"Steward, how"s my Mana?"〔Let"s see... Ever since 〔Chaos Magic〕got changed into〔Hollow Magic〕, the values already had to be readjusted. And with you eating Mana Core, your Mana has no doubt undergone a change in amount.〕
Cole was still in the laboratory and was on his laptop typing a few things. It seemed to be code for a website but because he was speeding through it so fast, you couldn"t really tell. He was doing that on one window while browsing through the most influential figures in the〈Time Zone〉on another.
The two still had many questions about Mana. Cole could change its properties as long as he properly visualized its structure. He imagined it like atoms since he guessed that would be his best bet for diversity.
A lot more experiments needed to be done and test subjects needed to be found as well.
Cole had told Clyde that he had changed it slightly to get rid of the glow since it would be a bit eye-catching, but there was another reason.
He wanted to see if it was possible or not. And as proven earlier, it was.
But the sudden change in name was unexpected. What"s more, it had become something of an entirely different type.
Cole had performed a few tests with Chaos Magic and he was able to create a few objects. However, they all had one flaw with them. They would quickly break a few hours or a whole day after their creation.
"〔Hollow〕"
Cole stopped typing for a bit and held out his hand. Once more, black mana emerged from Cole"s hand and formed into a solid sphere. Or at least, that"s what he intended for it to be.
Cole picked the sphere up and noticed that it was a lot lighter than he had planned. Cole cracked the sphere open and it was hollow inside.
"...So that"s the case with this magic?"
〔It seems so.〕
If he made his mana stay as mana, it would stay firm and full. If he tried to turn the mana into a solid object, it would become hollow.
"The f.u.c.k"s with this wizardry?"
Cole let out a sigh and dissipated the orb. He turned his back slightly to meet eyes with the Russian behind him.
Igor was quite calm and looked pretty carefree. Aside from the sweat on his face from Cole having him dance around like a monkey in his cell, he was doing pretty good. He really did think that it was pretty fun.
They had a quick interrogation session where Cole would stab him with a spike if he were to lie but that"s about it.
"Igor, if you want to curse in Russian, go do so. No one"s stopping you."
"No, I have to get used to speaking in English. I still can"t get rid of my accent."
"I can give you a hot potato to eat."
Cole pressed a b.u.t.ton that was located on the desk he was at which opened the doors of the cell. He opened up a microwave that was pretty close by and chucked the hot potato directly towards Igor"s mouth.
"сука блять!"
Igor turned into water and slid outside of his cell. Hot potatoes brought back terrible memories for him.
"Don"t you dare throw another potato at me again."
"Alright, but answer me a question then."
Igor raised an eyebrow at Cole. He already asked away everything he wanted to ask during the interrogation session. To be honest, during that time, Igor couldn"t tell if Cole was very intuitive or imaginative.
"So, what was it exactly that prompted you to accept my offer?"
Igor"s eyes widened slightly. The offer Cole was referring to was something he had thought of if Igor couldn"t handle the spikes anymore. It was that he would act as an informant when he would return to the〈Times Zone〉.
"First, you"re a Mechanica."
"I"ve heard rumours about the〈Neutral Zone〉and that as long as you"re with a Mechanica, you can visit the other Zones. Free travel between them isn"t allowed after all."
"Well, that is to be expected."
Cole nodded.
"After all, it had only been some time after everything happened. Although 20 years seems long, it is all too short in the grand scheme of things."
Cole continued typing onto his laptop but Igor still had more to say.
"Well yeah, but there are some crazy lads who tried to get in the〈Avant Zone〉just to disappear.
"The former Union"s sympathizers?"
"Yeah, they somehow got word that Russia in the〈Avant Zone〉is still the U.S.S.R. Stupid commies. Well, that"s all in the past now."
Cole"s fingers paused. This was news to him. He was busy researching the current affairs of the other Zones and hadn"t found the time to study the history of the individual countries of each Zone.
"Hm? You mean to tell me that the U.S.S.R in the〈Times Zone〉is a communist country?"
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"Huh? Yeah. Why, what does it mean over there?"
Igor was confused as well. He was part of the minority party who thought that the fall of the Soviet Union was a good thing. This was rare among most Russians in the〈Times Zone〉despite there being at least a hundred-year gap between their period of a zombie apocalypse and
The idea of the former Soviet Union being a good thing had somehow stuck and their time was basically our now.
Cole decided to enter a continuous Q&A session with Igor about his half-homeland. Cole didn"t really have good feelings towards his mother"s homeland but as for why... That"s mostly a story for another time.
"The United Soviet States of Russia. And Soviets is just a term for the councils for each region."
"Who"s Karl Marx?"
"A man who proposed the idea of Communism. After that, it attracted quite the number of individuals due to its idealistic ideology."
"Who"s Lenin?"
"Was a leader of the Communist Party and had attempted to lead a revolution but failed. It was to be expected though."
"The Communist Party was quite small after all, most people were aware that it was impossible due to our inherent nature."
"For your information, the system is run like this. It"s a bit like a monarchy system except it"s not with Kings and n.o.bles."
"There are elections held for each region"s Soviet Council. Although I say that, think of it the region"s Councils like simple city government."
