Post by Lone Dancer on Nov 29, 2022 8:25:22 GMT
Chapter 10
Preparation
Melissa pulled out the collection of black/grey discs that she had, the hockey puck looking things stacked on top of each other in her gauntleted hand. Hawthorne laid out the flag pole onto the ground, the flag half pointing towards him. Carlos still found it challenging to want to look at the flag itself, the way it seemed to squirm from view.
Hawthorne gestured for the lockbreaker, and Carlos merrily handed it over. He tried to quash the sensation of being suddenly weightless once it was out of his hands. He always found the feeling odd, like you weren’t a balloon that was tied down anymore.
Jade definitely noticed and gave him an eye roll. Carlos, however, didn’t care as he was slightly basking in the feeling of weightlessness after lugging around that clockwork contraption. Hawthorne merely shook his in amusement. However, he did give Carlos a bit of praise.
“Good work lad, nary a scuff mark on this thing. Glad to know I could trust on you to hold that.”
Carlos nodded, as he thought back to Hawthorne’s original warnings about dropping the thing. It stuck with him, as he didn’t want to make an embarrassment out of himself, as well as getting Hawthorne in hot water. Especially with how the man managed to let them into the Vault in the first place.
“Now, let’s begin. I already discussed some of these in minor detail while in the Vault, but I feel it is appropriate to make some actual demonstrations, so you know how these function in real time.”
The hooded mage reached out a palm, and Melissa obliged him by handing him the discs, armor rustling as she did so. He nodded in thanks.
“First, let us begin with the silencers, as they are the simplest in their design and function. You press one of these on something you want to make silent, feed it some Marks, standard tier, and viola, you got something now utterly quiet. Works on people and machinery.”
He demonstrated by handing one back over to Melissa, and she pressed onto her chest plate, near the center. Pulling out a standard Mark, a solid, thin square coin of green tinted blue, she pressed it into the disc.
Carlos didn’t notice any immediate difference until Melissa started jumping, and no sound was emitted. It was strange, to say the least, to watch a person move in utter silence. Especially when the person in question is normally loud. He felt his head was trying to fill in the blanks, but was failing.
Melissa finally stopped moving in place, and slowly peeled the disc off her chest plate, and it was like sound slammed back into her. He could hear the rustle, the clank as she moved in her armor.
Hawthorne looked at both of them, grey eyes twinkling.
“Either of you want to try?”
The resounding yes from both of them, amused the mage, and he handed over two of the discs for the duo to attach to themselves. Carlos noted that the discs were surprisingly soft to the touch, almost cloth-like in texture, a stark contrast from what he was expecting. He pressed it against his shirt, and it stuck there.
Hawthorne offered two Marks, one for each, but Jade waved him off, revealing one of her she pulled from her spatial pocket. Unlike Hawthorne’s solid Arcane blue, Jade’s Marks were tinted in crimson red, reminiscent of the red sparks she would produce sometimes.
But near the center, a more neutral blue appeared, revealing that Jade was making attempts at purifying her Marks. While technically, Marks had the same energy value regardless of purity, they were often valued more on the currency side of things, often double what non-purified Marks went for.
On the other end, Carlos happily accepted the offered Mark, making a mental note to pay Hawthorne back later, as he didn’t have access to his own funds at the moment. He didn’t have a storage ring like Jade, and didn’t feel like lugging a pouch full of Marks when he went down for his training.
In contrast to the textile-esque texture of the silencer discs, the Mark was cool to the touch yet caused his fingers to feel charged, like holding a tiny amount of static. Taking the Mark, he pressed into the grey and black disc, which greedily ate it up.
The texture changed to become more firm, solid. At first, he didn’t notice anything extra, but there was a ringing in his ears. Looking around, he saw that Jade also had the disc on by now. Her mouth was moving, but there was no sound.
He tried to respond, to say he couldn’t hear her, but nothing came out of his mouth. Oh right, he was also silenced. He thought he could hear Hawthorne talking, but the voice was muffled, tinny. Off.
Was this one of the side effects of the silencer? He tried taking a step, but it felt wrong, the normal auditory feedback of taking a step is now gone. Really, making any movement and not being able to hear it was throwing him for a loop.
Thinking he heard a chuckle from Hawthorne, he abruptly turned to face him. But the sounds were like he was underwater. The ringing in his ears were getting even more intense, and he had to take the silencer off.
