Nero Walker, Book 3 Ch.2 (117) (Patreon)

Despite King Oliver Oglivarch’s attempts to reign in their conversation, the talk was lively at the breakfast table. His wife and two of their consorts were unable to stop themselves from remarking on his recent miscalculation. And for the record, that’s all it was, a minor miscalculation. He didn’t think the concern they were showing was in any way warranted.

With a slight frown, he listened to his consort, Lydia, expound on what she had found when she used her connections to acquire a recording of the Dorchester’s leadership council meeting from the day before.

“In a way, Oliver was right. The opportunity was there for the new noble, yet, he didn’t take it. From the council members’ body language and tone, we can infer what happened. Everyone expected the new noble to make a play for the city-seat. They were all ready to give up the current city-lord, Lord Heleema Cosgrave, and let her house die on the vine. Her only option was to agree to a marriage. Which, in fact, she did,” Lydia said, her voice laced with worry.

Queen Marrisa Newling-Oglivarch set down her coffee and asked, “But I still don’t understand why the new noble’s proxy was pushing for the marriage at all. If they had just let the city-lord’s house fall, they could have made a deal to avoid the resulting noble war for succession. The general and the arch-mage would have most likely supported the new lord’s house as a replacement. I doubt the other council houses would have minded a weak house taking the city-seat. It’s not like the new lord would stay there very long. Anyone could see that he would be forced out of Dorchester by level restrictions and politics. In fact, isn’t there a summons from the Hennings’ Tower of Law that he will have to deal with?”

Helen scoffed, then tossed her breakfast bagel back on her plate, fed up with the way the talk was going. “None of that matters. Whatever the new noble’s motivations were, we have to deal with the current situation. He didn’t take the city-seat, and now he is back in the wilds. Oliver’s projections are no longer in play. We need to improve our intelligence capabilities and map out how this affects us.”

King Oliver couldn’t help himself, and started chuckling. No matter what he said, they would always worry about him and his plans. It was partially why he tended to be so secretive.

The three women all turned to him with a glare, and the queen asked, “Something you’d like to add, my king?”

Amused, he said, “I understand why you are all worried. It must be difficult seeing me make an incorrect prediction. But you all need to remember, the game I’m playing has almost nothing to do with the small city of Dorchester. I just used the new noble’s unique background in order to further my plans. Whether or not HE acts according to plans, is immaterial to the larger game. After all, the fact that he is so unpredictable is the only reason he was any use to me from the start. Neither I, nor the matrix, have the necessary data to accurately predict his moves. His history is unknown, along with his cultural beliefs. Despite what I told the fateweavers, it will be some time before we can accurately predict his actions.”

Hesitant to believe that everything was still in her love’s control, Lydia asked, “So, your plans regarding the Tower of Fate are still in play? I thought you said Dorchester’s altered fate was central to what you were planning.”

As the queen and Helen nodded in support of the question, the king replied, “Yes, Dorchester’s fate being altered is important. Many prominent people used the expected fall of Dorchester in their own plots. The fact that Dorchester will survive the density shift will alter the region’s power ladder, and the surrounding cities will have to adjust accordingly. When I predicted the new noble would take over, that was simply what I THOUGHT would happen. The only way to convey to you the plan, was to tell you all a story. And that story needed an ending.”

Helen glared at the king and asked, “So, when you said you’d tell us the plan, how much of what you said was accurate?”

Shrugging easily, he replied, “About 70%. There is plenty of data on the other major players in the area, and that’s more than enough for me to get a general idea of how things will go. The matrix doesn’t have my imagination, and without more data, I’m capable of adapting my plans faster than the Tower of Fate. By using Dorchester as the battlefield, I forced the matrix to meet me in a field of my choosing, one which it isn’t able to predict.”

Uncertain if she followed that line of thought, the queen tried to redirect the conversation. “If the details don’t matter, than what does? Is there something we need to do to keep your plan in play?” she asked.

With a smile, the king replied, “My loves, as long as Dorchester survives the density shift, everything will work out. Just make sure we don’t force that new noble, Lord Walker, to come to Hennings just yet. The reward for the exploit he found can wait. For the time being, he’s right where he should be, in Dorchester. His particular brand of chaos will keep Arch-mage Jennings there and continue to confound the fate-weavers. While their eyes are on him and Dorchester, I can use their inaccurate prophecies to my benefit. After all, who will support fateweavers if they can’t weave fate?”

Lydia asked, “But it’s not like you’re any better at predicting what that young man will do.”

Leaning back in his chair with a smile, King Oliver took a sip of his coffee, and replied, “No, but then again, I’m not claiming to be a prophet, now am I?”