In place of a congress and a president, they had an upper council ruling composed of the leaders of each region and individuals who took tests to prove their knowledge and capability for such a role. It didn"t only include written tests but a few situational simulations were a part of it as well.
"The upper council goes through the drafting of budget, the implementation of laws, and everything else a government should do together."
"Certain duties are rotated among regions but you can apply for it if you prove yourself worthy and that you can be trusted."
Igor was listening intently. He wasn"t sure if such a system would actually work but since Cole hadn"t mentioned some kind of downfall or anything, he a.s.sumed it actually did.
"I can"t help but find it funny, however."
Cole couldn"t help but let out a disdainful smile. He found it unbelievably ridiculous as to how such a system had allowed so many problems to manifest under its belt.
"There are so many people on the council yet they still somehow got domestic abuse decriminalized for a while. Maybe it"s just like that in the culture."
Igor"s face stiffened. He looked down to avoid Cole"s gaze and to hide his own.
"...Is it still like that over there?"
He had crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. It looked as if he was asking out of pure curiosity but Cole could see his grip had tightened ever so slightly.
"...No, the many protests of the abused female population got through them and there was also the fact that with the internet, their pleas were also heard by other countries."
"...Is that so?"
Cole looked away and went back to focusing on his laptop. Igor said with a somewhat relieved tone. Cole could already think of a few reasons why he showed interest in the topic. A family member? He just didn"t agree with it?
Whatever it may have been, it wasn"t really Cole"s business. If he learned why then it"s just another line of text to be added under the page named "Igor Stypochkin" in his brain.
"But anyway, I see that we"ve gotten off-topic. What are the other reasons?"
"Secondly, you seem pretty scary. And lastly..."
Igor hesitated slightly. He repeatedly looked at Cole and then shifted his gaze for a bit before he said with complete certainty.
"It"s because you look just like my boss."
Igor thought that Cole looked exactly like a younger version of his boss. He had chanced upon a painting of his boss"s family when he was visiting his mansion. He was painted together with his wife and their newly-born child.
But even back then, his boss already carried his harsh and serious gaze. The only difference would be the colour of their eyes. A piercing, cold ice-blue. It was very different to Igor"s. Cole"s eyes were black but Igor thought that they held the same seriousness behind them.
"....."
Cole hadn"t expected the last reason. Lucille"s words resurfaced in his mind. She had said that each Zone was basically either the future or past of one another.
If so, then that would mean he would probably be dealing with either some alternative version of him or maybe more "ancestor" bulls.h.i.t.
"...Is that so?"
Cole took a deep breath and decided to push that matter off for another time. He would cross that bridge when he needed to, As for now, he still needed to deal with other stuff before he would even come to that point.
Cole stood up and extended his hand towards Igor. Igor raised his eyebrow in confusion once again. He looked at Cole"s hand suspiciously and asked.
"? What"s this?"
"A handshake. It"s to seal our agreement."
Igor hesitated a bit. He didn"t have a good feeling about that handshake. He waited to see if Cole would bring down his hand but it looked like he had no intention of doing so.
"Well, whatever. I guess I can just turn my hand to water if need be."
With that bit of rea.s.surance, Igor grabbed Cole"s hands and tightened his grip a bit. Cole smiled and responded in kind. Cole whispered out something but Igor couldn"t hear what he had said.
"〔Hollow: Mark〕"
After they had let go of each other"s hands, Igor noticed something new on his right palm. He thought it was a cross but it was more like a four-pointed star printed on his hand.
He didn"t foolishly try to wash it off since he knew immediately that Cole had something to do with it. Wanting an answer, he sent a glare at Cole.
"There. For the foreseeable future, you won"t be able to go back on our deal."
"That so? I"d still like to know what THIS exactly it does."
Igor pushed his hand in front of Cole so he could see the mark in all its glory. Cole simply turned away and went back to his laptop. Igor could see clearly that he had no intention of answering.
"So it"ll be a partnership based on mutual benefit rather than trust, huh?"
He shrugged his shoulders. It was the kind of partnership he was used to having. Trust could get in the way a lot of times and there were only a few times it would be useful inside an organization. Or at least that was Igor"s opinion.
"Still, I"m really glad you accepted my offer. It would"ve been really troublesome to form an entirely new information network."
"So, let"s have a nice and everlasting partnership. Igor "Blue Eyes" Stypochkin ."
Igor didn"t know what to do with the sudden nickname. He was just glad that Cole didn"t offer him another handshake. He wouldn"t ever do that again with him.
"Well okay then, Black Swan. Or maybe Silver Owl would be more appropriate?"
"Oh great. The barn owl just happens to be my favourite. You can find it nearly everywhere!"
He didn"t expect Cole to respond so happily. He even pulled up a page full of Goggle images of barn owls and their creepy face.
"Oh wait, that" one"s pretty cute-- Wait, I still have something I have to ask."
Igor got rid of all the unnecessary thoughts in his head and peered directly at Cole.
"What exactly do you need me for anyway? You said it was to get information about the〈Times Zone〉but I don"t believe one bit that it"s just that."
Cole didn"t take his eyes away from his laptop. He was nearly halfway done and only needed to do some art for it later. But he felt that he ought to satisfy Igor"s curiosity and just flat out told him.
"I"m preparing for another expedition."