The Effaced: Chapter Forty-Five (Patreon)

I leaned back in the booth, at least as much as I could, and watched her. 

“I can understand the motivation. But I don’t see why I should trust you. Like you said – you wouldn’t trust yourself, hearing this. Why should I?” 

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “But I can tell you a few bits of information that might be able to get you to help. Try them out, test the waters. See if you can maybe believe me, one day. Maybe after you finish cleaning up the Arenamaster’s mess or something.” 

“I’ll hear you out, if nothing else,” I said. 

“First tip? Nexus isn’t as powerful or skilled as they think they are. They’ve got a lot of money and a lot of influence, but eighty percent of it is actually out in the open. The other twenty percent takes them a lot of time and effort to work though. That’s why they’re so angry at Abraham – if any of the constables had talked, their entire operation might have been blown apart. There’s a limit to what a group of twenty five people can do, even with all of the minor favors they can call in. An infrastructure limit, too.” 

She pointed her spoon at me. 

“Like, take you. They have about fifty or so active agents like me, all caught up in a cage, but that’s a lot of people to keep a secret. Seventy five people? Too much. Most don’t know nearly as much as I do, or even think it’s Nexus at all. So while they can watch you, they don’t have the manpower or infrastructure to keep someone scrying on you at all times. They can stick some constables on you, sure, but if you give them the slip, you’re mostly free.” 

“They had all the communications from Abraham,” I said. 

“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” Devi said with a snort. “Do you know what the most common way someone joins Nexus is? By ousting the previous member. No, while I’m sure they’ve got illegal listening spells on Rhys’ telephone, as well as the ones around Elucidate labs and your old place, they can’t monitor an entire city’s worth of stuff all at once. The sheer amount of noise produced by a city of ten million is just too much for anyone short of an army to sort though.”

“That… Makes a certain amount of sense,” I admitted. “Is that why you told me to move discreetly and meet you so late in a diner?” 

“Yep. I can’t prove it, of course, but I’m betting my life that they’re not listening right now. Took me a lot of effort and little trips to figure this out, so don’t take it for granted.” 

“I won’t,” I said. It might add an extra layer of security to Rhys, Jessica, Hadiya, Kelly, and my meetings, if nothing else. 

“Good. They’re also not terribly overt. I don’t know what their plan is, but I know that it’s got to do something with the ambient aura.” 

“Lessen it? I know that the nobility in the north used to drain the ambient aura from regions where poor people lived and concentrate it on their areas, so that rich people would be more likely to awaken auras, and poor people wouldn’t. Also let them run all sorts of rituals on their castles, with the super thick ambient aura to draw on.” 

I could see far too easily a group like Nexus trying to siphon the aura produced by the ley lines in the undercity up to the wealthy in the overcity. 

“Maybe, but I doubt it. Nexus has been working to keep this secret under wraps, but the city’s a drought of power. Aura generators are helping keep some of the slack, but less people are manifesting an aura each year, because most of the air’s aura is getting sucked up by mages. Auras drawing on it to recharge, witches drawing power from it to channel their spells, and more. I don’t know what they’re doing, but in a way, I think they’re trying to help?”

“Help?” I asked, pressing my lips together. 

“Yeah. Think about it like this. Most of Nexus doesn’t really care about what happens to people, but they care about power and staying in power. Elderglass is the most advanced city in the world, our technological development is years ahead of everyone else. The north might produce stronger sorcerers – no offense – and the south might produce stronger druids, but we have the best witches in the world. Do you know how many automobiles there are in Igmanis? Four. Total. The people in Nexus like their power, and like it enough to realize that the city running out of power is a really bad thing. They’re working to get ahead of the curve… Somehow.” 

“How is the Arenamaster caught up in all this?” 

Devi grimaced. 

“I don’t know. That was Abraham’s pet project. I think it started for a couple of reasons. First, it’s hard to do a lot of blue sky research into body modifications and new techniques on rune bonds and stuff, so he funded a lot of the White Rooms, the Arenamaster, and some sketchier labs to see about ways to extend his lifespan. Then there was the money – he had ten percent of their profits. It also got him a few favors with the Throne of Greed. But now? I’m not sure why he funded her escape, or why she’s come back. I’m not sure he knows why she’s back, or if he is, he’s not talking.” 

“I see,” I said, sighing in frustration. “Well, I appreciate the information.”

“I hope that it gives you some indication that I’m being entirely serious,” she said. “I don’t like living in a gilded cage any more than you do. And hey, I think we’d be doing the city a favor if we killed them all.” 

I scratched at my stubble as I thought about it. 

“I’m not sure we would be. But I’m not sure we wouldn’t be, either. We’ve both seen that they can shift the justice system around to fill whatever role they want, but they’ve also got a point. You said it yourself – eighty percent of what they do is out in the open. They can effectively command and control any law that gets proposed, budget cuts, passed, or overturned. Combined with the handful of corporate sponsors, and it’s hard for me to really say.” 

She waved a hand. 

“Let your Ligature party boyfriend deal with that. His dad was one of the people who tried to stand up to Nexus.”

“He’s–” I started to say, but she abruptly grew more serious and cut me off. 

“And hey, tell him I’m sorry. I work for Nexus, and that included Abraham. He told me to go get him killed, so I did, but it’s not something I’ve got a lot of choice in. If it were up to me, I’d be doing… I don’t even know, to be honest. I don’t need to steal, though the challenge can be fun.” 

