Magitech (1-4-18)

"Oh, don't mind those mage protestors. They're just pissed that our technology is advanced
enough to emulate their spells." [Link to post.]

“They’re just pissed that our technology is advanced enough to emulate their spells.” I nodded
and followed my new boss, Robert, past the gathered crowd. A rainbow sea of robes stood in
front of Maximum Dynamic, with white protest signs floating above their heads. Mage robes
had gone out of style long ago, but the new technology sparked a resurgence. They needed
something to identify themselves. The protesters booed and cast harmless ink spells at us as
we walked through the security checkpoint, then into the courtyard. After we were far enough
from the crowd Robert turned around and winked at me. “It would make their tiny minds
explode if they new the truth!” He said with glee. I chuckled nervously. I thought I knew the truth,
and the revelation almost caused my tiny mind to explode. We reached the entrance. I stopped
behind him and admired the large, crystal clear glass wall. I looked around but found no sign of a
handle. It was so clean and perfect I almost doubted it was there.

Robert pressed his hand against the wall and it rippled like water. He slipped his hand in and
followed it through. I followed him. I walked through the liquid wall, and when I emerged
in the lobby I found myself clean of all the ink splotches flung by the crowd. Robert led me to the
front desk and spoke to secretary. The redhead smiled up at Robert, her green eyes sparkled with
a slight golden light. Her I.D. badge said, “Sunshine.”

“Good morning, Sunshine,” Robert said, then gestured to me. “Margo here is our new playmate,
and it’s her first day. She watched the orientation video, but I’m sure you remember how many
more questions it opened up. Help her get her bearings, please.”

“No problem, Mr. D.,” she said. Sunshine stood from her chair and reached her delicate hand across
the desk in greeting. I took it and smiled at her in return.  

“Thank you,” Robert said with a nod, then walked away.

“You don’t know how lucky you are to be starting today. Oren’s out of town, so you’ve got an easy
day ahead,” Sunshine said. She waved me around the desk and I rolled up a chair next to her.  
“You’ve GOT to have questions. I know I did after the orientation. Ask away!” Her smile somehow
managed to grew brighter and broader. She certainly did her name justice.

“Wow, okay. One that just happened, because I need to make sure. When you said ‘out of town’, ”
I used air quotes. “You mean another dimension, right?” She nodded excitedly.

“Right! Not everyone has playmate clearance, so it’s just what we say.” She said, then stopped
speaking to wait for my next question. I took a deep breath.

“Okay. I’m just trying to wrap my head around everything. Okay. They went over it in orientation,
but it was kind of too fast for me. Here’s where I’m at. If I get something wrong, tell me?” I asked.
She nodded. I closed my eyes for a second to organize my thoughts then opened them.

“Nanos are super tiny robots that let people use ‘magic’, right?” I paused, and she nodded. “And the
world thinks that Maximum Dynamic makes those nanos, but we actually get them from Oren?” She
nodded again. “So he just brings them from another universe?” Instead of a nod she shook her head
and winked at me.

“That one took me a while to figure out, but once I did everything else made much more sense.”
Sunshine shrugged. “The orientation just covers how to interact with Oren, but it doesn’t tell you much
about him. Let me give you a head start.”  She wheeled her chair closer to me and lowered her voice to
a loud whisper.

“Oren makes the nanos. Actually, sorry. It’s more accurate to say he produces them, like in his body.” I
felt my eyes grow to saucer size, but she continued. “There’s a reason you’re called a playmate. Oren is
basically a kid. He's several hundred years old, but mentally he’s the equivalent of like a seven year old.
He needs to be in a good mood to give us more nanos.” She paused for a breath, and I took the opportunity
for another question.

“I don’t get it. Is he a robot? A cyborg? How does he make machines?” She shrugged again. “He’s flesh and
blood, but somehow he makes these tiny robots in his body. I’ve seen it lots of times, but I still have no idea
how or why it works. He’s just a bored kid. He travels around dimensions looking for something fun to do.
Sometimes he’ll hang out for a while, like he does here. Sometimes he’ll just start setting things up to get back
to later, like he did here.“ She winked at me.

“Oh he’s been here before?! That’s how come people have magic!” She punched my arm lightly.

“Now you got it! That part was hard for me to get too, but yeah. He told me this was one of the first dimensions
he visited, hundreds of years ago. He just released a ton of nanos and went to go do something else in another
dimension. The mages out there protesting have no idea that the ‘magic’ they’re using is the exact same stuff
we’re selling. It makes me smile when I walk by them in the morning,” Sunshine laughed, and I joined her. The
irony was definitely entertaining. While I laughed I caught sight of a black speck floating in the air, and remembered
it from orientation.

“Looks like Oren’s back early,” I said. I caught her attention and pointed at the growing black hole. Of course I’d
seen plenty of pictures of Oren. He appeared to be a young boy around Seven or Eight, with pale, almost white
alabaster skin. I felt I was ready to meet him, but he did not walk out of the pitch black portal. A shapely leg
dressed in a white stocking stepped out, followed by the other one. The woman had long jet black hair that reached
below her butt. A pair of small, bone colored horns, one on each side, protruded from her head. Sunshine stood up,
unsure of what to do. I stood up next to her, eager to help and just as clueless. The woman saw us.

“Is my worthless son here?” she asked. She sounded annoyed. It seemed obvious that she meant Oren, but
Sunshine asked anyway.

“Who are you, and who’s your son?” Sunshine said. I saw her pressing the security call button under the desk.
I realized she was stalling.

“Okay, he’s not here. I’m the Demon Queen and I hate waiting.” The woman sighed, and dozens of skeletons
began to emerge from the portal. “I’ll have to occupy myself while I wait for him.”