Chapter 9: Chang and Kim

“So that guy was a Mage?”

“Yes, an Empath.”  Chang explained.

Once Artemvian got to know Chang, he wasn’t so bad.  Especially now that he wasn’t being affected by Fornello’s widespread spell, or being surrounded by hostiles.  Chang was kindly answering most of Artemvian’s questions.  The Mage was mostly curious about what commoners –not that he’d call Chang or Kim that in front of them– knew about the magic system in this world.

Evidently, quite a bit.  In contrast, Artemvian was the one who was behind.

“He’s pretty famous in our circle.”  Chang continued as they navigated the alleyways.  “Or was, anyways.”

“I see.”  Artemvian thought back to Fornello.

The first thing he did was touch upon Fornello’s mana.  Compared to the mages of Artemvian’s homeworld, it had been surprisingly meager.  Artemvian would actually hesitate to bestow him with the title of a mage.  Perhaps a meager talent that earned his wages, helping farmers and oxen feel motivated during harvest.  Or a Standard Bearer, who helped soldiers march.

But was Fornello deserving of the title of Magus?

No.  He wouldn’t even have been allowed to touch the hem of a Real Mage’s clothes.  A Mage’s talent had to be varied, capable of pushing the boundaries of reality to its limits.  Although the Empath’s talent might be formidable in the right circumstances, it was nowhere close to what a real Wizard should be capable of.

“What other Schools of magic exist?”

“Elementalists.  Spatials.  Biomancers.  Then you can break it down further.  Though I’m not the wrong person to ask.”  Chang shrugged.  “Shouldn’t you know?  Your broker sold you to us as a Mage.”

“I’m only good with Telekinesis magic.”  Artemvian lied.  “Tell me more.”

“Like I said, I’m not the best person to ask.  You should ask someone like Fornello.  Or maybe a Special who can also manipulate emotions.”  Chang replied.

“Oh?”  Artemvian frowned.  “I thought only mages like Fornello were Empaths?  Affecting people’s moods?  Specials can do it too?”  He thought for a moment.  “Then what’s the difference between a Special that can use Telekinesis versus a Mage who happens to be an Empath specialized in Telekinesis?”

“I don’t know.”  Chang snapped.  “I just know that Mages can do more and are paid more.  That’s the extent of my knowledge.”

Artemvian threw his hands up in exasperation.  Whenever he asked them what exactly this ‘more’ consisted of, neither Kim nor Chang had an answer for him.  For all he knew, ‘more’ could mean waving a staff around and adding color to their Telekinesis.  It could be something completely useless.  It seemed that the standards for mages in this world was low; yet Artemvian had an inkling that there was more to this.

The truth, as always, lay somewhere in the middle.

‘If Iwant to find out more about the supernatural state in this world, it’s imperative that I meet people in power.  Powerful mages and Specials, Freaks and Cybernetically Enhanced people who rival them in influence.’

The very thought made Artemvian smile and unknowingly licked his own lips.

How long had it been since he’d been excited by a challenge?  How long since he’d been dropped in the middle of nowhere with nothing but his own magic and wits to help him rise to the top?  To make sense of a new world?

“This should be safe enough.”  Chang took out a cellphone, dialing a number and holding it up to his ears.

“No ONN?”  Artemvian asked.

“Chang’s body doesn’t work well with cybernetic enhancements.”  Kim said, wafting up next to Artemvian silently.  “Mr. Moneti, you were sold to us as an Elementalist.”

Artemvian froze.  He had assumed the conversation was over and that neither of the two remembered what he had been hired as.  Riley was probably peddling Artemvian as an Elementalist Mage, someone who was especially apt with Fire at that.  He didn’t quite turn to face Kim, but studied the profile of her face with the corner of his eyes.  

“I mean nothing by it.”  Kim said quickly upon Artemvian’s continued silence.  “It was a simple curiosity, nothing more.  I apologize.”

The Mage peered at her for a second longer, then turned back to watching Chang call someone on the phone.  “It’s fine.  You’re just wondering if it was the old bait and switcheroo, eh?”

