Archive Ch.1

“What was the first spell ever cast?”

Master Orlin looked up from his work, fixing Nic with a raised eyebrow.

“I beg your pardon?” he asked.

“The first spell,” Nic repeated. “That a techne ever coded and cast, what was it?”

Nic’s master sat back in his chair, the raised eyebrow lowering into a look of more thoughtful contemplation. Of the question or of his student, Nic couldn’t tell.

“Why do you ask?” Master Orlin said at last.

Nic hesitated a moment, trying to figure out how to phrase this. It was mid-morning at Greytower, the two of them having broken from lessons for a brief break. Nic had taken the opportunity to go outside, trying to work some feeling back into his legs. It was while walking through the grounds that the question had occurred to him. Just sprung fully formed to the front of his mind and refused to leave.

“Just, curious I guess?” Nic said. “There must have been one, right? I’m just wondering what it was.”

“I see.” Master Orlin crossed his arms. “I take it the Net was no help?”

“Less than useless, yeah.”

As soon as he’d thought of the question, Nic had been on his tablet and exercising his search bar talents. He’d expected such a straightforward question to have an equally straightforward answer. A sentence at most, the X in “the first spell ever cast was X”.

A woefully incorrect assumption as it turned out. His search had produced mixed results at best. Endless forum posts discussing everything from the best opening spell for a duel to the best ways to start with coding your own rig. Many articles on the topic of traditional magic, pulled in by it being “first” when compared to its technological counterpart.

Numerous entries had related to a popular net-novel series called The First Spell. Nic had realized too late it was a pulp romance, the titular “first spell” being the human capacity to love or some other such fluff. That was fifteen minutes of his life he’d never get back.

Beyond that there were only dregs. A hodgepodge of sketchy accounts, rife with spelling errors and doubtful accuracy. There were a few scholarly papers on the subject, locked behind subscriptions Nic had no intention of buying and seemed only tangentially related anyway. Perhaps he could have refined the search for better results but he’d run out of time and had to head back inside.

It hadn’t been until he was sitting down that it occurred to him to simply ask Master Orlin. Having now done so, Nic was wondering if he should have kept his mouth shut as the elder techne was taking a notably long time to respond. He was about to backtrack when his teacher finally spoke up again.

“I don’t actually know the answer to that.”

Nic blinked in surprise, the action doing nothing to banish the complete shock that ran through him. In the three years since meeting him, Nic had never once entertained the idea that his master might not know something. He may sometimes be coy about it, but Nic had never once doubted the elder techne’s expansive knowledge. Logically he knew that no person could ever possibly know everything, but still, it had him thrown for a loop to hear Master Orlin so casually admit it.

“Oh,” Nic said, pulling his chair up to the table. “Well, that sucks.”

“But I do know where you can find out.”

This prompted another round of blinking. “Really, where? The tower archives?”

Master Orlin shook his head. “No, I would know if the answer was in there.”

Of that Nic had no doubt. He was about to press further questions when the elder techne gestured to one of his familiars. The hovering bot flew off into a distant corner of the room and began to rifle through the many drawers of a nearby desk. It quickly found what it was looking for and returned, clutching a small rectangular object in its claws. Master Orlin reached out and retrieved it, dismissing the familiar back to the swarm before returning his attention to Nic.

“You’ll have to get one of your own once you’re there, but this should get you inside.”

He slid the object across the table, giving Nic his first good look at the thing. It was a small square of plastic, simple unbroken white, save for a small patch of coppery circuits built into its center. It was surprisingly heavy when he picked it up, leaving Nic to suspect there was more metal lurking beneath the surface.

Turning it over, he discovered a symbol printed on the plastic in black that he didn’t recognize. It wasn’t a house sigil, he was certain of that, but other than that he had no idea. A simple cog, the kind used in ancient clocks or counting machines, set atop an open book. Below its minimalist form there lay a single line of text engraved in the same black ink.

Archive – Class 2 Access

Nic read the line several times, turning the card over in his hands in a vain search for clarity.

“Archive?” Nic asked. “Never heard of it.”

“Not surprising,” Master Orlin replied. “They’re not in the business of advertising themselves.”

“And I can just go there and ask them the question?”

Master Orlin nodded. “There’s much more to it than that but in essence, yes. A friend of mine works there, she should be able to help you.

“Uh, okay?” Nic said, still lost.

“You’ll see when you get there,” Master Orlin continued. “I look forward to reading your write up on it.”