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Walking through the busy streets, Nero fiddled with the communication orb Vera had given him. When he had seen the one the assassin had been carrying, he hadn’t really thought about examining it. Now that he had one of his own, the damn thing was confusing the hell out him.

Although visually it was a pitch black orb about the size of a tennis ball, his psychic senses were contradicting his eyes. In the ethereal plane, the little orb looked like the love child of a snow-globe and a ball of yarn. He could plainly see an invisible tiny string heading off toward the orb’s partner, while the orb’s insides swirled around with a confusing jumble of sensations. It was like looking through a window, and getting a glimpse of a completely different environment. ‘Is the inside ‘here’, the outside ‘there’?” he wondered.

Pausing his examination, he looked up to see Nick calmly trailblazing their way through the crowds.

After taking a second to debate with himself whether or not he wanted to risk setting off a lecture, Nero decided to ask, “Hey Nick, this orb thing only works as a conduit to its partner, right? But since it isn’t made of those essence crystals, how does it transmit thoughts like a link?”

Without Turning around, Nick responded cheerily, “It’s actually quite interesting! You see, the orbs are created out of enchanted molten glass, which acts as a containment device for a shared space. The glass needs to be from a uniform pool, so the similarities will serve as the framework for the enchantment. Although difficult, the goal is to contain the same space within both orbs. The result is a shared spatial pocket where two minds can meet and communicate. It’s an ingenious way to sidestep the mind-distance issue associated with essence wave disruption. Arch-mage Vikram found that the longer a mind traveled along an essence trail, the stronger the wave oscillation disrup-”

Nero stared at the orb, rolling it around in his hands. Barely listening past the part about shared space, Nero replied with an oh-so-intelligent, “Uh-huh.” Not bothering to let Nick continue talking, he asked, “So if it’s not made of essence crystals or semi-solid essence, and it IS made of actual glass, then why can’t I put it in my personal space? It’s not like it should dissipate, or break apart, right?”

Nick stumbled a little, slowing his pace, while looking over his shoulder with some surprise. He hadn’t expected Nero to actually ask such a good question. With a little smirk of pride, Nick said, “Because if you were to put one of the orbs in your personal space, it would sever the spatial connection between it and its companion orb. Remember, technically, a personal space is a separate plane. And if you recall your lessons on… never-mind, you didn’t have lessons on planar identity. I keep forgetting that your education is substantially lower than your skill. The point is, don’t put it in your personal space or you’ll break it.” Proud of his simplification, yet annoyed at Nero’s talent, Nick resumed his pace through the crowd.

In response to Nick’s obvious ‘dumbing-down’ of his lecture, Nero felt a little offended. However, since he didn’t have a good comeback, he kept his mouth shut.

While Nick led them through the streets full of citizens going about their morning, Nero returned to the examination of his new toy. The string connecting the orbs was so thin, he could barely perceive it. While spinning the orb around, he came to the conclusion that the string didn’t REALLY exist. It was only an impression made through the ether, like a psychic representation of a concept.

After about five minutes of consideration, Nero thought of another question. Looking up at Nick’s back, he almost said something, but stopped himself just in time. ‘He’s just going to act all smart and superior… is it really worth it?’ he asked himself.

As the minutes passed, the question nagged at him until he finally couldn’t take it. “Hey Nick, this is probably a stupid question, but I’m gonna ask it anyway. Because if you are going to make me carry this damned thing, and don’t have a good answer, I’m going to be so pissed.” he said with a growl.

Huffing in annoyance, Nero asked his question, “If the space between the two orbs is connected, and sending ONE into a personal space will break the connection, then what would happen if I infused both of them with my center, then sent them BOTH into my personal space? As long as they are both linked through the concept of my center, then wouldn’t it not matter if I only took one out? That way, I could carry one in my personal space, and they would still work as long as the companion orb carries my center residue. I could leave it with Vera, and my center should last at least a month, I think. I do have a pretty strong center. So, tell me oh-brilliant-one, what exactly am I missing?”

Nick slowed as Nero kept talking, until he finally came to a stop in the middle of the wide pedestrian walkway. He turned around slowly, his eyes failing to focus on anything as he thought about what Nero was saying. When Nero finished speaking, Nick’s face had taken on an uncomfortable grimace.

Nero stopped along side of him, wondering if the question was dumb enough to finally break the old man.

Like a fish, Nick’s mouth kept opening then closing, as if he were unable to speak. Eventually, he muttered, “I have no idea if that would work. I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of that... creating a sympathetic bond to stabilize the spatial tunnel.”