“I’ll admit, the thought did cross my mind.”  Kim nodded, sheepishly.  “But I don’t think I’ve ever been so satisfied with not getting what I paid for before.”

“Thomas Yu, the one who hired me, is your father.”  Artemvian said, remembering Fornello’s words.

“Yes.  He is.”

“He’s one of the higher ups in this Hammerhead Gang.”  The Mage stated simply.

“He is in charge of a branch, yes.”  Kim nodded.

“Funny, how your own organization is chasing you.”

The brightly-haired girl looked away.  “In our organization, we are all family.  Although Thomas is my birth-father, technically I belong to the organization.  That’s something that all division leaders swear by when they take on the oath.”

“Uh-huh, I’m listening.”

“I’m –was– supposed to be sent away to a gang from New Haven, called the Iron Stallions.  To get married to a young man.”  Kim spoke quietly and Artemvian had a feeling she was trying not to let Chang hear.  “Father, not my birth-father, Thomas, but the boss of the Hammerheads, Lawrence, was the one who made this decision.”

“Was your fiancee ugly?  That why you’re running?”

“Hardly.  He’s a very good looking man.”  Kim said dryly.  “But the same cannot be said for what’s inside.”

“He’s a drunk, a gambler and an addict rolled into one.  Just your everyday good for nothing, except he’s the son of someone important in the Iron Stallions.”  Chang walked towards them, putting his phone away.  “Rumor is, that he was married before.  Just beat his woman bad enough so that she couldn’t have kids.  It was an amicable divorce.”  He made quotation marks with his fingers when saying the word ‘amicable’.  “No way that we can let Kim get married to a creep.  Not under my watch.”

“Chang, did you find a ride?”  Kim asked, changing the topic.

“It’ll be here in a second.”  Chang said.

The three waited in silence.

Artemvian stared at the girl, whose face was dotted with Cybernetic Enhancements.  She was pretty –in an alien sort of way where you took something human and modified it until it was just a semblance of its old self.  Her enhancements weren’t the worst looking, quite the opposite; they tended to emphasize the doll-like features of her face.  But with the enhancements, she had given up other things.  Her eyes didn’t quite curve right when she smiled and her mouth opened a little too wide.  When she turned her head, there was a slight machine-like turn –steady and too stable.

Regardless of whether the Cybernetic Enhancements made her pretty or not, she had them.  From Artemvian’s perspective, it was a strange irony that a girl whose face looked like it had been fixed to get rid of emotions valued the heart of her future spouse.

This was a strange new world that Artemvian found himself in.

Chang leaned out of the alley, checking the busy streets.  Although the scene had been less than an hour ago, traffic had resumed its rhythm.  Cars were speeding down the streets and the strange denizens of this world were walking along, either unaware of what had happened or uncaring.  Life was still going on.

A sleek looking black car pulled up.

“This is our ride.”  Chang opened the door, allowing Kim to enter first and then he followed her in.

Artemvian checked the surroundings around them before entering.

“This car is larger than the others.”  Artemvian nodded.

“It’s an SUV.”  Chang answered.  “Bulletproof, unhackable and practically untraceable.”

Artemvian glanced at the front, noticing that there was no driver.  There was no driver’s side window either, it was one big screen and a smiling face stared out at Artemvian.  It was definitely human in nature but something about the face was off, in a complete different way than Kim.  Although Kim had machine-like parts on her face, she was undoubtedly human.  But this face that stared back at Artemvian had no such thing, yet it was definitely not human.

The way it smiled creeped Artemvian out.

“Thank you for using Hermes Taxi Services! Please sit back and enjoy!”  The face said from the screen.

“What in the forsaken stars is this?”  Artemvian muttered, leaning forward and waving a hand in front of the screen.  “Hermes?  That you?”

The screen didn’t answer.  “I see that you are a Premium Subscription Member! Please be assured that your ride has been installed with the latest security technology available.”

“Hermes?!  Since when do you- what kind of side-hustle are you, Is that really you?!”  Artemvian continued, reaching out a hand.

“Please be sure to buckle in, as we have detected multiple hostiles approaching this area.”  

