MACHINA-- BOOK 1: Mirrors and Pactums

[jackariah]

MACHINA
BOOK 1: MIRRORS AND PACTUMS

PRELUDE

In the beginning, there was No-Thingness. All but a great, collective Pool of Oblivion intact and complete, serenely still and serving only one purpose-- to have none.

Perhaps this went on for eternity, or perhaps, seconds. Potential energy, digesting like an unheard thought or an unidentified emotion and wanting to be opposite of this constant state, spewed out in a spiraling explosion, known as the first Kindling. Through this cosmic decant, kinetic energy manifested the Universe.

The greater part of the Pool of Oblivion saw this anomaly develop into an orderly, godly enemy that threatened to fill their void and undo their purpose. The Pool of Oblivion immediately acted on it, imbuing and fusing itself into this creation to regain some control. Thus, together matter and anti-matter balanced a formula of space and emptiness, time and expiration dates, light and dark... and the sisters that life knows too well, Sleep and Death.

This widely-spread legend is considered the greatest explanation of where magic comes from, of where anything came from, but not where they are going. Many arcane secrets are bound to be unearthed, even among those darkest that deserves to remain buried...

THE PHILOSOPHICAL DEBATE IN 2010 WHEN THE TERM 'MACHINA' WAS FIRST COINED:
"Aristotle thought the concept of purpose could be invoked to explain the behavior of everything in the universe," argued Dr. Halicott in a panel on the controversial debate on whether or not souls exist. "He believed that every organism has a natural function that is driven towards fulfilling or exhibiting that function, which the human soul has a pre-set function to be able to be driven to complete its purpose, or, telos. There are thousands of people on this planet who believe they are going somewhere after death but can never explain why they strongly feel the way they feel, but they just know."

"What sort of approach is that? They just know?" Dr. Yuzaka crossed his leg over his right knee, his cold glare clearly filled with cynicism. "That cannot be considered credible."

"How can you describe the pain of a headache or such a vivid redness when the burner gets too hot without the other having experienced that themselves? Don't forget these qualia that make up the rest of our consciousness, doctor," Dr. Halicott continued. "I believe that science and religion are two sides of the same coin, two stems from one root. The ability to create and manipulate our reality, I'd say that is magical enough."

"Magic!" Dr. Yuzaka huffed, appearing flustered. "Don't insult me."

"Wouldn't you agree when I say that we wouldn't go far in life without making guesses?"

"I suppose..." he raised an eyebrow, waiting to hear where he was going with this.

"Wouldn't you agree when I say that we all reserve the right to make these guesses?"

"I might..."

"Wouldn't you think that is what we can do without a pre-set function telling us what we can even do at all? Surely, we don't learn everything from our surroundings, as our thoughts string together from one place. Our marvelous brains are capable of interpreting and understanding this reality because our souls, our machinas, are everlasting memory imprints from a series of past lives in constant evolution in any form. These machinas rest in our bodies, as our minds and as our hearts when we start to tap into our intuition... and wait for us to make some guesses and find our purpose, on this, wouldn't you agree?"

••••

[jackariah]

CHAPTER 1: SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES
=DAY 1, SUNDAY, DAWN=

The water simmered, the sunlight glimmered, and the kitchen was rich with spicy and cheesy aroma. With the peeled potatoes dropping in the pot one by one, Olympe also attended to the bacon and eggs. The radio was on, playing a familiar, happy tune, and the beat was magically provocative. She couldn't help but sway in her grey sweatpants while she took a pitcher of water and showered all the flowers that sat on the windowsill, soaking up the sun.

Olympe saw that breakfast was completed and served herself a good helping and a tall glass of blended fruits, taking her time in these little joys. Then she washed the dishes and kept breakfast warm in the oven before proceeding up the steps towards her bedroom down the hall. There was a dresser down this hall that always shivered a racket whenever she passed, quivering for her attention. She would go back and open one of its drawers, just as it wanted, but she disliked it very much for every drawer had its uniqueness. Today, it was the drawer that rocketed out, hitting the wall, and dropping to the floor with a clank.

