I stood staring up at the white box, not sure what I was suppose to do next. Should I put the bubble down and walk across the stage?
Or should I wait for permission to approach the box? And where was my vote chip?
All these questions ran through my head as I stood there, holding the bubble in my hands and looking up at the Council of Mages.
Paulson turned to me. "Well, what are you still doing down there? Get over here and vote!" He huffed and turned away to join the rest of the Heads who were already focusing on the chips in their hands.
I made my way to the end of the line where the designated Augury area was.
There, at the end of the table was the yellow Augury vote chip. I released the bubble and turned it so that I could see Magus Asada's face.
It floated in the air, unaided.
"What do I do?"
"Pick up the chip with your left hand. Try to touch only the yellow side."
I reached out and picked up the chip. It was about the size of a playing card and made of some type of thin metal that was warm to the touch as if it was imbued with some type of energy.
One side glowed a bright sunflower yellow, the signature of the Augury Discipline. The other side was a perfect sheen of burnished silver.
"How do I vote?"
"Concentrate on the word 'No' and press your palm to the silver side. It will take your vote and make an impression on the surface."
I nodded and held the chip with my left hand. In my mind, I focused on the word 'No' as clearly as I could and placed my palm onto the silver side.
Immediately, the chip recorded my mental vote with a slight vibration. I removed my hand, expecting to see the word 'No', but all I saw was a perfect imprint of the lines on my palm.
"How come my palm print showed up on the chip but not the 'No' vote?" I asked Magus Asada.
"The 'No' vote has been cast. As soon as you placed your palm onto the chip, the box on stage glowed yellow and recorded your thought. The chip also made a recording of your palm print so that in future, you will be the only Augurer who can cast a vote using that chip."
"But what about you?"
"I have my own yellow Augury chip. I have not used it in quite some time, and now that you have one too, you will be able to vote in my stead since I cannot venture out there physically. Keep it in a safe spot so you can use it again to vote."
I slipped the chip into a side pocket and was about to respond to the Magus when the red-haired lady called out from the podium.
"All the votes have been cast! The results are in. We have a tie vote. I repeat, we have a tie vote!"
From the two front rows came a buzzing and commotion unlike the previous commotion. There were at least twenty mages, dressed in black suits, sans dark sunglasses. They did not seem pleased with the results of the vote.
"Well, that's not good," Professor Nimitz drawled. "Whatever shall we do?" Aside from a few titters of nervous laughter which rang out from where his adoring fans sat, the amphitheater was mostly silent.
All eyes were on the Council Mages on stage. Unfortunately, this also included me since I was also standing onstage with my scry-visual bubble.
Before anyone had a chance to answer, a high, lilting feminine voice called out.
"Mages of the Assembly. If you please."
At the far end of the table, a dark beauty with a cloud of raven black curls cascading down her slender body stood up and raised her hand palm out in the mage sign for peace and recognition. Her skin was the color of dark amber, and her eyes, a pale yellow.
The audience rippled with appreciation and then quelled as it became apparent she was about to join the conversation.
"I would like to say something to the Council."
It was Daina of the House Bainsworth. She wore the Bainsworth's garnet red color in a satin ball gown trimmed with black lace and customary hoop underskirt. In her hand was a black lace fan which was wielded as an elegant frilly magikal channeling tool.
From what I remembered hearing about them, House Bainsworth started out being a female-only House and it had remained a female-only house. It wasn't because it had anything against males but because the head members never married.
They preferred to incorporate young female mages of great beauty into their ranks. House Bainsworth was very similar to House Sylphyte except their acolytes were not required to shave their heads.
Their requirement was beauty.
Paulson turned his beefy bald head in her direction. "Yet another female wanting her way. What is it now?"
Daina Bainsworth ignored Paulson's outburst. She turned to the audience. "According to the Bylaws of the Council of Mages, there is a method to resolve the dilemma of the Deadlock Vote."
Immediately there was chaos in the audience. The red-haired lady called out from the podium for order and silence.
Daina Bainsworth waited until the noise level had tapered off and then continued.
"At such time when a situation reaches standoff and there is no viable option for absolving the tie vote with traditional methods, the tie-breaker vote shall be cast by the ship's Captain, as he is a neutral party with no loyalties to any of the Houses or Disciplines."
