If you find mistakes, pls tell, thx. I don't like mistakes.

Also feel free to ask for more background information on the world. I am somehow running out of interesting points regarding the small comments at the beginning of the chapters.

###############################################################

“And today we have to inform you of a revolutionary breakthrough in technology. Creating a functioning automatic building system was for a long time the holy grail of robotics.

Many tried and all of them failed. In the end the solution to the problem was a multitasking program which can split any building operation into small sub-threads. The great advantage to its predecessors is that it's completely non-sentient.

All we know about the genius who changed the world overnight, is that he or she is an employee of StarDrive. The same company which shook the market with its new fusion reactor just a few months ago.

Since they are guarding the identity of the person in question with great care we assume that he is related to the fusion reactor project.

Whoever it is, once the technology takes root in mining and building operations we can be sure that it'll flip our economy. The person in question won't have to worry about money for a long, long time.

In the future, people won't ask a company to build them something; they will ask for the needed expertise and the blueprints!”

-Economy Channel II

***Aether, The Floating City, above the Atlantic Ocean***

***Gideon***

“I still don't feel confident that this is the right choice, Gideon.” My teacher, Sue, reluctantly takes the application sheet from my hands. “Joining the annual school tournament isn't something a techno-mage should do. You do know that using any devices is forbidden?”

I nod and pull the corners of my mouth upwards. Grandmother told me that this way of smiling works much better for me. “It's just for fun. I don't aim to get the first place.”

Sue shakes her head, but she doesn't voice any more doubts. Having achieved my objective, I wish her goodbye and leave the class. Somehow I've reached the age of ten. Upon looking back it's hard to believe that it's been three years since I've been in this strange new world of magic and technology.

But there was simply too much to learn and to do. On one side I had to learn the ropes of this society and on the other I got taught about magic and technology.

If I manage to keep my schedule I should be done with this schooling system by the time I reach the age of twenty. By then I should have completed all the necessary tests to become a full pilot, though I still don't get why I need a full education in physics and technology along with it.

They seem to want the pilot to be able to repair his spacecraft on his own. Maybe they are right to stick to this policy. Out there in the void it could easily turn out that I myself am the only one who can help me.

My attention returns to the real world and I realize that I am already in front of the computer clubroom. Inside, I find Saden and Paul. In my own mind they are already a married couple. They are spending simply too much time together.

I don't understand what's so great about sharing so much of your personal time with another person. Maybe it's because their interests match?

Paul is completely absorbed in his role as the heir of a very important company and Saden likes laws and managing money. They are a good team, I have to admit that.

I greet them with a wave of my hand and take my place at my computer workstation. The device activates on its own upon registering my presence and I interface with it to follow my hobby. Conspiracy theories! The net is full of strange stuff which has to be explored.

“Not again. What are you looking up this time?” Saden interrupts me from behind.

I turn around to face her. “Nothing too far-fetched. I promise!”

Saden gives me a doubtful look. “Last time you came up with a well crafted theory that the elders are actually artificial intelligences. It took us a month to gather enough evidence to argue you out of that idea. Paul even arranged a meeting with the techno-mage elder for you.”

“And talking with him was very interesting!” I start playing with my fingers, thinking back on that particular event in history, as I like to call it.

“I don't claim that I can't make mistakes from time to time. But the leads were there, even if I had no hard evidence. What are the odds for such long chains of coincidental events? I guess I overlooked the fact that the elders are individuals who are chosen based on their abilities and character. So it's not strange that their decrees are a little bit mechanical.”

Paul pulls a sandwich from his schoolbag and starts eating. “So which theory was crafted by your mad brain this time?”

“Nothing too far-fetched. I promise! Did you ever take a closer look at our teleportation runes? And especially the spacial shift spell for spaceships!? They are all limited to a certain range, so that a space vessel can't jump to another solar system. Making many small jumps would take too long. Why?” I ask.

"Charging the energy banks for a long range translation takes up to a day and the longest jumps go up to ten AU's. So in other words, you will die of old age long before you reach the closest star to the Sun, even if you teleport non-stop. The trick is that the teleportation spells which are currently in use are all limited. You have to pour far more energy into them than they need to in order to do the jump."

Saden reaches out and pulls at my cheek like she always does when she senses that I got another stupid idea. I already learned that this is just her way of expressing that she is genuinely concerned for my well being. She once allowed me to read her mind in order to show me that she really thinks of me as family, so I've no reason to doubt her.

“Don't even think about removing those limiters! There were dozens of scientists involved in those teleportation experiments. Didn't you look up the history? Every spaceship which tried to teleport to another star simply disappeared. That's the only reason why we mages haven't left the solar system. I don't want you disappearing during your round trip!” Finally Saden lets go and I rub my cheek.

