Valterion: The Space/Arch? Mage

Chapter 24: Magicon Incorporated

Location: Solar System; Earth; Former City of Brisbane; Magicon Facility

What are the odds? A random building sends out a signal and it turns out to have an underground facility once owned by the ancient company Magicon. A company that has existed for over 11,000 years! A company that is so big, that a whole system-spanning empire is named after them.

My hands shake and with a deep breath, I step through the now-open door. It looks like a vault door. Luckily Maja was able to hack it, my energy blade would have been completely useless.

I enter a dark hallway, and my suit’s flashlights illuminate the space before me, just like they have done the whole way down. Doors on the left and right sides lead to different rooms, the hallway seems endless. Just how big is this part of the facility?

“Was there a map included in the panel?” I ask Maja, but unfortunately, she hasn’t found anything. I guess we have to do it the hard way then. With that, I open the first door and take in the room behind it. I frown, it’s a storage room, but everything that’s left inside is dust. That’s going to take a while. I repeat the action on the opposite side, with the same result.

“How about we split up? You take the doors on the left and I use the drone for those on the right?”

Brilliant! I could hug her right now if that was possible. “Yes, let’s do that!”

The process speeds up and we start checking one room after the other. Most of them are storage rooms. The others are either former offices, where everything is destroyed as well, or meeting rooms. I can’t say exactly, as there is pretty much nothing left.

After 15 minutes I discover a bigger room, probably a mess hall or something and before long, we arrive at an intersection. We decide to take a left turn and before we leave, I collect a handful of dust and place it in an X shape on the ground of the left hallway. This way we know where we’ve been if we have to backtrack. I don’t think we need it as Maja is mapping the whole place, but better safe than sorry.

Turning left was the right choice! This hallway is way more interesting. The rooms aren’t empty anymore. There are weird metal constructs inside the first room I enter. They are in all forms and shapes, lying on the ground or fastened to the walls and ceiling. While I’m wondering what they were used for, I hear Maja’s excited voice in my ear.

“The drone found an intact computer station! We’ve got to check It out, come on.”

I quickly forget all my thoughts about the weird metal things and rush out of the room. Maja was way faster than me and the drone peeks out of the fifth room on the right side of the hallway.

When I enter the room, I quickly locate the computer in question. Intact is a nice word to describe that thing… The screen is completely gone, just like the housing around the device. Through some miracle, the processor and storage module survived.

Luckily, I’m prepared this time. Setting down my backpack, I take out the battery pack, my tablet, and two UC-cables. Let’s hope the connectors are still working. My tablet will be misused as a replacement screen and as the access point for Maja. I hope the thing turns on.

After the third tap on the power button, it does, and Maja starts downloading everything she can get. We agreed that it’s better to take what we can and sort it out later, rather than trying to find something useful and have the computer dying while we’re at it.

And dying is exactly what that ancient piece of technology does. It didn’t even hold up a full minute. Let’s hope it was enough. “Let’s take a break from exploring and check the data. I’m way too curious.”

“I agree, give me a moment to sort everything. It’s not much, but I got a bit.” Maja is silent for a moment. I use that time to unplug the cables and put everything back into my backpack.

Before long, Maja is finished. “Got it, there’s a bit of general information about Magicon Incorporated and an advertisement for an oven… What do you want to see first?”

An oven? This is a joke, right? The company that got so big that they rule an entire system spanning nation produces ovens. I hope that’s just a side hustle, otherwise, I think I’m going to lose it. I sit down on the ground and rest the tablet on my thighs. “Play the advertisement, please. I’d rather watch the disappointment first, maybe the other information can cheer me up later.”

When Maja replies, I can literally hear a smirk in her voice. “You might be surprised, here you go.” Huh, what’s that about?

The video starts, and I immediately notice the lack of holograms. A male voice starts talking, while an oven appears on the screen.

“The M Series 7, Magicon’s newest Magitech oven coming right out of development. Not only does it bake faster than any other oven, but it also runs fully on magical power. You’ve heard right, the M Series 7 is the first oven that is fully independent of electricity! Its magical battery runs for seven days on normal usage and can be recharged by simply channeling magic power into the device.”

I tap the screen to stop the video for a moment. Maja was right! I am surprised. That’s not what I expected when she told me about an advertisement for an oven. This thing is insane! My only other knowledge of Magitech comes from wormholes. I thought that’s it, but this changes everything! If a thing as mundane as an oven can be so amazing, what else is out there?

After calming myself down, I ask Maja to continue, as my hands are still a bit shaking from excitement.

“But that’s not all! Naturally, the M Series 7 comes with Magicon’s patented power converter, so that all three Mage classes can use the device without issues. Additionally, the M Series 7 can be connected to your house’s magical grid, which means it can also run from a house’s central magic battery, which reduces charging duties even further. And lastly, we proudly present you the integrated telekinesis module. For all non-Utility Mages out there, this newly developed module can simulate some of their abilities. Imagine your food floating in and out of your M Series 7 with the flick of a wrist or a simple verbal command. All this and more is only available with the new Magicon M Series 7 oven, which will be available soon. Preorder starts now!”

