Chapter 963: Minimum Collateral Damage

Jason and Gary sat, side by side, on a porch swing. Mist wetted the trees growing from the sides of the gorge, filling the air with the scent of the leaves. Jason was still, gathering his thoughts, while Gary shifted in anticipation of long-awaited answers. The leonid was not tall for his kind, yet he loomed over Jason. Even so, it was the smaller man’s presence that seemed overwhelming. This was Jason’s world, and on an instinctive level, Gary could feel it.

“I must be a strange figure to you,” Jason said. “I’m still coming to grips with it myself, to be honest, but my perspective is less important. It’s easy to deal with power when you’re the one that has it.”

He glanced up at the leonid.

“I’ve been watching you your entire life. You didn’t feel it, but I was there. When you were born. When the Karadeniz brothers were chasing you through the park and got caught in that thorn bush you could have sworn wasn’t there when you passed through.”

Gary blinked, and his eyebrows shot up.

“Was that…?”

“Me? Yes, it was. I’ve seen every moment of your life, Gary.”

“Even when I was taking a dump?”

“I wasn’t actually watching that. I was, on some level, aware that it was happening. For everyone in my domains. It takes some getting used to, being what I am.”

“People talk about you like you’re a god sometimes. Are you?”

“That’s complicated. The short answer is no. The long answer is… kind of. A bit.”

“That doesn’t make things clear.”

Jason laughed.

“Something I am unfortunately very aware of. But we’re not here to talk about me, even if I can’t seem to help myself. You want to know what makes you special. Different.”

“Yes,” Gary said, his voice half a whisper.

“Everyone is special, within their own context. A precious child, a loving friend. The short answer is that you’re not any more special than anyone else. But you’re here for the long answer. For the parts of your particular context that you’ve glimpsed, but never really seen.”

“Yes.”

“Okay. The first thing you should know is that I’m not, strictly speaking, meant to tell you what I’m about to. But the rules, as they relate to you, have been bent pretty far already. I’ll explain how and why as we go. But first, I want you to understand that you shouldn’t tell anyone else what I’m going to tell you. You’ll want to talk about it later, once you’ve thought things over. You can find me again, or Rufus. A couple of others. You met my friends at the party, and I know that Emi had told you about Farrah. You don’t really know her yet, but she might be someone you want to talk to. Also, your mother’s obstetrician.”

“What?”

“I’ll get there. Probably best if I go all the way back, and come at this in order. I’ve been told I’m not the best at explaining things, but it begins, as you know doubt suspect, with my friend Gary…”

***

Some of the homes in Asano village were set on a clifftop, digging into the rock to emerge from the cliff face itself, with window walls looking out over the Pacific. Anna sat in a lounge room, in one of two chairs angled between facing the other and looking out to sea. In the other seat was Claire Davney, United States Secretary of State.

“Asano wants to explain it all,” Anna said. “What he was doing the last time he was here, and why. How that leads into what lies ahead for our planet.”

“Your concern is that he won’t be believed.”

“To put it mildly, yes. I’ve heard the full explanation, Claire, and with the full context, it reads like a holy text. If Jason goes before Congress and his first sentence is ‘I know who created the universe and it’s not who your book says,’ no one is going to hear his second sentence.”

“Can the problematic parts be excised?”

“Not if you want the actual truth. The actual reasons. Not if you want to understand what the last twenty years have been about, and what’s coming next. The Network doesn’t know, Claire. Not even yours, in the United States. They’ve been looking at the big picture through a tiny hole, punched in the wall. I’ve heard the full thing, and you need that context.”

“A private briefing, then?”

“That gets political very fast. Religion has been more volatile than ever in the face of magic coming out in the open. If we start having secret briefings where the most religious members of political bodies are excluded, I don’t have to tell you what happens then. That’s true in every country, not just yours, but the United States will be an especially loud voice in the reaction.”

“Then what do you want to do?”

“That’s what we’ve been considering for months. Every broad solution leads to pointlessness. If we redact enough information to make it palatable to everyone, there’s not enough left to have value to anyone. If we reveal everything, it creates a political storm that inundates everything. If we try it half and half, we get the worst of both worlds.”

“Every broad solution.”

“Secrets are dangerous. When revealed, they can do more damage than if they were put into the open in the first place. But we couldn’t come up with anything better. Magic was governed by secret societies for centuries.”

“And you want to make a new one?”

“Yes. Crucial people, all around the world. We start by telling them everything.”

“And then you tell them what to do next.”

“No. If Asano wanted to tell the Earth what to do, he’d conquer it. He wants the people of Earth to make their own choices, but informed ones.”

“You’re claiming he has no agenda of his own?”

“He has interests. He’s been impressed with the humanitarian programs the Cabal have instigated since the reveal of magic, and wants to support them. For programs instituted by himself and his clan, he sees magical education as the way forward. He believes that magitech is the pathway for Earth to catch up to worlds with more inherent magic than we have. Earth’s knowledge of technology outstrips that of magic, to the point of stunting the development of magitech. He wants to change that.”

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“And who will receive this enhanced magical education?”

“That’s up for discussion, but in short: everyone. The details…”

Anna stopped at a knock on the door.

“Enter,” she said, and one of the Secretary’s aids came in.

“Secretary. Mrs Tilden. Director Barstow has asked you both to attend a briefing on an emerging situation.”

“The CIA wants me to attend?” Anna asked as she and Davney got to their feet.

“Uh…” the aid said, her eyes darting back and forth uncomfortably. “The director said that, uh if that slippery little shadow so-and-so is just going to listen in anyway, we might as well have a human being attend. He didn’t actually say so-and-so, but he meant Mr Asano’s—”

“We’re all familiar with Shade, thank you Courtney,” the secretary said. “Where is the briefing?”

“There’s a conference centre, Madam Secretary. It was refurbished from a spa centre, apparently.”

“Meaning that there isn’t a spa centre anymore?”

“Not that I’m aware, Madam Secretary.”

“I won’t lie: that’s disappointing. Shall we, Anna?”

***