“My what now?”

“Three pages should do, I think. Primary sources with proper formatting if you please. Due, let’s say, tomorrow.”

Nic meant to say something but all that came out was a strained confused sound. Master Orlin seemed to take it as agreement, nodding as he stood from the table.

“Then we shall pause lessons for the rest of the day,” he said, already heading towards the stairs. “Go gather your things, I’ll have the car brought around front for you. See you at dinner.”

From an abundance of experience, Nic said nothing as Master Orlin disappeared into the stairwell. He did not in fact speak again until he was in the car and speeding away from Greytower where his big fat mouth couldn’t do any more damage.

*

“Well, that backfired on you, didn’t it?”

Isabella made no effort to conceal the delight in her voice. Even projected on a screen, Nic could feel the amused mockery beaming off her face.

“I asked a question! An offhand question!” Nic protested. “And somehow that turned into an essay!”

“Three pages is an essay?”

“It’s the principle of it!”

Isabella laughed, in that way that always at once annoyed and immediately diffused tension. Nic had been talking to her for the last half hour, hoping some good venting might help. It hadn’t worked, Nic forgetting that Isabella, for reasons that evaded all logic and sense, liked writing essays.

Having finally run out of steam, Nic fell back into his seat with a huff. He didn’t feel better necessarily but his annoyance was rapidly being overtaken by curiosity. Through the screen Isabella leaned closer to the camera, resting her arm on an unseen table as she continued.

“So, what’s your plan then?” she asked.

“This apparently.” Nic held up the card Master Orlin had given him. “You ever heard of Archive?”

Without even looking at it, Isabella nodded.

“Ah, yeah, that’d be the place for it.”

Nic nodded in kind, waiting for her to continue but instead just received more of her dagger smirk.

“And that would be because…?”

“Let’s just say that if it’s possible to know something, Archive is the place to go looking for it.”

“Very helpful, not vague at all,” Nic deadpanned.

“Glad to be of assistance.”

Nic cast her a withering glare, prompting another of those laughs.

“Trust me, you’ll understand when you see it,” she said.

Nic grumbled but accepted the reasoning. Infuriating as she could be, Isabella wasn’t one for cruelty. She wouldn’t be throwing up this smoke and mirror routine if she didn’t genuinely think it was appropriate.

A belief Nic was about to investigate firsthand. Before either of them could speak again, the car’s nav system chimed, announcing that they were approaching their destination. Looking out the window, Nic did a double take over what he saw. Last time he’d looked, they’d been driving through one of the more modern neighbourhoods of Ronteele. Not brand new by any stretch but enough that most of the buildings still had their original paint. Tall structures built of plastic, steel, and glass, split evenly between businesses and residences. Simplicity and elegance, those were the watch words of this place.

Which made the presence of a stone castle somewhat odd.

Taking up multiple blocks just by itself, it soared tall over the surrounding buildings, the exterior walls alone being multiple stories tall. The stones were deeply weathered, darkened by time and exposure but showing no sign of more than superficial damage. Squat towers rose at regular intervals, each capped with a steep, pointed roof made of deep burgundy slates.

Beyond, within the walls proper, there lay the castle itself. A grand, sweeping spire formed of many smaller sub-structures, the many towers and halls piled atop one another in architectural grandeur. Flying buttresses and walkways flowed between everything, adorned with more slate roofs in the same burgundy red as the surrounding walls. A multitude of statues and carvings adorned every surface that would bear them. From the classic gargoyle to more abstract offerings of no immediately clear meaning, most of which were too small for Nic to get a good look at. Soaring above it all was the tallest of the many towers, stabbing so high that Nic had to crane his neck just to see its narrow peak.

“See what I mean?” Isabella asked.

“I’m getting it a bit, yeah,” Nic replied, unable to tear his eyes away from the building. “What’s inside?”

“Not telling. Wouldn’t want to spoil the rest of the surprise.”

“Not sure how much more surprise I can take.”

“I’m sure you’ll manage,” Isabella laughed. “Talk to you later?”

“Yeah, yeah later,” Nic said, barely paying attention.

“I’m sure,” she said. “Oh, and Nic?”

“Hm?” He asked.

“Don’t get too lost in there.”

That brought his attention back, though only just in time to catch one last smirk before Isabella hung up. Nic stared at the blank screen for a moment, chewing on what she’d just said, constantly glancing back up at the castle where it waited outside. Three pages might be worth it after all.

*

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