"Ship's Captain?" Paulson scoffed. "The Bylaws were written in a distant ancient past, when the Head of the Council of Mages was the Ship Captain, but pray tell, which ship are we supposed to drag this Captain off?"
Daina Bainsworth turned to Paulson, sparing him a look before turning back to the audience. "While it is true that we are no longer bound to a ship, as we were at the time the Bylaws were written, we still have a Ship's Captain. Although that role has been relegated to a figurehead position, he still has legal recourse to break this tie vote."
"And where, pray tell, can we find this—this Ship's Captain you speak of?" Paulson sneered.
A man shifted from one of the seats in the audience and stood up. "I knew there was a good reason why my presence was required at these long boring meetings all these years."
I stared out at the audience and my jaw dropped.
The man was of undetermined age with medium height and medium build. There was nothing to distinguish him from the average mage walking down the street except that as soon as he stood up, it was clearly apparent that he was a different type of mage.
Unlike most mages who had to contain and conserve their magikal energies, the strong swirls of magik effusing from his body in long lazy swirls spoke of a mage who had plenty of power to spare. So much so that it sprawled about him in all directions without constraint.
His long grey hair was neatly tied back with a blue rubber band, exposing a strong jawline, a prominent nose, and piercing blue eyes.
Whereas the entire Council of Mages was regal and formally attired, the man wore a pair of faded jeans and an old tee-shirt with a screen print of a motorcycle on the front.
I had to hide a smile behind my hand because it looked as if he also wore some of the oil from that motorbike depicted on his shirt.
"Sorry about the lack of formality." He indicated rubbed his scrubby clothing with a rough hand. "I was in the middle of rebuilding my machine when this impromptu meeting was called. I was not expecting to be needed for tie-breaking duty or I'd be in my Captain's suit, but at least, I am here."
"And who are you?" Paulson eyed the man with distrust.
"The name's Odysseus. Robert Odysseus. But you can call me Captain."
"Captain, eh? How do you propose to break this tie?"
The Captain shrugged. "That's not a trick question, is it? I'm not good with trick questions, especially for simple situations such as these."
He pulled out a chip with a six-pointed star emblazoned on the underside and placed his hand on the front side. The white box onstage pulsed and beamed out a bright white hexagram, indicating that it had received his vote.
For a moment, it hummed, and then, its glow faded back to its default state.
"Wait!" Paulson held out his hand. "We have not yet discussed what your vote is suppose to be!"
The Captain scratched his head. "What is there to discuss? I'm the tie-breaker. I vote however I please."
"But you cannot vote without first understanding the ramification of your vote!"
"Sure I can. I just did." He slid the chip into his back pocket and gave a salute. "Now, if y'all don't mind, I'd like to get back to my little dream machine. She's in parts and pieces right now and I'm hoping to get her back into perfect running order before the light fails tonight."
And with that, he strode off to the nearest exit, leaving all of us agog and speechless.
"Well, I never!" Paulson sputtered.
"That is true. You never." The red-haired lady said and turned back to the audience.
In a strong voice with no need for magikal amplification, she announced to the Assembly.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, all votes are in and accounted for. We have seven 'Yes' votes and seven 'No' votes. The final tie-breaker vote came in, and it is a 'No'. I repeat. The final vote results are in and it is a 'No'"
Immediately, there was an uproar in the audience. The roar almost drowned out her final words.
"This concludes our voting for the day. Thank you everyone for attending our impromptu meeting and casting your House or Discipline votes."
As if on cue, the band in the pit began playing some jolly music score as the lights dimmed for the live concert.
"Your job here is done." Magus Asada spoke to me in a soft, satisfied voice. "I thank you, child, for helping me, and also for being here and taking part in such a momentous historical event."
I shrugged even though I knew she could not see. "I'm glad I could be of some assistance. May I leave now?"
"Yes. Until next time I see you then, my little Augurer, take good care of yourself," she said, and the bubble imploded in my hands.
I sat there for a moment, startled.
She had called me an Augurer!
Of course, I was not one in any sense of the word, but I guess it did not hurt to pretend to be one, especially since Magus Asada was such a cool Augurer.
I wanted to be like Magus Asada!
Around me, the Council of Mages was in turmoil. Everyone was in heated exchanges with everyone else and nobody was paying any particular attention to me.
I took advantage of the momentary confusion and took my leave of the place.
I still had places to go, things to do, and people to see.