Nero let Nick work through the question, surprised at how distressed the old man seemed to be.

Nick crossed his arms as if he were hugging himself, then raised one hand to roughly rub his chin. His vacant eyes were starting to make Nero feel a little uncomfortable.

Nero could barely hear what the old man was saying. “Time and time again, that little shit comes up with such unique ideas. Are we all idiots? It’s inconceivable that someone doesn’t already know about this. Is it just me? Am I an idiot? Why can’t I come up with these notions?” Nick asked himself, his voice a frenzied whisper.

Now, normally Nero would be happy about giving his friend a mental breakdown. After all, screwing with your friends was how you showed that you cared. However, there are always no-fly zones with humor. You never target a buddy’s insecurities. Like making fun of a fat friend’s weight, or attacking a friend in their weak-spot.

It was clear to Nero that after weeks of having to watch over him, Nick had started to question his own intelligence. Apparently, having watched Nero making a fool of himself in front of the leadership council wasn’t enough to convince Nick of Nero’s stupidity.

Nero felt his stomach sink as he watched Nick’s world fall apart.

‘This is like that time I asked Gary how much his date was charging him. How was I supposed to know that the son-of-a-bitch hired an escort to be his date for senior prom? Poor bastard couldn’t look any of us in the eye for rest of the night,’ he said to himself.

Nero had always regretted how that friendship had ended. Luckily, by the time his freshman year of college concluded, he had repressed the character-defining moment like any good American male should.

His thoughts raced, and after only a few seconds of watching Nick spiral, Nero decided to fall back on an old reliable strategy for dealing with his ex when she was hellbent on interrupting his game night… claim ignorance, and ask for help. There is nothing in the world better for someone spiraling than to give them control over something.

Adopting a confused tone, Nero asked, “So, Nick, is it a good idea? Can we design a test, like an experiment or something for when we get back from the wilds? You’re a scientist, right?”

Nick eyes gained some clarity, and he met Nero’s eyes.

Doing his best to look like an eager young student, Nero smiled up at his closest friend. If he had to waste an afternoon or two in a lab, doing whatever the hell Nick does, then so be it. ‘I’ve been breaking this poor guys perception of how people are supposed to do magic for like a month now. Poor guy needs a win,’ Nero told himself.

Nick nodded woodenly, and said, “Yeah, I’m a scientist. We can set up some isolated spatial pockets with transient soul signatures. Co-terminal spaces might be just what we need to isolate the planar distance required to sever a mind-connection.”

Nero didn’t have any idea what Nick was talking about, but nodded along anyway. “Sure, that sounds great. While we’re still in the city, you could also look up if anyone has done any similar work. After all, you probably never really used these things since you were always in the city. This isn’t really your specialty after all. Being unfamiliar with the research is to be expected, right?” he asked.

Nick started to smile, and nodded happily. “Your right. I haven’t used a communication orb in years. You know, they’re really old technology.” Turning on his heel, Nick resumed his walk while he continued talking, “The only people who use these things are people without access to a thought-hub... and maybe criminals. But, it’s an interesting idea regardless. When we get back from our excursion in the wilds, I’ll take you to my lab and show you how to create a temporary spatial pocket. Actually, the idea for controlled transient spatial pockets has an interesting -” he said, while regaining his enthusiasm.

Nero felt Nick patting his shoulder, and fought the urge to shrug it off. Despite how much he enjoyed causing Nick grief, it was nice to see him returning to his old self. Nero hadn’t realized how much the past few weeks must have been weighing on the old man.

The guy was a scientist, a nerd. But since being forced by Vera to join the elites, he’d been training to be a warrior, fighting monsters, and the poor guy even died a little. The man needed to get in touch with his inner-nerd again. Letting Nick lecture him while they walked was the least Nero could do. It wasn’t as if he actually had to pay attention.

Nero’s mind wandered as he ignored his friend, and he considered what waited for them at the gate. He really wasn’t looking forward to dealing with Sergeant Wesker. Recalling the sergeant’s face when Nero had questioned the man’s allegiance, he couldn’t help but grimace.

At least he’d see Rose. Although she was probably still pissed at him too.

Nero nodded along to Nick’s lecture, and did his best not to worry about it. After all, if there was one thing Nero was good at, it was ignoring a problem until he absolutely had to deal with it. ‘Note to self: T-shirt idea – Inner Peace is knowing about a problem, but not caring enough to do anything about it,’ he said to himself with a smile.

As they continued toward their rendezvous with their team, walking through the bustling city, Nero couldn’t help but smile while listening to Nick’s lecture on… something.