Sound veritably crashed back into existence, and he felt hyper-aware of it. He could even hear his own heartbeat or the way his breath trickled from his mouth. He shook his head. Jade didn’t appear to fare much better, and took the disc off as well.
“Truly a fun sensation, no? It is something to get used to with practice.” Hawthorne spoke to them.
Carlos was still trying to compile his thoughts. It was definitely one of the odder experiences in his life, even with the magic he has had access too. Jade handed back to the silencing disc back to Hawthorne, and he followed suit.
The mage readily took them, adding them back to the stack. Gently setting them down on the ground, he grasped the flag firmly in his hands.
“Get ready for this one. General tip, don’t try to focus on it, as it makes it worse.”
Carlos could see a glimmer of Arcane light and then-
He looked around the room, confused. He tried look at where Hawthorne used to be, but he couldn’t. It was like a bubble that his eyes slided off from, into another direction. Even Melissa, who stood back from the field, was looking the other way.
When he decided to look away from the general vicinity of the flag-caused field, he found it challenging to make a reason to look to his side. Cause why would he? There was nothing of note there. Even being aware of the effects hardly helped in resisting it.
A swift glance at Jade revealed she was attempting to stare directly at the field, but her eyes keep moving off of it, much to her visible frustration. He looked elsewhere once more, as there was no reason to look there.
Hawthorne returned or at least appeared to do so. Carlos found the desire to look at anything else gone, and the weird eye-shifting effect gone. Meeting the short man’s gaze, the he could spot in his peripheral the flag waving to some unseen wind.
“Eyup, it’s trippy, alright. Its effects are far more effective if you aren’t looking for it. The unsuspecting will just find the field to be boring, and that looking anywhere else would be far more visually interesting. Unless they’re previously aware, it is challenging for people to accept the feeling is artificial.”
Hawthorne gestured with the flag for them to come closer to him.
“Now time for me to demonstrate what it’s like inside the field.” He spoke to the two of them. They obliged, and with a similar flash of Arcane light from Hawthorne’s hand, it was like the outside world turned grey.
Looking out, there was a definitive border, bubble shaped. Looking outside it, it was like everything of color was now drained, except for within its border. Melissa was just outside the border, and like before, she was looking in another direction.
Her originally shiny brass armor was reduced to a dull greyscale. Sound remained unaffected, however, unlike the silencers. When Melissa moved, there was no muffling or distortion of the produced noises.
“Can we talk in here?” Jade asked.
“Hawthorne nodded.
“Yes, but speech can sometimes dampen the effect, so don’t speak too loudly or too often, else, because a quiet nothing is far less interesting than a loud nothing.”
Hawthorne’s point was made when Melissa turned her helmet-wearing head to face them. But as they became quiet once more, the desire to look away visibly affected Melissa as she looked away once more.
Carlos witnessed Hawthorne do something he couldn’t quite tell with the flag pole, and turned off the field. Immediately, Melissa snapped her gaze in their direction.
“Spirit’s above; I hate that kind of field. Makes me feel like my mind is not my own.” She rumbled. Hawthorne apologized.
“I’m sorry, my friend, it was a necessity for this demonstration.”
The brass armor titan nodded but still seemed a little put off. But Carlos couldn’t really tell due to the lack of visible facial expressions, and her ever-stoic body language.
After placing down the flag delicately onto the floor, Hawthorne lifted up the clockwork lockbreaker, with its sticking-out gears and tiny switches and levers.
“It is difficult to showcase this one as we lack a locked and warded door, but I assure you, this beaut is as reliable as the rising sun. I’ll be operating this, in the live mission, but I’ll still teach you how to turn this on.”
The mage gestured to the bottom levers.
“You flip these two switches here,” He mimed doing so, “and then pull this lever. To stick this against a wall, you hold it against the desired wall, and press this button.”
Hawthorne was able to showcase that part, taking the contraption to the left wall. He pressed it against the wall, and then pressed the button he pointed out. With a resounding click, the device continued stuck to the wall even as Hawthorne removed his hands.
It was somewhat anxiety-inducing as Carlos watched, expecting the thing to fall and break apart, but it held steady, so he quelled his fears. Jade appeared more awed than anything else, stepping closer to get a better look.
