They didn't know who around them might have been a covert agent, so they needed a pretense to get Jessamine off the island without arousing suspicion.
I didn't know they'd go this far, though, she thought. I'll have to tell my mother to tone it down.
She had been training in the gym when the news report flared across the television: "MAGIC REACTOR THETA SUFFERS MALFUNCTION; CITIZENS EVACUATED FROM SURROUNDING AREA…"
Shortly afterwards, she had received a call from an unknown number—nothing new there—though she made sure to speak slightly louder than usual.
"How much time have we got? … The chopper will get here when? … I'm on my way, be ready."
The rumor mill would take care of the rest. It was better to feed information to the spies indirectly, it added believability to fabrications.
Though, this is no fabrication. They really caused the critical failure of a magical reactor in order to create a cover story to get me off-campus.
They're absolutely insane.
A magic reactor was a delicate combination of magic and science; it was an upgrade on a traditional nuclear reactor which used magic runes to both contain and control the nuclear reaction, which in turn was directly converted into electricity by another series of runes. In terms of power generation capacity, a magic reactor had no equal.
Unfortunately, magic reactors were still host to many flaws inherited from nuclear reactors, such as the possibility of a critical failure and reactor meltdown should the runic technology malfunction.
The malfunction engineered by MI7 will take quite some time to cascade into a full meltdown, so there's relatively little risk to the public, yet still ample cause to bring in both the media and myself.
If it weren't so extreme, it'd be genius.
Is genius necessarily extreme?
Caspian Dawson may be a genius. I wonder where his extremities lie…
…and, why would he need an aura shroud?
This was the question that had been bothering Jessamine for the past few weeks, which she considered again en route to the failing magic reactor.
There can only be one reason: he's a highly-ranked magician, which his aura would give away.
He has some reason to hide who he is, both in terms of magical and technical ability.
I wonder… just how much else is he hiding?
Wait—is he an Ultimate?
There were five known Ultimate-level magicians in Britannia.
The first, of course, was King Uther Pendragon. Every sovereign since the discovery of magic had been an Ultimate, which was far too convenient to be anything but a plot by the monarchy to retain power.
The next three were the Magi. These Ultimate magicians had been in His Majesty's Service since the second Great War, so it wasn't hard to tell that the title of Magi had been passed between multiple magicians. Only certain members of certain Blessed Houses were aware that there were currently eleven Magi sharing three titles; this was a closely-guarded state secret, meant to be a precaution against intelligence efforts by enemy states.
The last was the Absolute, who was still an Ultimate-level magician despite being on a completely different level from the others.
Being ranked as an Ultimate magician was an indication of almost-supernatural synchronicity, guaranteeing that any spell cast by one would be devastatingly powerful at minimum. They also seemed to have a knack for instinctive magic, with which Master-level magicians would regularly struggle unless they maintained a strict training regimen.
The Absolute was different. That mystery magician did not cast magic on instinct: he exercised total control over magical fields, not even needing to lift a finger to obliterate his enemies. That much had been proven in the Maldives. It was speculated that he was using instinctive magic with a high synchronicity, but that had never been confirmed.
If Caspian is an Ultimate, he might be one of the Magi. That would explain his desire to hide his identity and his aura, as well as his understanding of magic theory and technology…
I've got to find a way to confirm it.
Jessamine spent the rest of her flight trying to come up with a way to test Caspian's abilities without his knowledge, but failed.
When the helicopter landed at Magic Reactor Theta, two men dressed in safety gear met her and escorted Jessamine inside. Though she recognized the two as MI7 agents, she figured that they wouldn't appreciate their cover being blown, so she greeted them cordially as if she'd never met them before.
They led her into the reactor itself, where she donned similar safety gear and proceeded alone to the reactor core.
Standing in the concrete and lead-lined hallway just outside the door was Duchess Annalise di Cadenza, Director of MI7 and Jessamine's mother.
"You know I have a cell phone, right, mother?"
"Well, if you ever answered it, we wouldn't be here," her mother shot back with a smile. "You can never be too careful, especially when a Blackstone is in the mix."