I eyed her carefully and nodded. 

“I’ll tell him,” I said. “Is there anything else?” 

Devi slurped up a bunch of her noodles, then shook her head. 

“I can tell you more about what I want to do, if you commit to helping me take down Nexus,” she said. “Are you?” 

“No,” I said, then considered if I should add more. 

On one hand, if I did, and this was a test set up by Nexus to see if I was going to turn on them the first chance I got, then it would be bad to say more. On the other hand, Devi seemed to be doing just about everything she could to try and help me, to try and show her human side. Was that just a part of a trick? 

Mist would have kept everything hidden, kept the cards close to his chest, and I’d had to slip back into being mist to try and survive for the past little while. 

But I wasn’t Mist, and the instinct to dive back into him had been a fear and trauma response. I was Axel, and I could show trust and compassion. 

Still, I wouldn’t be foolish. Trust, but with caution. 

“Don’t get me wrong, I fully think that they need to go down,” I said. “I would happily throw my support behind measures to curtail their power and expose the corruption in the constables. But I don’t think killing them is going to fix it.” 

“Why not? They’d be dead.” 

“Would they?” I asked. “The very system of power that allowed a small group of oligarchs to have immense control over everything in the city is still there. Nexus is a symptom of a broken system, not the cause of the corruption in the system.” 

Devi paused and took a slow breath. 

“You’re probably right,” she admitted. “But I don’t know if it matters. Like I told you a little bit ago, that’s for politicians to decide. That’s not for us to choose. It might only be a symptom, but if someone’s been cursed to have their face erupt in boils, you still need to treat the boils.” 

I nodded to her. 

“Point. Like I said, I’d love to see them lose their power. I’m just not convinced killing them is the way to go about it.” 

“Hm,” Devi said. “Well, are you going to stop me?” 

A good person probably would try to stop her, but I shook my head. 

“No. I’m going to turn a blind eye if members of Nexus start vanishing or dying.”

“Good. Now do you have any more questions, or can I leave?”

I narrowed my eyes. 

“Can you teleport? I don’t mean using the third arch-star to swap places with an intangible familiar. I mean transporting yourself to another plane without opening a gate, with the help of a ley line.”

“No,” Devi said, laughing as if the question was absurd. “I’m flattered you think so highly of me, but there’s a lot that goes into that. Anyone who can manage a feat like that is both really, really strong, and really, really skilled. I don’t think anyone in the city could manage it. The power requirements alone are beyond most minor kings or queens of the fae, and the skill requirements are well beyond them.”

I narrowed my eyes. There was definitely something… off… about Alyphize. She shouldn’t be able to teleport like that, but she had. 

“Do you know why druids are used in the creation of aura generators?” I asked. Devi gave me a curious look. 

“Ain’t that a better question for Hadiya?” she asked. “I don’t know. I know Elucidite’s CEO tried to have me connect with a weird one a while back, said something about needing a druid with a robust soul, but nothing happened.” 

I felt my breath quicken. It had been a while since I’d had my strange encounter with the generator that served as the core of the Dancer, but I hadn’t forgotten it. I had heard something, and then my auric capacity had dropped inexplicably. 

“Was it covered in brass bonds that stabbed into the core of the crystal, near its heart?” I asked, leaning forwards. 

“Yeah, why? Wait, how did you know?” 

“I’ve seen a similar one, inside an airship,” I said. “It was really weird. Here, my final question, and maybe a bit of explanation.”  

I lit my aura up, gray with tiny streaks of red from Odril’s magic. I rolled up my sleeve to show the tattoo of the demon’s face, surrounded by the demonic sigils that the Contractor had placed on me. 

“Odril, my demon, was sealed away by a multi-part seal,” I said. “When I encountered that weird generator, I thought she was speaking to me, but now I think it might have been the generator. Can you break the seal.” 

Devi studied me for a moment, a half dozen of the marks on her arms lighting up. She pulled out a pair of spectacles, which I assumed had been enchanted to show her runes from whatever languages had been enchanted into them. After about fifteen minutes – during which she ordered another bowl of noodles – she spoke. 

“Nah. I’m pretty good with seals – well, Geoffry, my mind spirit is. Not me. He could unravel the Dreamscape bit, but says that part of the seal is already dissolving. Neither of us’re too familiar with Djinn magic, and that part of the seal is the firmest. Looks like there’s some elemental, demon, angel, and maybe even faerie, though that part decayed. But djinn, dreamscape, and angel were the foundation. Djinn magic works by manipulating causality, changing minor things to cascade down the timeline. This is trying to bend fate to keep her sealed. You’ll need to do something big to break through it. The angel part is already unfurling as well.” 

“Wait, how?” I asked.

“I dunno,” she said. “It is, though. Focus on doing something big to break through the causal seal, and the rest should fold like a disposable tissue left out in a monsoon.” 

I leaned back and sighed. 

“Thank you. Seriously. I owe you one.” 

“Great!” she said. “Pay for my food. I don’t have much in cash, but cash is the best way to avoid our master’s eyes. This lets me keep cash.” 

“Fine, fine,” I said, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “I’ll pay for your dinner and mine with cash. Then I’m going home. The Arenamaster is going to start moving soon, and I need to be ready to catch her. Because even if I want Nexus to go down, I’m also going to bring her down too.”