The video ends and I close my mouth before some drool can drop onto the tablet. The second part was even better. I’ve missed so much in the Estriduros Republic! Magical power can be cleansed of the class, houses have a magical power grid to power devices and Magitech can even imitate specific spells!

Full of excitement, I ask Maja to display the information about Magicon Incorporated. If a simple oven is this exciting, what about the whole company? I take back everything I said earlier about ovens being lame, they rock!

The tablet lights up and what I’m reading doesn’t disappoint. Magicon Incorporated is indeed massive. Well, they were 11,000 years ago, but I think they still are, leading a whole nation requires that.

The company almost completely monopolized the production of Magitech back in the day. More than 80% of all Magitech products on Earth were built by Magicon. From mundane tools to massive wormhole rings, they produced everything and tried to enhance more things with magic every day.

I notice one thing that surprises me. Magicon Incorporated refused to build weapons. Every push by the government or the weapons lobby of the planet was completely shut down by the founder and owner Ferdinand Benson. It’s literally written in the founding papers of the company, or so the information package says at least: “Magicon Incorporated will never weaponize their Magitech products.”

I continue reading and am more and more mind-blown by the sheer size of everything. Together with four other companies, they employed more than 60% of the whole system’s adult inhabitants.

Suddenly my tablet turns off and Maja shouts into my ear with a panicked voice. “We’ve gotta go! I lost control of the security system and it’s back in action!”

Shoot, that’s not good at all! There is so much to explore here. Luckily my backpack is already packed so I roll up the tablet, fasten it to my belt, and put on my backpack. Less than 30 seconds later I leave the room and run back in the direction I came from. Or at least I try to. When I arrive back at the intersection, the way out is blocked by a cluster of security bots.

Coming very close to cursing out loud, I stop. Four of the bots are just like the ones in the research station on the Moon, but the other five look way more dangerous. Two of them are also tracked, but carry an energy blade and a laser gun each. But the true horror is the last three. They are floating balls of metal and I can feel the magical aura they emanate.

I gulp and start to turn around, but there are more of those things coming down the hallway I just ran down. That leaves me with only one option. Just as the robots start to charge me, I run down the only hallway I haven’t explored yet. Please don’t be a dead end! Maja uses the drone to distract the robots, but it quickly gets cut down by the bladed robots.

I continue running while ignoring closed doors left and right. Green laser bolts start appearing beside me. They are shooting at me! I start to move more erratically, and it works so far. Their aim is bad. One of the floating balls overtakes me and the magic flares up. Suddenly a red ball of energy appears in my path.

I try to vault over it and almost make it. The ball grazes my left leg and a sudden flash of pain almost overwhelms me. That hurts! The pain is gone just as fast and I land back on my feet. My left leg feels slightly off, but it’s still working. Seeing the ball floating right in front of me, I grab the energy blade on my belt and activate it while swinging around. The magical bot is cleanly cut in half. Absentmindedly, I notice a logo with an axe and a shield on its side, but I don’t pay it any more attention.

Warning sounds appear in my ears and Maja quickly translates them for me while I continue running. “An unknown form of magical energy breached your spacewalker suit. I think it also went through your shipsuit and grazed your leg. The outer suit then released its quick sealing foam at the breach, which also contains a fast-acting pain killer for just those situations.” She pauses for a moment before continuing with concern in her voice. “You’re good for now, but we need to look at your leg.”

“Thanks Maja, but first we need to find a safe place” I think I outpaced the tracked robots a bit, but the two remaining floating ones are dangerous enough. A single magical attack was enough to punch through all my protection. And it wasn’t even a direct hit! A bit ahead, the hallway splits at another intersection… Could it work? It has to, come on Sara you can do it. I’ve got a plan now, a dangerous one, but it’s my only option.

I start sprinting even faster toward the intersection, then I jump to the right into the new hallway and let myself drop into a slide. While sliding, I reach for my gun and turn around once I stop.

Both ball bots arrive at the intersection just at that moment. I pull the trigger two times in quick succession. The first laser bolt hits dead center, but the second one misses. Shit!

Panicking, I empty the whole power cell in a flood of laser bolts. One of them hits, but it’s too late. The bot retaliates in kind and shoots a bolt of lightning my way. Completely helpless, I’m struck dead center and fall to the ground spasming.

Ouch, a bit later the shocks stop, and I scramble back to my feet. I’m still a bit shaky, but I can walk. I sigh in relief, luckily it was just lightning and not the energy ball from earlier. I shiver, my mind drifts into scenarios of what could have happened.

Stop it, Sara! There are still more coming. I turn around and stumble down the hallway. I need to find something secu… There! A vault door, two doors ahead on the left, just like the entrance together with a panel next to it. Hope surges forth inside of me. A safe room to recover. “Maja, can you hack the door?”

“I should be able to, but I need skin contact, just like before.”

There’s not enough time. Fuck it, Maja said the air is safe down here. I rip off my helmet and throw it to the side, then I press my forehead against the panel. “Hack it, Maja!”

Seconds later the door begins to open. I step back from the panel, grab my helmet, and slip through the small opening that gets wider while the door opens further. “I’m through, close it.”

“I’m on it… there.” The door closes again and just before it locks, I can see the tracked robots reach it. Phew, that was too close! I lean my back against the door and let my legs slide out under me. I need a break!