“I promise that I won't remove those limiters. Actually my interest lies just in the sequence of historical events.” So I start explaining. “I've researched the first attempts at teleporting a whole spaceship. It's true that the records say that all those ships disappeared, but there is more to it. I think those records were faked. All the experiments were conducted by companies with strong ties to the government.”

Upon seeing that Paul wants to say something I raise one hand to stop him. “My point of interest doesn't lie in the fact that the experiments failed. It's in what happened afterwards. Tell me, why are all of our spaceships armed and why is a tenth of the whole pilot training program dedicated to theoretical space warfare? We never had a war, there are no possible opponents, the society is as stable as it can be.”

Paul pauses for a moment to think. Since his company is involved in producing parts for spaceships he has to know a lot about their construction. “There are requirements a spaceship-design has to fulfil. That includes proper camouflage-tech and offensive as well as defensive capabilities.”

“There is the Revelation Wing. We have to be able to stop them if they manage to steal a spaceship. It could be our undoing if they parade around the Earth while having their information barrier deactivated.” Saden crosses her arms in front of her chest.

She is obviously trying hard to find arguments against me. “And our government is following a policy of self-defence. The people on Earth are becoming more and more interested in the stars after all. Haven't you heard about their recent projects?”

I raise one finger. “Ah, yes. But what can a few rockets and probes do to a society like ours? The most advanced engine they have is an ion thruster. And if at all, that's only a very recent concern. The policies for spaceship construction have been in place since the year one thousand one hundred and nine after the Exodus. At that point the normals didn't even have a spaceship.

The Revelation Wing was a far more dangerous group long before that date and since the Exodus the danger from them only declined. The elders could have changed the policies long before that.”

I place the fingers of my hands together. “What happened though are the long range teleportation experiments! Think about it. The experiments take place, and a few weeks later all new ships have to have specifications which will essentially turn them into vessels for war. Additionally the training schedule for the new pilots is changed and all colonies are required to have either their own fleet of ships for a possible evacuation, or be mobile installations like Aether. In fact this law alone increased our ship production a hundred fold within twenty years and it has only grown since then.”

Paul scratches his forehead. “So your new conspiracy theory says that their long range teleportations actually worked. They went out there and explored the neighbouring systems. The returning exploration vessels found something that the elders didn't like. They faked the outcome of the experiment to stop others from trying to leave the solar system.”

“Exactly!” I clap my hands together. “And not only that. Whatever is out there frightened them enough to make them decide that it's better to hole up in our native system and build up our forces before we go adventuring.”

Saden's face turns expressionless and she turns to Paul. “How long do you think it will take to talk him out of this? One month like the last time?”

Paul looks at me while scratching his cheek. “Actually, I bet on taking three months. He likes those alien conspiracies, so it'll be hard to make him acknowledge evidence which disproves his theory.”

I widen my eyes to show that this wasn't within my calculations. “I've never said anything about aliens. I carefully avoided mentioning those!

But let's change the subject. Have I already informed you two that I joined the annual tournament?”

“No way! So you are really trying to do it? It's a one-on-one tournament between students. As a techno-mage you'll be just a punching bag! Do you get a kick from being hurt?” Saden calls out.

Paul raises his hand. “Don't judge him before he has even tried. Gideon already showed us that his magical skills are outstanding. That bully Ralph didn't even come close to us since he got his ass handed to him, twice.”

I nod enthusiastically. After the events with the thug I found out that he and Paul have a history together. Ralph is the son of a famous weapon manufacturer and when they first entered school together, they were actually friends.

But their parents got into a fight over a contract. Paul's parents refused to let their facilities be used to build fusion bombs. The bombs were intended to blow up a few asteroids in the belt to get a mining operation going.

In the end the bombs were built in another facility, but the harsh words between the families had broken Paul and Ralph's relationship. Especially since Ralph is a child in body and mind he got strongly influenced by his parents and somehow declared a personal vendetta against Paul.

Since his parents are obviously not paying enough attention to him he got into fights with other people who were on Paul's side.

With time it escalated further and he became the school's thug. That day when I ran into him the first time he wanted the key to the computer clubroom in order to cause some havoc in here. He likes to destroy Paul's stuff. Though he got special attention from the school since the last incident and everything cooled down.

That's when another thought hits me. “Oh, that's right. I've to tell Grandmother and the family that I want them to root for me during the tournament!”

Saden slams her forehead on the table in front of her. “You want them watch you being beaten up? Please, at least try not to get hurt too much.”

.