A groan trailed from the wall, and its door opened. A young man's scraggy face popped around the corner, fists rubbing his weary eyes, "The decision stands; the dresser has got to go."

"Unsustained," Olympe made a melodic, sinister sound at her door. "The dresser stays. And by the way, Cian, it's Sunday. She moves in today."

"Ah, Avaline, the heiress, finally comes home," Cian bowed mockingly. "Is she single?"

"Forget about it," she turned smug. "I've already warned her about your promiscuous nature, and you're the last thing she needs right now, remember her sister?"

Cian sobered and nodded, "Yeah, no need to remind me."

"Oh but I feel I do need to remind you," insisted Olympe, crossing her arms, making him notice her navy blue tanktop and the copper trinket around her neck. "She doesn't know anything about us or what happens in this house. She is clueless about magic... especially summoning Primes! And I want to keep it that way, thanks!"

"Why are you telling me all this? I'm so not addicted to summoning Primes and I'm not a total klutz. In fact I've watched each James Bond movie ever made, I know how to keep secrets," he said defensively.

She perched an eyebrow then smirked, "And keep it that way, thanks!"

He immediately muttered, shaking his head, and shut the door in frustration. Her smirk curled farther. She closed her door and approached her closet, determining her outfit for work in ten minutes. Picking out a strapless midnight blue dressed that stopped at her knees and showed off her strong legs, she began to change her clothes and donned on two small sun-shaped earrings to match her copper trinket. She glanced at the mirror and beamed, knowing her hair was rocking it. Her nails and her lips matched too, a velvet dark wine color.

When she left her bedroom, Cian popped out again, "You sure you don't want a hit?"

"Not my thing, sorry," she hurried down the hall but stopped when the dresser started rattling again. She exhaled sharply and randomly pulled a drawer. The compartment began a series of loud popping as smoke wafted from it. She pushed it back into its place and shot a glare she heard Cian stifle a laugh, "The dresser stays! AND NO SUMMONING PRIMES."

"Calm down," he called after her who descended to the foyer and swung open the front door. Two beautiful trees graced her with their flowers' fiery sheen and beyond, a park that leveled down to a beach that sifted into a great horizon of cold water. Sea gulls cawed in the sky. Olympe smiled at Piana and closed the door behind her.

Cian closed his door and returned to the futon that rested under a window overlooking the Algorunda School of Music and the Arts. He toked up and got high, chuckling to the closet door that creaked open, "It's all right, come on out! The wicked witch has gone to work."

Cardboard boxes clattered to the floor. A round, hairy creature rolled and then hopped to the edge of his mattress, chirping happily. He snorted, "You little cute Pokemon thing. Of course, I'm addicted to summoning you, Sparky. Don't listen to all of that, it just was an act, little dude. You da Prime. You da Prime."

The Prime crackled with energy, raising Cian's hair to stand on its edge. He coughed on smoke and let out a laugh, "You are the coolest. Okay, let me see..."

He flipped through the pages of a large, leatherbound journal and followed the scribbled-in-ink list of Primes and their demands. There was the faulty wiring around the Phoenix Estate that needed to be fixed; that was why he got Sparky. But summoning Primes have their price, and Sparky's price was... "Gotcha," Cian tapped the book. "You, Sparky, want... wait, really? You want to play Hide and Seek?"

The Prime squealed with high-pitched tittering and glowed alight before bursting into thin air.

Cian stared idiotically, "Oh, she's going to be pissed!"

Strolling over to Terra Pages where people often went for a cup of coffee and a plate of danish, which weren't exactly her favorite, Olympe followed down the sidewalk briefly before entering the second door. Yes, Terra Pages was sharing the same building with the Piana public library, but she didn't mind. It draws customers. Her heels clinked across the smooth marble floor and her hands brushed the rich mahogany bookshelves. A large, elegant mahogany desk in a beautifully carved mahogany cubicle awaited her.

