Log:The Fall of the Cartesian, Scene 8

The Fall of the Cartesian 2018/04/09 	 Raven|Amelia Radical|Connor

8

Amelia calls Connor the afternoon after the dinner and asks if he would like to meet up with her.

Connor is happy to meet up with Amelia, just asking for a time and place.

Amelia suggests 5pm that evening at her penthouse.

Connor shows up a little before that, but not with his gear. It's not like he carries it around all the time, after all.

Amelia is waiting in the penthouse well before 5pm arrives. She's back to her usual techno-goth appearance. Opening the door she smiles and steps back to invite Connor in. "Thanks for coming."

Connor takes a step inside, "Thanks for the invitation."

Amelia leads Connor through to the main living room. "Water, right?" she says questioningly. "

Connor nods. "Yes, please. That would be great." He takes a seat on a couch and smiles, "Was there something in particular you had wanted to talk to me about? Or is this primarily social?"

Amelia smiles, "Half and half." she says. "Let me get you a water and myself a fae wine. Make yourself at home. Back in a moment." Then she steps out to the kitchen.

Connor nods, "The same wine you were drinking when you pet a Lord of Order? Best be careful with that."

Amelia laughs, "Ah. Yes. I must have been crazy. Or drunk. Or both." She returns and hands you a glass of chilled water. "But apart from that the dinner meetings seems to have been productive. If both sides stick to the agreement."

Connor accepts the water and takes a sip. "I think they will, for the near term. I have no idea how Rira will evolve with her abilities, but I'm optimistic."

Amelia sits facing you. "How is her training progressing? If you don't mind me asking, can you still sense the presence of magic? I'd think that was almost an essential for a magic tutor."

Connor smiles. "I can't sense magic any longer. But...I know very well what it felt like to have magic channeled through me. Most mages don't have power coming from another source and then directed outward. Instead, they either generate it internally or externally themselves and then use it. An agent of the powers instead is more like a funnel. A conduit. I'm able to pull on my prior experience to help her deal with what I've already dealt with in the past. She's not quite like a regular agent, but very similar in practice. She's tapping into a power source and then bending it to her will."

Connor shrugs, "Since I can't sense the magic itself, it does make things more challenging for me. But at the same time, a common experience means that she trusts me more than others might be."

Amelia leans forward to listen closely. "That's an interesting observation. I'm primarily a witch. And while I've learned some mage type spells mostly even those have been based on my witch abilities. As far as I know most if not all witches draw in mana from their surroundings to cast spells. You're saying that most mages generate mana internally? Mmm... That has to be a limiting factor in the power they can infuse into a spell, surely?" She sips on her glass of wine as she waits for your reply.

Connor tilts his head, thinking about it. "A number of them do use their internal will. But some use formulae to tap into the surroundings in a manner similar to what witches can do. The ones who are internal casters do tend to be more limited, and are more likely self-taught. Though some would argue that it's the same kind of thing that martial arts masters use in China, to improve their chi. It's an internal focal point."

Amelia nods, "I've been neglecting my magic studies for a while. It's hard to self judge but I think I'm a fairly accomplished witch. But my knowledge is patchy and painfully shallow in many areas." She shrugs, "Which is a real issue when magic is being misused and I'm roped in to provide answers and suggestion on how to deal with such situations. So my ignorance of facts like the one regarding mages' sources of power can potentially have significant consequences." She shrugs again. "And I have no real excuse. I have access to the Great Library and the library of the Inn between Worlds."

Connor chuckles. "Well, I have the opposite problem, I guess. All book learning now, and I can't cast anything myself. At least not yet. I may yet figure out how to do so, but that's a longer road than the immediate solution."

Amelia nods, "I'm pretty sure you are a latent. Even now, when you have no powers, I can sense the potential in you."

Connor smiles. "Well...that's good to know. I wonder if you're sensing a remnant of what I was channeling before, or if it really is something natural, but time will tell, I suppose."

Amelia smiles, "Connor, you'll know better than I, but do you think a Lord of Order would leave any remnant behind?" she asks.