“How does thing function?” She asked.
“Magic.” Hawthorne answered, his tone plain.
“Oh.” She sounded abashed, but quickly recovered.
Hawthorne stepped back up to the mechanical dome attached to the wall, and pressed the button again, releasing it from the stone wall with a hiss. Moving back, the mage held the contraption, nestled between his arms. Patting the thing, he turned to face them.
“This thing is the key to just about any door. So wherever the objective for our mission is placed, chances are we’re getting in without much issue.” Hawthorne had a pleased tone. Melissa decided to cut in at this juncture.
“It’s all fine and dandy till it trips the alarm and the place becomes swarming with employees.”
Hawthorne waved her off.
“That’s where you come in, my friend. Once we get in, you keep our exit assured.”
“That I do.”
Melissa fell quiet once more, done with speaking. Carlos now piped up.
“So what exactly are is the mission again? I know we’re extracting something, but I don’t know what or where.”
“The what is not important to discuss right now. Just know that it is something of appropriate value. The where is a hidden away facility location we found, thanks to the intel in the briefcase.”
“And we’re coming along, like you said earlier, to gain experience?”
Hawthorne clasped his hands together as he spoke.
“Yup. Theory means little without practical application, and few better ways of practical application than doing the job, especially with experienced personal right beside you.”
“Thank you.” Carlos meant it. He appreciated all that Hawthorne and Melissa have done for Jade and him.
“Don’t be thanking me yet, thank me after we successfully complete the mission. I have belief in you two, and this can be the way for you to recover from the aftermath of your first mission. Besides, I know you’ve been raring for some proper action.”
Bending down, Hawthorne gave the lockbreaker another loving pat.
“Well, not much else for me to demonstrate at the moment, so we’ll be taking a good portion of our time in practice getting used to operating under the effects of the artifacts. I’m also going to show you both the power of proper attire later on.”
He pulled up a pair of the silencer discs, having one in each hand to offer to them. And like before, Carlos found the near textile texture of the black and grey discs to be interesting.
He pressed the disc against his shirt, able to feel the small weight of it pull on the fabric as it stuck there. Like before, Hawthorne gave him a Mark to power the thing, while Jade supplied her own. He made a mental note to bring his pouch so that he could fuel these himself. And to also pay Hawthorne back.
Inserting the Mark into the hungry disc was a simple act, but one that sent back to the weird feeling of being underwater with the abrupt new way sound interacted with him now. These items seemed to not only limit the sense of those on the outside, but those who wore the artifacts as well.
He could somewhat imagine what the effects combined with the grey world causing flag would be like. His brain had a minor revolt at the thought, as the idea of the sensations appeared unpleasant, to say the least. But he know that he would have to trudge on regardless, and that he would adapt.
Still didn’t make the idea any more appealing. Already the same issues from before popped up, the disconnect of movement and expected sound. He couldn’t hear his own breathing, his walking, when he snapped his fingers.
Just sheer silence.
Hawthorne staying quiet didn’t help either, as Carlos was becoming slowly convinced that he was going deaf, despite knowing that he was not. It was an all around no good time that he just hoped would become better with experience under his belt.
But it brought another question to the forefront of his mind, one he was surprised at not considering earlier due to its importance. It was also an excuse to take the silencer off and regain sound. Gently pulling it off, he began speaking the second he felt noise snap back into existence.
“So, how do we communicate while we’re wearing these and under the flag’s effect? Since we can’t talk and all.”
Hawthorne’s response was a fluid one, as if he was expecting and waiting for this question.
“The answer to your question is a pretty simple one. There’s a sign language the Guild has, one that I’ll be teaching you the basics of. It’s the often used form of communication for most missions, as being quiet is key. It also requires zero magic, so it can’t be detected by those means.”
Huh, that was a far more simple answer than anything he was expecting. Seems better than telepathy, anyways, which was the first thing that came to his mind. He didn’t know how they would make that work. That was highly convenient for the Guild to have, and he wished he had inquired earlier.
By now, Jade also took off her silencer disc, to chime in as well.
“How complicated is it?” She asked, green eyes concerned. Oh right. Carlos had a flashback to the time she told him she was horrible with other languages.
“Not terribly,” Hawthorne answered. However, it didn’t appear to do much to assuage Jade’s concern about learning it.
