rachel handed it back to him. "You can use it, then?"

  "Yeah."

  "That is what's extraordinary. Something only Omega and one other ever accomplished, magical objects that anyone could use even if they weren't awakened."

  "How's that work, then?"

  "Well, as it was explained to me, the object is actually imbued with specific instructions. Almost like a program. It can keep operating so long as it can draw enough energy to power its function." Rachel sat back down next to Will, taking his hand and squeezing it. "The problem is, energy can only be drawn from a willing person."

  "Doesn't sound like a problem to me," Jeremy muttered.

  Rachel smiled. "You're right. That's probably a blessing. Anyway. Since an enchanted object needs energy to keep working, if it's too far away from a willing user for too long, the spell will collapse and fade. There's a few theories about how to get around this, by drawing energy from other sources somehow, but for now all we can do is a willing human being."

  "But this spell's still here," Jeremy concluded.

  "Exactly. Somehow, Omega was able to imbue it in such a way that the spell is still there, long after anyone was actively using it and long after he died."

  She took a breath. A darkness flashed across her face.

  I know that look. That girl's seen some shit...

  "Not only that," Rachel continued, "this is a Knowledge spell, which has always been one of the hardest for anyone to use outside of their own affinity. The fact that anyone can use this, even those with no magical experience or training whatsoever, is intimidating to say the least."

  "And those fuckin' golems," he muttered.

  "Exactly," Rachel agreed. "For all his faults, there's no denying that Omega was one of the greatest spellcasters in the world."

  "Hey Rachel?" Solveig had poked her thin, sharp-angled face around the doorframe into the room. "Car's all loaded."

  "Thank you." Solveig disappeared again. Rachel glanced over at Jeremy. "Could I have a minute alone with Will before we leave?"

  Jeremy stood up. "Yeah, 'course. I'll be waiting outside."

  He left, and the door swung quietly shut behind him on its own. I'm never fuckin' getting used to that. He wandered back into the main room, where Rachel's trio of followers was standing guard by the front door, clearly taking their roles far too seriously. Her parents were eyeing them with suspicion.

  "I'm guessin' she didn't tell you about them either?" he asked Andrea, pouring himself a cup of coffee as he did.

  She shook her head. "They're just a bunch of kids," she murmured.

  "So's Rachel," Jeremy pointed out.

  "My daughter's different."

  "Uh huh."

  "No, I mean..." Andrea trailed off. "She's different than before."

  "She's been through a lot." Way too much.

  "She's still trying to do some good though. That's something, right?"

  Christ, am I a counselor now or something? "Yeah. She's doin' good."

  "You'll look out for her?" asked Eric.

  "Both of us will," replied Maddie, who'd been leaning against the refrigerator. "I'll be with her every step of the way."

  Jeremy nodded. "If all goes accordin' to plan, she's gonna be the first head of state or some shit."

  "We never did pick a name for this new appointee," Maddie explained with a shrug. "Something for the drive, I guess."

  Rachel emerged from the bedroom a moment later, a leather bag over her shoulder with a gold buckle on the front and an eight-pointed star embroidered above it. She hugged her mother and father goodbye, and Jeremy lead the way back to Lani's car.

  Back to America, back to Seattle, back to normal.

  Fuck me, I wish.