"Don't remind me," Jessamine sighed. "So? What was so important that you had to engineer a nuclear meltdown to get me off-campus?"
Her mother's eyes narrowed.
"We've uncovered Mr. Dawson's sealed military record," she replied.
"Military? What branch?"
"Army special forces up until four years ago, when he was transferred somewhere else and his record was redacted. Needless to say, his new position was never documented."
"Intelligence, do you think?"
"There's a possibility, yes," her mother replied. "There's also a possibility that a third party picked him up. Now do you understand why I wanted to be cautious?"
Realization dawned on Jessamine.
"As far as I know, he's only had a handful of interactions with Elisabeth Blackstone," she said. "From what I can tell, he doesn't seem to care about her or her position."
But she might care about him… that whisper, it didn't seem to share the same animosity as their previous interactions.
"It might be a giant deception," said the Duchess. "If the Blackstones are involved, I wouldn't put it past them."
"Neither would I," answered Jessamine, "though I do have my own theory, if you'd care to hear it?"
"Of course, Jessie."
Jessamine winced.
"I've felt for quite some time that Caspian is hiding his identity in multiple ways. I believe he has created a magic tool which can fake his aura, and I also believe he deliberately failed the entrance exam for the Societie. We know he has a very deep understanding of magic and runic technology, and has access to advanced runes that most people do not."
"Oh, really? How fascinating."
"I think those facts point towards him being an Ultimate," Jessamine continued. "Maybe Master-level, but he's definitely strong enough to want to hide his aura. And the technology he has—unless he made it himself, it would only be easy to obtain for an Ultimate. And even if he made it himself, I still think that qualifies him for the position."
"What kind of technology are we talking about?"
Jessamine's eyes twinkled.
"Teleportation bullets."
She saw her mother's eyes widen in shock.
The heavy steel door at the opposite end of the passageway abruptly swung on its hinges, allowing the pair to hear the words "Stop! You can't go in there!" float towards them.
Through the door stepped another figure, another woman dressed in the same protective garb as Jessamine and her mother. Jessamine readied herself for a fight, but relaxed when she saw who it was.
"Vivianne?"
"Hey Jess!"
Vivianne Loche strode towards the pair, waving cordially and smiling.
"Lt. Loche, what are you doing here?" asked the Duchess. "This meeting is top-secret and out of your jurisdiction. Explain yourself."
Jessamine positioned herself between Vivianne and her mother, looking at the former with a curious attitude.
"I heard you were looking for some cooperation from MI5, so I figured I'd drop by when the two of you were together."
The Duchess was not satisfied with this answer, but decided not to press the issue.
"Since you're here, Lieutenant, perhaps you could explain why an MI5 helicopter paid a visit to Avalonne-du-Prix on the evening of your grandfather's assassination attempt?"
Vivianne's smile didn't falter.
"I'm afraid I'm not aware of any such event. Perhaps one of the other sections may be of some assistance?"
"Why are you here, then?" asked the Duchess.
"Just to issue a warning," Vivianne replied, her tone suddenly icy. "MI5 has been keeping tabs on Caspian Dawson for quite some time now. We have priority when it comes to anything regarding him, and we have plans for his future. Please keep that in mind."
She came all this way just to tell us to stop investigating Caspian? thought Jessamine. There's definitely something special about him. He must be an Ultimate after all—and MI5 is trying to recruit him. I see my instincts have served me well.
Jessamine could tell her mother was following a similar line of reasoning.
"And if we don't?"
"Well, despite the di Cadenza family's ties to MI7 and the Royal Family, you guys really haven't been around that long, have you? Here's hoping that you continue growing into your current role, and don't experience any setbacks."
It was a threat, plain and simple. An ultimatum.
Jessamine smiled.
Very well. I'll play your game.
But you will regret underestimating the House di Cadenza.
"Now, Jess, don't you have a magic reactor to repair?" taunted Vivianne as she turned to leave. "We wouldn't want it to actually go critical, you know."