“Why don't you want to help?”

She did not answer straight away. After a short thinking pause, she asked:

“Help? Do you fear that the special operation forces will not win?”

OK, even if those goons do have some magic, they are not invulnerable. What we have in Mephisto is a kind of medieval warfare enhanced by magic. Modern warfare is light-years further. You are hit before you even know you've been seen. Radars can display where you are hiding behind iron bars or concrete walls; high-velocity projectiles will go through meters of concrete or metal walls and hit you.

“Oh, come on, there is no way they can lose. Even if some goons have a bit of magic in them, there is no chance that they can face modern weaponry.”

“Then us joining them will not change the outcome, only you'll be no longer free as an end result.”

I tended to agree with the first part, but why should I no longer be free?

“Why that?”

“Do you think you will be allowed to walk free if they know you possess magic and can do magical things? First, they will want to know what exactly is it that you can do, and then they will try to replicate it and control it. The question is not if you will be restricted but how restricted you will be. What do you say if we first see how they handle other people that can spell before going to them?”

Hmm, my alter ego is paranoid... but she does have some points, even if I can hardly understand why somebody should restrict me if I haven't done anything wrong... but ok, maybe I should be more careful.

“Hm. Maybe, but we lose a good opportunity to help when needed.”

She shrugged. She was doing now something else.

“What are you doing?”

“I am putting a flower on this desk.”

“Why?”

“I think it is the desk of that girl with blue eyes. The poor girl lost her flower; I am sure she will be happy to find a new one.”

“Hm, how do you make that? I mean, finding out that it is that girl's desk... Oh shit, she has a picture of that ogre... What are you doing now?”

The flower was already on the desk, but she was now staring into the air.

“I'm trying to get an understanding of all these... is it here that you get a driver's license?”

“No, that is on an upper floor. The data itself will not be here; they work with some pcs, but these are only some kind of terminals; the real data is online in a data centre.”

“Really?”

It was as if she would now encompass a broader view. I had a strange feeling. As if my scalp would scratch.

“Hm. Are those horns? Do I have horns? I mean you... ah...I?”

She laughed.

“Do you feel them? You seem to be very scared by horns; why is that?”

“Are you the devil?”

“The devil? No. You laughed about that girl with horns with Spartacius; you did not think she was the devil? To your first question, you saw me; yes, I do have horns. Let's call them antennas, OK? Because that is what they are for me, a better tool to manipulate magic, or mana, how you call it. You have eyes to see, ears to hear, but how do you feel magic?”

“Cala hears magic, and she has no horns!”

“Yes, but Cala is no fine magic manipulator. If you have bigger ears that can turn towards where the sound comes from, you can better hear and evaluate sounds, isn't it?”

“Well, that sounds true.”

“Same with magic; you have some rudimentary magic manipulation sensors inside your brain. For a spellcaster, your body is a tool to control magic. But that is enough only to say some spells. Magic is so much more! Using my magic antennas, I can manipulate magic, which is higher than what a spellcaster can do. I need now manipulation on an even higher level, as I do not want to bust all these computers; that would be counter-productive, and I want to get that damn license for you.”

“But I do not have horns!?”

“Sure, that's why I made some temporary magical ones. Now shht, let me concentrate; I think I have a trace.”

I felt how she concentrated and felt that sensation that you get after doing sport, and the blood fills your muscles. You feel your hands and legs being warmer. It was that way that I felt like having horns. Strange sensation.

“What did you find?”

She answered with another question:

“Hm, do they have to make it so complicated?”

She was holding her head askew.

“Interesting...”

“What?”

“Let's go upstairs.”

She moved, and the door opened automatically.

“Hey, if they have cameras, they can see that somebody was here!”

“No, I am invisible.”

“Then why did the door open?”

“Because I made it to.”

OK... She was starting to become scary. If they have cameras, they'll think of ghosts...

“You really can make the doors open?”

“There are more ways to do this. I try not to fry them completely so that they should work later on.”

“That would be recommended.”

We entered the above offices. It was strange to see how well she could see in the dark; there was no need for her to turn on the lights.

“See, there are some raw licenses, and the lady working here is keying the data in....”

She took one empty license.

