Magnus' Story S1E6

 

 "Auranthos Magetech and the Underduct"

 

 Our hero, still in Gaseous Form, can't seem to seep past the arcane wards placed around the sealed door reading: "Off-Limits. Auranthos Magetech Security". But there is more than one way to skin a cat.

Magnus could seek-out an ABC employee and pickpocket their security card, but that comes with risk. So, instead, Magnus uses the last charge on his Dimension Door gadget to pop right behind the locked door and finds himself in part of the nervous system of Æther City, a mile of mana-conduits, relay nodes, and service passages running beneath the city that smells of ozone and old stone.

The tunnels seem quiet.

And though there are some twists, turns, and off-shoots, the main path is easy to follow and even has signage.

Soon Magnus comes to the opening of a infrastructure chamber when he hears talking. It seems that some thug, who stand-out like a sour thumb down here, and their handler are waiting for Magnus.

The handler even addresses him by his name.

Wisely, the detective uses his innate ability to cause darkness to fill an area to lay a trap for his opponents by also placing a hard to spot spike growth patch that almost fills the floor.

Not having ranged capabilities, one thug blindly moves forward, causing himself intense pain and damage. He cusses in agony and anger.

The other thug steps into the spiky zone but quickly backs out.

The Handler patently waits... 

 But Magnus does not. He blasts the bold, or stupid, thug, who has now stepped out of the darkness, but still remains in the spike growth area, with Fire Bolts, that drop him and render the thug lifeless. 

Magnus then, using Gaseous Form and Mirror Image, maneuvers himself over the growth patch and darkness to some grates and stairs that lead to a the only door in the large room.

Blasting the last thug and moving the spike growth to surround the Handler, Magnus bloodies his opponent, getting him to surrender and give up what he knows on the operation to surveil and capture Magnus.

Our hero zip-ties the handler, gagging him, then searching for anything useful like a phone before looking on the bodies of the dead thugs. 

Magnus scores some Overcharge Patches, Stun batons, Sigil grenades and a Shock-Blade. All useful to him.

So with the remaining assailant secured to some pipes, Magnus enters the chamber that is larger than it has any right to be this far underground. Banks of crystal arrays line the walls, each pulsing with soft bioluminescent light. And in the center of the room, isolated from the rest of the equipment by a ring of dampening wards, sits a secondary array Magnus doesn't recognize. It isn't labeled. It isn't on any schematic. And it is broadcasting something. 

A secondary array transmitting at 7.7 thaumic Hz — the bleed frequency. It is piggybacked on the ABC's main signal. The transmission is not entertainment. It is a tight-beam coordination signal — almost certainly a broadcast channel. The signal is encrypted in a cipher Magnus doesn't recognize. It is not standard Æther City code. The array also bears a manufacturer's mark: AURANTHOS MAGETECH, PROPRIETARY INFRASTRUCTURE — AUTHORIZED ACCESS ONLY. 

 Our Hero snaps a few photos of the scene and then makes his way through an alternate tunnel to an secret escape hatch. 

Magnus' ride, Raych, still waiting, drives him to The Fang to speak with Arcadia. 

...

Arcadia can't help but remain worried, considering the situation with the doppelgangers. "All this can't be coincidence". 

Magnus and officer Raych return to A.C.I. to rest up and regroup.

Calls are made to Magnus' contacts, to make sure they are safe.

Nix is able to hack the handler's phone to pinpoint Eryk's location... A scrapyard in Container City.

 

Now Magnus has another lead...