Patricia Wilson
Stories
10
Chapters
3,347
Words
163.4 K
Comments
0
Reading
13 h, 37 m
-
Truth sat about midway back in the pews. They were on tiers, like stadium seating. The church was trying to cram the most bodies possible into the hall and making sure everyone had an excellent view of the dais. No obstructed-view seats here. And the acoustics simply could not be beat. He knew the last point because he had watched the sound check. Professional sound and light technicians, specialized mages in all but name, came out and flicked up the sound-catching talismans. They hovered where they ought…-
3 •
-
-
Truth dove into the panicking masses, letting them break his line of sight with the golems chasing him and the eye-spies above. It was far from perfect. They were still on him. But it helped. As he went, he shouted. “The Golems are killing people! They have gone crazy! The Golems are killing people! Bombs, they set off bombs! Starbrite’s gone crazy! They are killing people!” He didn’t even need to use Incisive. The words had all the effect he needed. Spells and charms started crackling out. Most…
-
3 •
-
-
Truth hadn’t eaten all day and resolved to fix that problem. Rather than raiding his hosts’ weirdly sparse fridge, he decided to eat out. There was ample food available from street vendors, and in Jeon, the street food was It was quietly astounding to him. If you didn’t know how the systems worked, they seemed utterly impenetrable. Once you were trained on them, once you understood what all those mysterious parts did and how they worked together? It was trivial to crack them. At most, it was a bit…
-
3 •
-
-
Truth woke in the middle of the night. Sudden, urgent movement outside the door. They were only Level Threes, so he wasn’t worried about the owners of the house, but… “Maddie. Maddie wake up! You have to see this.” “Linh? What? What’s wrong?” “There’s been an attack. You have to see the news.” “Damn. Are we in danger?” Linh laughed, an ugly noise. “Right this minute? Probably not, but who knows?” He lay in the guest bedroom (ensuite bathroom, direct access to the…
-
3 •
-
-
The party barge slid down out of the sky. Lights still pulsing in frantic time to the mindless music the bound spirits were compelled to play. The screams of mandatory fun and drugged release turned into fear, raw, clawing, stabbing. The barge slid down, passing the roofs of apartment towers. Passing the dim, shoddy windows of the ever-watchful slumrats. They always loved a free show. Some of the lift spells still worked. The barge fell a little slower than gravity demanded. The wards around the railings…
-
3 •
-
-
Truth had an early night’s sleep, as jetlag is a real bastard. The bed was tiny, but he was prepared to cherish the fact it wasn’t a futon. He had spent enough nights sleeping on the floor. The mechanical alarm went off at five in the morning. Dawn was still some distance away, but his host had insisted. If he wanted to understand, truly understand, his philosophy, this was the only way. They set off on a predawn run. Jogging at first, but they quickly sped up to a hard run. Through the silent, still…
-
3 •
-
-
Truth was stumped by that one for a moment. Truth just blinked blankly at the wall when he heard that one. The system made a frustrated noise. There was another pause. Truth just sat there, rapidly going from bewildered to alarmed. Truth felt choked- overwhelmed by everything. The System went silent. Truth took it as agreement. It only took a minute to pack up. Truth went back around the party barge rental places. They were tiny offices attached to storage spaces, generally. Some were more…
-
3 •
-
-
“Hang on a second- you say you physically take on the sin. As in, you remove it from the person it is on until they sin again.” “Yes, we covered that.” The priest nodded. “And it stays gone until the person sins again.” “Well, it’s more nuanced than that, but that’s the basic idea.” “And you, and an unknown but non-zero number of your fellow clergy, can literally see the accumulated sin on a person.” “Again, sort of. But that is the basic idea. Where are you going with…
-
3 •
-
-
Truth had a moment of terrible lucidity. The rich man, and he had to be rich, that was a five thousand wen suit if he had ever seen one, was looking more or less straight at him. Could he… see through the Blessings of the Forest? That would make him “Who are you talking to, Daddy?” Asked the blue-haired pro who was doing a damn fine job advertising the cosmetic glamour industry. “Oh, now, Sally baby, you know I’m not “Daddy” when I’m on the job. It’s Father, or Your Eminence.” The…
-
3 •
-
-
Truth sprawled in the plush king-sized bed in “his” suite at the Dunbar. The Grand Imperial Deluxe, apparently. He vaguely wondered if they had a Grand Imperial or an Imperial Deluxe. What exactly qualified this suite for all three terms? Well, it had a second bedroom attached, a living room, and a little kitchen. When you got right down to it, he was pretty sure that it was bigger than the apartment he grew up in. And he was staying here rent-free. Bliss. The bed was so comfortable it was uncanny.…
-
3 •
-
- Previous 1 … 48 49 50 … 335 Next