“Do we need to do this here? Can't you do your magic remotely?”

She sighed.

“It is easier this way. It is too much that I do not know, and you are not really helping. What's the matter now?”

“I am afraid. If I get caught here, I'll get into a lot of trouble!”

“You said that already. Keep cool. Only a bit more, and we are done.”

“But it's already getting late. I mean early morning; look, it is getting brighter outside!”

“Just a bit more time. I need to turn on this pc.”

She was taking her time. I don't know what she was doing, but I suppose she wanted to do a proper thing.

“Somebody is coming.”

“Yes, the cleaning staff. It is early morning.”

“Finished?”

“Not yet, but almost.”

How long are you 'almost' finished? She retired into a corner.

“What are you doing?”

“I can control what I need from here. Let the cleaning ladies do their work.”

People started to come in. Some security guards passed by; I was afraid they were investigating something, but they only made their round. Some technical guys came later, and then early office workers appeared.

“Flo, we have to leave now!”

“I am done.”

She grinned, showing me that former empty driver's license with my name on it.

“Cooool!”

I looked at it.

“Fuck Flo, it has the date of Sunday last week on it. That's not good! Is this what you put in the system too?”

“Why? Is Sunday not good?”

“No!”

“Oh, I wondered why no other was on Sunday. OK, OK, let me correct it, Saturday?”

She wondered why no other was on Sunday, and she put it on Sunday...

“No! One working day, make it Tuesday, OK?”

“OK, OK! Just a moment, I need to correct the record too...”

“Maybe I should have kept it. The only driver's license made on Sunday...

“Now it is too late. You have had it since last Tuesday. About two weeks ago. Good?”

“I am good. Now, how do we get out!? Ahm, watch out, somebody is coming this way?”

In the next moment, I was flying through the window. I screamed again inwardly as I fell several levels and landed over a car in the parking. Relative soft landing.

“Oops!”

“What do you mean, oops?”

“I am a flower atop of a car. If I transform back into a human, I'll be a human atop of a car.”

“Oh!”

Now I understood what she did: she jumped towards the open window and transformed into a flower as soon as she was ready. Probably the guy was coming to close the window. She could have warned me. The problem was now with my position on top of that car. She'll have to risk... OK, she did it. Fuck, I was sitting on the weak roof of a convertible, trying my best not to break it.

A bariton male voice froze me:

“What are you doing there?”

Flo turned and saw him. She tried a weak smile:

“Ahm. I'm trying to get down...”

“Just don't move!! Don't! Let me help you...”

A gorilla picked me gently from the roof and helped me down.

“Uhm. Thank you very much!”

He had some muscles to pick me up like that. Eh? One hand went under my thighs, the other behind my back, and I was in the air.

“How did you get there?”- He looked up and sighed - “Oh. So you skip classes, hmm?”

I don't know what was happening on the floor just above the parking, but Flo nodded. The gorilla examined the car.

“It seems unharmed; if the roof does open, I will not kill you!”

Flo sighed.

“You'll need to take a ticket and wait your turn!”

He chuckled whilst going inside the car. A moment later, the roof opened and started to fold. In thirty seconds, it was done.

“It seems to work. Am I free to go?”

Flo watched him sheepishly. He shrugged.

"I'm driving now to Queensborrow. I can drop you on the way if you are interested?"

Flo's eyes lightened:

“Really? I'm going to Queensborrow too; that's the district I live in.”

“Oh, cool.”

He made a gesture towards the free seat beside him. Flo looked at him: a massive dark-haired man with a lot of hair on his muscled hands, a coloured t-shirt covering his pectorals and a broad moustache above a grinning mouth with broad lips. I was undecided now if walrus or gorilla would best describe him. Flo climbed into the cabriolet with a wide grin on her face, to my surprise.

I was so shocked that I did not even get to scream my fear and disappointment into her mind.

Fuck Flo, what do you do to me?

"Sunny!"

Flo shook his hand:

"Dolores"

"Dolores, the angel that fell from the sky into my car!" - he added with a grin - "You could have waited until I opened it."

Fuck, I'm sure I would have crashed through the roof and had an angry Sunny on my tail for wreaking his convertible.