She took her seat, which was very cozy for leather, and glanced around. No one had come in yet, which was perfect. She needed to take a quota check on all the grimoires and scrolls hidden deep in the boring archives she knew no one would bother looking through in Piana. Olympe sighed contently.

This was home.

[Daandae]

Sunday Morning - 8:00 AM

As the alarm clock radio switched on, a melodious opera Soprano alerted Lin that it was time to wake up. She thought about pressing the Snooze button this morning, but she knew that she had far too many things to do and errands to run. Slowly she got up from the bed and untying the traditional Zhongyi garments, she removed them and stepped into the shower. Turning on the water, she had become used to there being a blast of chilling water before it was finally able to heat up. She washed long black strands of her hair, took a few extra moments to exfoliate after a reviving night's sleep and then turned the water off -- ten minutes, that wasn't bad at all! She stepped out of the steaming shower in her bath robe and just towel-dried her hair, quickly moving back into the bedroom and shutting off the radio alarm clock. "I think I've had just about enough of that this morning."

Breakfast was always simple in the morning, one egg and a piece of toast and her cup of Green Tea... her morning vigor. She poured the steaming water into a cup and dropped in the tea bag, sitting down at a small table and picking up an old newspaper. You'll be on the front page one day... She tried to convince herself of this every single morning, but first... she had to find a job. She'd been spending the last several years assisting the families that she'd grown up with, attending to new children and teaching the next generations simple elementary skills to prepare them for the world. She'd never been prepared for this kind of world, of that she was certain.

Finishing the last of her food and taking the dishes to a small sink, she washed off her plate, her butter knife and the fork and set them aside to dry... one thing was taken care of, NEXT! There were just a few moments to enjoy herself this morning, just enough time to relax before the daily grind. Pulling out a traditional Chinese Zither that had belonged to her father, she began to play. Her slender fingers slid over the strings but she could not remember if she'd ever heard her father play -- she'd been so young when they'd died. She played a familiar song she'd been practicing, but before too long she'd become lost in the haunting melody, beautiful notes that transported her away from this world and onto the next. She was interrupted when her cell phone began to vibrate on the countertop. Bzzzzzzz... Bzzzzzz.... Bzzzzzz... She stopped playing and immediately grabbed the phone but upon seeing that the call was from one of the most persistent, grouchy, old women she knew, she decided not to answer it. She had no time now... there was just too much to do.

The Garden Lots apartment buildings were not quite what she imagined a 'home' to be, but she'd recently moved from the 'F' buildings to the 'G' buildings after having a few too many Technical Difficulties with her last room. In the past couple months she'd experienced a few too many ice-cold showers in the morning and absolutely terrible plumbing -- to say the least. "When I'm rich and famous, I won't have these problems... it'll be long hot showers and bubble-baths." She said convincingly to herself.

Putting the Zither away carefully, she returned to the bedroom to find something comfortable to wear. She would have loved to have stayed in her bath robe all morning, but the clock was ticking against time for simple pleasantries. She dressed in a casual shirt and slacks, crossing the room to pull on a pair of ankle socks and a pair of shoes. She crossed the traditionally designed 'family room' of her apartment and moved into the only place she felt she could truly escape.

Three large computer monitors spanned across a large office desk, the soft hum of the desktop computer's fans running to keep the machines cool. She had a collection of computers that she had built or used to swap parts out from, a collection of wireless devices and a collection of books --none of which started with "The Idiot's Guide To..." She was quite proud of that fact. There was a digital drawing tablet on a smaller desk and several strewn-about notes, sketches, and small scale human mannequins built out of clay and wood. She sat down at the desk in front of her three monitors and with a soft sigh, brought up her web browsers... she had to check and see if she'd had any luck with any of the online applications she'd sent to "Beebe's" Organic Shop, and the "Aquarius" Antique and Pawn Shop as their sales clerks.

It was going to be a LONG day.

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