Connor takes a sip of water as he thinks about it. "Certainly not on purpose. It was a punishment of sorts to remove my powers. So, they would be thorough. But...think about it like turning off a valve. That doesn't mean that water isn't still in the pipe. It's unlikely that's the case, I suppose. If that's what you were sensing, you could probably tell that it's aligned with Order. And if you don't sense that, then I'd say what you're sensing is natural."

Amelia nods, "I'd have to do a deeper scan than a casual glance would provide. Which I wouldn't do without receiving your prior permission." she tells you.

Amelia sips at her wine, "One of the legacies of White Coven training. A strong adherence to white witch ethics."

Connor nods. "You know what...I think I'm going to pass on that for now. I may change my mind in the future, but not right now. I need to feel a little more secure than I am right now." He pauses and sighs, "I'm really upset about the fact that my personality was altered by the experience of being the Cartesian. I'm fairly orderly by nature, but that...made it worse. Much worse. It reminds me of some of the aspects of say...a mental illness. Like, you don't have complete control over your emotions?"

Amelia nods seriously, "I can certainly understand that. Personalities are molded and changed by experiences. But there's something uniquely violating about having it imposed on you. Even if, to be realistic, functionally it's not that different from a life altering external circumstance. As to control over emotions? Does anyone? Or do emotions have control over us? A little of both perhaps?"

Connor nods. "From a logical perspective, I understand all that. But emotionally, I'm still processing it." He takes another deep breath, "And on top of that, I stepped away from a legacy, which was difficult. I've had a number of long conversations with my uncle about it since then. Usually over some scotch."

Amelia says, "I have scotch."

Amelia adds...

Connor chuckles and smiles, "Well...twist my arm. But I'm a heathen. I like it on the rocks."

Amelia says, "When your personality was changed that made it not a legacy but servitude. You absolutely did the right thing in rejecting the command to kill Rira. You know that." She far reaches, and hands you a scotch on the rocks. She smiles, "Hundred year old single malt. I had to reach quite a long way to find one with ice."

Connor blinks, "Seems a bit extravagant. I usually go for the moderately-priced stuff. But thank you." He takes the scotch and just...smells it for a moment.

Amelia grins, "It's easier than walking to the kitchen and pouring you a drink."

Connor takes a sip and he smiles. He then twirls the glass a bit, causing the ice to clink. "I don't drink often. But when I do, this is my drink of choice. There's just something about it that I find comforting."

Amelia lifts her glass in salute. "My tipple is fae wine. It's what I drunk when I..." She smiles, "surrendered my maidenhood. So fond memories as well as a delightful taste."

Amelia

The first thing likely to catch the eye about Amelia for the people who know her history is that she looks like a perfectly healthy young girl aged in her late teens. Her metallic chrome blue dyed hair is asmymetically styled, the left side cut short while the right side hangs loose past her shoulder. She doesn't seem to wear any obvious make-up, however the right side of her face has a brightly colored animated tattoo of a feathered winged snake on it. Physically she is lean and athletically muscled, toned to a whipcord hardness.

Clothing wise the style seems to be futuristic techno-punk. Long black fingerless gloves. A sleeveless snug fitted vest of a metallic sheen that changes hue from red to green to blue as the direction of the light alters. Synthetic dragonhide pants stretch down to knee length black boots. Worn over all that is a long duster coat that could have come from the set of the classic cult TV series Firefly.

Connor chuckles. "How old are you, if you don't mind me asking? I realize how you look might not match your real age."

Amelia shrugs, "I've lost track. So many of the dimensions I visit have differing time rates. And some have physical laws that prevent PDAs or watches from working so I can't keep track that way. At a guess, thirty-five? Forty?"

Connor raises a brow, "So, older than I am. I'm thirty. I wouldn't have guessed that."

Amelia nods, "It's a long story but the short version. I was dying. Poisoned dagger to the chest. A good and dear friend gave me a drink of the blood of a Goddess. It cured me and rebuilt me." She opens her PDA and shows you an image. It might be Amelia. But she's horridly scarred all over including her face and missing her left arm and eye.

Connor winces. "Did it make you effectively younger physically, then?"