“The most I’m going to be teaching you is directions, affirmative and negative, if you spot anything of interest, or if you need help. Not the most rigorous and extensive course one could take on the Guild’s sign language.” Hawthorne continued.
This time, his words appeared to have more of an effect on clearing Jade’s wariness about learning a new language. She cracked a small smile.
“Great, I think I can manage.”
Hawthorne shot her a look.
“Jade, you’re a great student with plenty of intelligence and high potential, but if you can’t pick this stuff up, we have some larger problems. There is no I think I can manage; there is just I will manage.”
Jade looked crestfallen at first, but ruminated over it and gave a thumbs up in lieu of any words.
“Great, glad to know you believe in yourself. Now, enough meandering about; let’s give you both a taste of the effects combined. Strap yourselves in; it’s always a pleasant time for first-timers.”
Hawthorne by now had the flag pole back in his hands, ready to be activated. Seeing how the silencer that Carlos held still had charge, he placed it back onto his shirt, and the world fell quiet once more.
Jade did similar, and they both made their short way to Hawthorne. Carlos couldn’t pinpoint exactly why the lack of sound bothered him so, but it did regardless, and it was probably not worth putting too much thought into it, lest he get too distracted.
Once the grey-eyed mage confirmed they were close enough, he activated the flag with the same flash of Arcane light. This time, knowing what to expect, Carlos could spot tiny runes spark up underneath Hawthorne’s hands.
Like before, the field generated had a bubble film-like exterior and shape, refracting the world into one of boring grey. That, combined with the silence, made Carlos feel like he wasn’t in the magic realm anymore.
No, now he was inside a place of quiet shadows, where things lurked in the periphery of your vision, always darting away before you could fully glance at them. The warm glow of the lights that decorated the walls instead turned into dim, colorless imitations of what they once were. The silence was deafening, but he lacked the ring in his ears.
This was not a pleasant lens to look at reality through. It was one that bespoke of a far darker place, despite being essentially a pair of shades someone could toss on. But nevertheless, there was something about removing the color and sound of a world, to make it appear far more intimidating.
And then he realized they would be doing the mission like this, inside this bubble with the silencers. But before he could go down further in his mind, he felt someone tap against his back.
It took every ounce of willpower not to jump straight into the ceiling, instead quashing it to a jolt of surprise. He turned around to face Hawthorne. Despite being taller than the mage, in this moment, the hooded man felt far larger.
His words pierced right through the muffle, a clear articulation.
“All is going to be fine. You will get through this, and you will get through the mission. Though preferably not with another broken arm.” He ended his statement with a chuckle. He patted Carlos on the shoulder.
“You’re a Mage, and you’re gonna see far stranger things than this.”
But it was what Carlos needed to hear, without him realizing it. What was this bubble to him, the silence, the grey? He was a Mage, damn it! A conjurer of new realities, manipulator of the Arcane. His Ego, which was previously ‘asleep’ thanks to practice, metaphorically stretched back to life, further infusing his sudden gained confidence.
Indeed, he would be fine. He was able to see past the gloom his mind constructed, dispelling the imagined shadows. It seemed silly now, looking around. Sure the silence could be unnerving, and the greyscale messed with light perception, but that was at it was.
He was now more comfortable inside the bubble and silence. It wasn’t his preferred location of choice, but he wouldn’t get stuck on it. Or at least so he hoped. Going into the mission in this manner no longer seemed quite as unpleasant as before.
Glancing at Jade, he wanted to see how she was now faring, and it was apparent she also found her own steadying realization. No longer did she appear uncomfortable as before.
Hawthorne deemed it a good time to finally end the field effect, and the silencers seemed to fade away, charge finally spent. Carlos made another mental note alongside bringing his coin pouch, to pay back Hawthorne, to also bring it along to keep the silencer charged.
“Alright, you both did well for your first time with the effects combined! Slight hiccup, but most people new to the sensation find it deeply unpleasant. So I’m glad to see you both adapted quickly.”
Melissa tromped up to them, steps clanging like always. The stoic Cultivator muttered about the flag before speaking to them.
“Now that you had your fun, it is time to hasten your lessons. We have only a week.”
Jade and Carlos glanced at each other, before glancing back at Melissa. The info felt funny to hear. Just a week to prepare for the heist. Fun.