Lupi 09 - Mortal Ties

predisposed toward becoming mind-magic. It’s not there yet,
     but the potentialities have been changed by the charm, giving it an affinity for Air,
     which is the element for mind-magic. Mind, all this classifying by element type is
     as imprecise as most generalizations. We’re really talking about how the magic gets
     shaped by whatever absorbs then releases it, so—”
    “Cullen.”
    “Too much? Okay. I used lemon quartz because Air magic can’t be stored, but mind-magic
     can, and lemon quartz is generally the best matrix for mind-magic. But in this case,
     the power settles easily into lemon quartz.” Hestopped. His expression shifted to gloom. “And that’s the problem.”
    “I thought the problem was that the device makes the unGifted have false memories.
     Memories of weird stuff.”
    “It does that when the array discharges suddenly, and it does that because the magic
     is unstable when it enters the array. It finishes transforming into mind-magic while
     it’s in there, but the initial instability messes up the matrix.” He brooded on that
     a moment before adding, “At least I think that’s what’s happening.”
    “Why does the discharge only affect nulls?”
    He shrugged. “I’ve told you what I know. I need the damn prototype back to run more
     tests.”
    “You can make another if you have to, right?”
    “It’s not that simple.”
    “Tell her,” Rule said.
    Okay, he had been listening, after all.
    “But…” Cullen’s gaze went significantly toward the front seat.
    Rule closed the folder. “Oh, very well. Scott, you will not speak of or otherwise
     reveal what Cullen says about his prototype to anyone who is not present in this car
     now. José, the same instruction for you, with the exception of your Rho. That was
     unnecessary,” he added to Cullen, “but I trust you feel better now.”
    Cullen scowled and looked at Lily. “No notes. This does not go into your report. It
     doesn’t get written down.”
    “I’ll agree to keep it off the record for now. I can’t agree it will never go in the
     record.”
    His scowl didn’t ease. “Rule—”
    “You mistake my authority if you think I can tell Lily what to do.”
    “I just thought…never mind.” He looked directly at Lily. “No notes.”
    She clicked her pen and set it down.
    “I made the prototype over five weeks ago. It’s still working.”
    “Okay.”
    He made an impatient sound. “Five weeks, and I haven’t renewed the charm.”
    “But you told me charms couldn’t last beyond one moon cycle without being renewed.
     Only artifacts can.…shit. You mean—”
    “It’s not an artifact. Not really. It has about as much in common with real artifacts
     as Alexander Volta’s ‘voltaic pile’ would with a modern lithium battery. But it is
     the first self-renewing charm created in our world since the last adept died, and
     it is possibly a first step toward creating a genuine artifact.”
    “But that means…” Her fingers twitched. Writing things down helped her think, dammit.
     “That means that whoever took it may not be interested in how it protects tech, or
     in creating weird fake memories. They may have had it stolen because it’s a…a quasi-artifact.
     Who else knows about this?” she demanded.
    “Three more people than did a minute ago,” he said dryly. “The only ones I’ve told
     until now were Cynna, Rule, and Isen. But it’s possible the wrong person saw the prototype.
     I’m no adept. I don’t know how to hide the guts of a spell or charm the way they did.
     If a sorcerer saw my prototype, he or she might be able to figure out what it was.
     What it could do, if not exactly how it worked.”
    “So now we’ve got sorcerers as well as several major corporations for suspects.” Not
     that this expanded their pool enormously. Sorcerers were extremely rare. But they
     were also extremely secretive, which meant they’d have a helluva time figuring out
     who, exactly, went on the suspect list. “And you’re just now mentioning this?”
    He sighed. “We probably have to add one more group to your list.”
    “Who?’
    “You know that trade delegation that arrived in D.C. via the Edge gate about two weeks
     ago? First inter-realm trade in hundreds of years.”
    “Of course.” The news had been full of it.
    “The delegates include three elves, several humans who seem to be servants, and a
     halfling of some kind.”
    “Yeah, I’ve seen the pictures. She’s kind of…shit.