Chang frowned.  “What?  We’re being tracked?”  Then he looked to Artemvian.  “Mr. Moneti, please stop that.  What are you doing?”

“Hermes!”

“...Please enjoy the complimentary snack bar!”  Then the compartment in front of the three opened up.  

Cold steam awashed Artemvian’s face as he was greeted with an assortment of snacks.  Finger sandwiches, small bags of chips, crackers, cheese and even alcohol.  Artemvian quickly snagged a bag of chips as Chang did his seatbelt for him.

“It’s an AI,”  Chang said angrily, clipping the belt and returning to his own seat.  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but it’s not one of those advanced AIs either.  Those cost a fortune and we have to be a Black Membership to get a ride in one of those.  This is just the premium version.”

“Please be reassured that even Premium Members are our valued customers and will get 100% of our effort!”  Hermes joined in.

Artemvian settled down, munching on the chips.  His brain finding a semblance of calm.  He had gotten too excited at the mention of ‘Hermes’ , an old god from his world.  Blasted Hells, compared to the other gods, Hermes had always been more of a saint.  Helping wayward travelers who never belonged to anywhere with nowhere to go.  Only the heavens knew how much Artemvian fit into that category himself for the majority of his life.

He now realized that this ‘AI’ wasn’t actually Hermes, but the name definitely had to come from somewhere.  So what were the chances that this world had stories about Hermes?  That this ‘taxi’ service, meant to get people from one place to another, in other words, ‘travel’ which was definitely Hermes’ domain, had been influenced by the god himself?

…Was Artemvian in the future of his own world?

“Blasted hells, that would make a lot of sense.”  Artemvian said, looking out the window.  

Hermes’ Taxi began to pick up speed and the buildings whooshed by.  The AI sped through traffic, weaving through the gaps leaving only a hair’s width between them and other cars.

“Your ETA is 57 minutes.  Hostiles are approaching! Please buckle in!”

“How does it know we are being pursued?”

“When I put some Hammerhead information in the taxi.”  Chang said simply.  “Can you lose them?”

“Evasive Maneuvers in progress.”

“Chang!”  Kim said, outraged.  She looked at him and snapped him in some other language, Oriental in origin.  But Artemvian could guess at what she was saying, she was angry that Chang gave away information to a third-party on her behalf –an act akin to betrayal in organizations like the one they belonged to.

Chang, however, seemed unfazed and replied in English.  “I am already an outcast, Kim.  It doesn’t matter, I have no intention of going back to the gang anyways.”

“But your life-”

“It wouldn’t mean much without you anyways.”  He said, staring out the window, hand on his chin.

Artemvian noticed that Chang’s cheeks seemed a bit redder than normal.

“...Are you blushing?”  Artemvian said crossly.

“Chang…”  Kim trailed.

“It’s fine.  Let me just get you to safety.”  Chang turned his head to look at Kim and their eyes met.

“Uh… hello?”  Artemvian tried to join in while the two stared longingly at each other.

There were no need for more words.  The two looked at each other and could see the care that each had for the other, beyond boundaries of the social class, beyond the confines of Nero City and beyond flesh and skin, and cold metal studs.  Kim’s hand reached over and softly intertwined with Chang’s, their fingers meeting right in the middle.

Artemvian was sitting in the middle.

“Oh, by the lovestruck star.”  He cried.  “You’re treating me like an AI now.”

“I take offense at that.”  The Taxi quipped.

“Hermes?!”  

“ETA 53 minutes.”  

“Blast it all to the seven hells.”  Artemvian muttered as Kim and Chang’s face began to inch closer to one another.

The Mage complained for the rest of the ride as Kim and Chang stared at each other, the temperature in the taxi heating up.

Yet, he couldn’t help smiling.  Seeing the innocence of young love almost made Artemvian wish he had someone in his life, someone to share in the joys and the sorrows.  It reminded him of youth, when the danger was nothing but a prop to intensify the love between two fated individuals.  When the world could disappear into the fading breaths of starlight, and it would all be ok as long as the two had each other.

Smiling and complaining, the Mage promised himself that he’d get the two to safety.

After all, that’s what he was being paid to do.