Magnus: Part 1
Magnus kept on talking. Ray hadn’t been wrong in calling him a blowhard.
I couldn’t complain. It gave me time to figure out the next step, whatever that turned out to be. It was supposed to be distracting Magnus so Ray could backstab him. That might still be the plan, but Ray didn’t seem to be in any hurry.
“You’re doomed,” Magnus continued. “I’ve achieved full control of this device, a device that can unmake planets and destroy gods. You can’t stand against it. None of you can. It doesn’t matter how many mortals you throw against me. With this device, I will inevitably win.
“What’s more important is that you understand why I brought you here. You have the opportunity to save the world. I know you think you have to save it from me, but the reality is this. I’ve lived for thousands of years and I see visions. I know what’s coming in the future and it’s war beyond the scope of your imagination.”
I thought back to my visit to the future and the battle in space above future Mars and resisted the urge to explain to him that it was well within the scope of my imagination. I was in on it from the beginning—twice, if you counted future me—and he wasn’t anywhere to be seen.
Instead I said, “What do you mean,” asking as if he’d shaken my confidence and I was trying not to show it.
He raised his arms, gestures becoming more expansive as he continued. “I’ve seen creatures that eat worlds and destroy galaxies and they’re coming here for us. My mission ever since I learned about them has been to protect the Earth and save our planet from destruction. You can be part of this. You have a touch of their power like I do and you have the skill to create machines.
“I’ve tried to recruit you before, but you haven’t been open to listening. There are others who have been. Now I command many who will assist me in the final battles. You’re a hero, are you not? You should be fighting by my side, but if you’re unwilling, I can’t leave you free. There is too much at stake for the world to allow your choices to risk humanity’s future.”
I nodded. “I’d agree with you that humanity’s future is more important than either of us. What I’m not sure of is how much I can trust you. You’ve tried to kill me and my friends more than once. How can I be sure you won’t kill me the second I let my guard down?”
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I didn’t think he’d trust me if I’d said, “Yes,” but maybe if I offered him the chance to persuade me, he’d keep talking.
That might give me time to investigate the throne. I hadn’t had much of an opportunity to understand it earlier, but now I was standing right next to it.
Glancing off to the left, I could see energy from the spheres above us flowing into it. The whole throne glowed with energy flowing through it. I could feel the power from a distance, reminding me of being passed by a semi-truck while walking down the highway.
It struck me as interesting and I had a theory. If you were Magnus and needed something to help you control the device’s power, you might create something like this throne.
If I needed something similar, I wouldn’t let it bleed power to the point that anyone with Artificer senses would notice it was there. I’d hide it or cover it with shielding.
Magnus hadn’t done either. If I touched it, I might be able to take control. If I didn’t want to risk touching it, I might be able to use the sword to destroy it.
“You don’t,” Magnus said, watching me. “But we have to be able to trust each other, don’t we? I need to be sure that you won’t attack me after I let you into my inner circle. You need to be sure I won’t attack you. It seems that we may be at an impasse, but we don’t have to be. I have a solution. It’s not difficult either.
“You see, all you have to do is open up your helmet and allow my Colette to talk to you. After a few moments, I have no fear that you’ll attack me. Now, I know that you know what Colette can do, but you have to think of it from my perspective. You can trust me not to hurt you or your relatives if I have a hold over you. It won’t be much of one. We’ll just need to set up a word that will immobilize you and doesn’t require someone like Colette to use it. I know you might not feel that you can trust me, but give me a chance.”
As he said the last sentence, I felt pressure in my mind that wasn’t either his words or telepathy, but something else. We’d theorized that Magnus had something other than voice powers to influence Jody and as of that moment I knew it was more than a theory. Magnus was sending a compulsion through the same space that Artificers used to communicate across galaxies and parallel universes.
If I did nothing, his words would sink into my brain and be accepted as true even though they were obviously only in his own interest. I didn’t have to let it happen, though. Kee had taught me how to handle it.
She hadn’t said so in so many words, but I knew an exercise for keeping Artificers out of my mind and I used it. There had been a pattern of how I was supposed to direct the energy and Kee had me practice it for a month and then tested me sporadically afterward.
I felt the pressure pulse to a greater level, but it fell away against the barricade of my mind. I might not be able to keep out Govan, Lee or Kee, but it worked against Magnus.
How much of this she had seen years before, I couldn’t guess, but when dealing with multi-billion year old beings, it was best to assume she’d seen a lot.
“Well,” Magnus said, “it seems that we can’t trust one another.”