Amelia nods, "Yes. I've been this age physically for a couple of decades at least." She chuckles, "I have to carry ID to get into clubs and even then I've been turned away for having 'fake' ID."

Connor chuckles. "You'll have to start faking your ID to make you seem younger at that rate."

Amelia nods, "It's not too bad in Colonial Bay. There's enough immortals around the bouncers are at least open minded. But elsewhere it's more of a problem." She laughs, "When it really bites is if I own the club and get turned away."

Connor furrows his brow, "That seems really unlikely. You'd think that the workers would know who you were. Though I guess if they were hired by a manager, they might not."

Amelia says, "Connor, half the time I don't know if I own the club. My holdings are, well, vast. I long ago stopped keeping track. I have managers to do that. So if I get turned away I normally check to see if it's one of mine. If it is I call up the manager and ask him to call the club manager to tell the bouncer to let me in.""

Connor smiles. "Ah, I guess I understand. Not something I'll likely ever have an issue with, mind you."

Amelia shrugs amusedly, "It's not an issue for me now. In the beginning I was the source of my wealth. I'd pick up gems on uninhabited Earths and bring them back here. But these days my finances are self-growing. I have investment managers to handle all that. So, yes, I'm one of the idle rich."

Connor chuckles. "I suppose it brings with it other issues. I bet you have to worry about paparazzi, for example."

Amelia shakes her head smiling, "Fortunately, no. Very few know my name in the finance world. At first that was because I was trying to maintain a secret identity. But it became a habit. So I avoid all that fuss."

Connor smiles, "So...no detriments at all? I usually figured that everyone has issues, no matter how much money one has. It's just a matter of a different set of problems."

Amelia sighs, "Oh, I have issues. Just not the usual ones. I travel the dimensions. And everywhere I go I see pain and misery. Corruption and suffering. Oppression and tyranny. Heck, there's more of that on our own Earth alone than a thousand me's could deal with. It hurts to be helpless to fix it all. So I do what I can. And drink to forget the rest."

Connor nods. "Well...you do what you can do to help. But there's only so many hours in the day." He takes a sip of his drink, "My prior role was to act as a counterbalance to the Anarch, so...how often I got involved in problems was largely controlled by that aspect. I'm trying to figure out just how active I should be as a hero now. Or even if I'm going to be suited to that role."

Amelia lifts her glass and then drains it. "If you figure out answers to those questions be sure to tell me. Because I haven't. My conscience won't let me sit back and do nothing but I often wonder what difference I make in the grand scheme of things."

Connor nods and raises his glass to Amelia before he takes another sip. "Hopefully I'll figure that out before I die."

Amelia far reaches for another glass of wine. "Try to avoid that, Connor. Take it from me, dying is not an enjoyable experience. Tried it. Didn't like it."

Connor smirks, "It'll happen to me eventually. I actually, you know...age."

Amelia smiles, "A good reason to work on those latent talents. There's a quote from an old mage to his students... 'What you learn here will serve you for a lifetime. Several if you are talented'."

Connor chuckles. "I have also heard another quote elsewhere though. 'You get as long as everyone else gets. A lifetime'" He smiles and takes another sip of his drink before letting out a long, deep, breath. "On a related topic, I wanted to thank you for helping me make the transition from my prior role to the new one. You're the only hero who actually seeked me out after what happened. For most, I was effectively forgotten."

Amelia says, "I'm sad to say that doesn't surprise me. The current active heroes seem, by and large, to be loners. When I was growing up in this city there were hero teams. Spirit of Justice. New Blood. That group in Harrisburg whose name escapes me. Black Camel Saints? I can't think of one active today. I'm discounted offical teams like Starguard Gamma. For people who risk all for the community... they seem to have little or no community spirit of their own. It's a shame in my opinion."

Connor nods. "From what I've seen, it's likely hard to keep a private team together. The government tends to add some structure."

Amelia nods, "If a team was formed I'd sponsor it. They would lack for nothing." she says.

Connor shrugs, "It would require a forceful lead personality. I'm not sure I can think of someone that fits the bill that isn't already part of another team like Starguard or the Princess Guard."

Amelia nods. "Yes, you're right. Sadly."