Read Online Reality Hack by Niall Teasdale - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Niall Teasdale
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that would be a bit of a giveaway,’ Nisa commented. ‘Chucking a fireball at someone isn’t exactly kosher science.’
‘More than that, it’s harder. People who don’t believe in what you’re doing make it more difficult to do it. That’s why I prefer more subtle effects. Things people won’t notice take less power and are easier to achieve. Because they aren’t seen, they produce less Probrum. Normal people are the eyes and ears of The System and letting it see you doing “unnatural” things is never good.’
‘So… the text I read is a bit vague. What can you do?’
Norbery twitched his head at Kellog. ‘Get him to check you out a couple of textbooks, in English, not Latin. Something on wizardry, witchcraft, maybe alchemy. Your paradigm relies as much on what you can imagine doing as what you know and the broader your understanding, the better. Besides, you should know what you’re up against if you face a caster. Am I right, Field Agent?’
Kellog nodded. ‘Yes… Yes it’s a good point. Bugs and Glitches aren’t the only things you’ll find doing things we have to stop.’
‘Great,’ Nisa muttered.
‘I understand you’ve inherited a cat,’ Norbery said, apparently going for a brighter subject.
‘Uh-huh. Well, someone has to and she seems to like me, and Mrs Carew isn’t going to be looking after her.’
Norbery nodded. ‘A female then?’
‘Faline,’ Nisa replied, nodding.
‘Good. The males can be troublesome.’
Nisa grinned. ‘That works for humans too.’
Tower Hamlets.
Faline watched Nisa struggling through the door with a pile of books tied together with string and refrained from winding herself around her new owner’s legs until the load had been relieved.
‘Thank you for waiting,’ Nisa said, picking the cat up. ‘I’m happy to see you too.’ That got her cheek butted by a furry head and a burst of purr which dispelled the ache in Nisa’s muscles long enough for her to put food out for the cat and settle down on the sofa to read.
Kellog had decided she might as well have some basic texts at her fingertips, so long as she remembered to keep them out of sight if she had visitors. Nisa had assured him that she rarely had visitors, and when she did they were mostly interested in her naked body, not her library. Kellog had given her a look.
All the books were modern, rather stiffly written, textbooks, no more than twenty years old. Even the one on Druids was based on modern practice, though it stressed that those practices had been handed down since the Dark Ages. Somehow Nisa suspected the author was protesting too much. There was one on wizardry, another on alchemy, and a study of voodoo, but the witchcraft one seemed the most modern and the most accessible. She decided to start with that.
Faline returned from the kitchen, licking her lips, and apparently decided that she needed more attention. On the other hand, she seemed happy enough sitting in Nisa’s lap as long as she could read the book along with her owner. Nisa tried scratching her between her ears, but the purring made it hard to concentrate so after a few seconds of that they just settled for reading in silence.
Witches, it seemed, were into the kind of thing that you would expect witches to be into. There was a big section on herbs and their uses. The magic they used had a sort of elemental focus, but there were parts of the book dedicated to dealing with departed spirits and the ‘walking dead.’ There was a lot of stuff about how using your powers to cause harm tended to backfire. The universe frowned upon those who wrought ill. Nisa got the distinct impression that the author knew nothing about The System and considered what they did to be actual magic rather than bending the rules of a simulation.
That begged the question of whether this whole ‘System’ thing was real, or just a theory. Maybe the world was real, and The System was just another paradigm. Or a working theory to explain
‘More than that, it’s harder. People who don’t believe in what you’re doing make it more difficult to do it. That’s why I prefer more subtle effects. Things people won’t notice take less power and are easier to achieve. Because they aren’t seen, they produce less Probrum. Normal people are the eyes and ears of The System and letting it see you doing “unnatural” things is never good.’
‘So… the text I read is a bit vague. What can you do?’
Norbery twitched his head at Kellog. ‘Get him to check you out a couple of textbooks, in English, not Latin. Something on wizardry, witchcraft, maybe alchemy. Your paradigm relies as much on what you can imagine doing as what you know and the broader your understanding, the better. Besides, you should know what you’re up against if you face a caster. Am I right, Field Agent?’
Kellog nodded. ‘Yes… Yes it’s a good point. Bugs and Glitches aren’t the only things you’ll find doing things we have to stop.’
‘Great,’ Nisa muttered.
‘I understand you’ve inherited a cat,’ Norbery said, apparently going for a brighter subject.
‘Uh-huh. Well, someone has to and she seems to like me, and Mrs Carew isn’t going to be looking after her.’
Norbery nodded. ‘A female then?’
‘Faline,’ Nisa replied, nodding.
‘Good. The males can be troublesome.’
Nisa grinned. ‘That works for humans too.’
Tower Hamlets.
Faline watched Nisa struggling through the door with a pile of books tied together with string and refrained from winding herself around her new owner’s legs until the load had been relieved.
‘Thank you for waiting,’ Nisa said, picking the cat up. ‘I’m happy to see you too.’ That got her cheek butted by a furry head and a burst of purr which dispelled the ache in Nisa’s muscles long enough for her to put food out for the cat and settle down on the sofa to read.
Kellog had decided she might as well have some basic texts at her fingertips, so long as she remembered to keep them out of sight if she had visitors. Nisa had assured him that she rarely had visitors, and when she did they were mostly interested in her naked body, not her library. Kellog had given her a look.
All the books were modern, rather stiffly written, textbooks, no more than twenty years old. Even the one on Druids was based on modern practice, though it stressed that those practices had been handed down since the Dark Ages. Somehow Nisa suspected the author was protesting too much. There was one on wizardry, another on alchemy, and a study of voodoo, but the witchcraft one seemed the most modern and the most accessible. She decided to start with that.
Faline returned from the kitchen, licking her lips, and apparently decided that she needed more attention. On the other hand, she seemed happy enough sitting in Nisa’s lap as long as she could read the book along with her owner. Nisa tried scratching her between her ears, but the purring made it hard to concentrate so after a few seconds of that they just settled for reading in silence.
Witches, it seemed, were into the kind of thing that you would expect witches to be into. There was a big section on herbs and their uses. The magic they used had a sort of elemental focus, but there were parts of the book dedicated to dealing with departed spirits and the ‘walking dead.’ There was a lot of stuff about how using your powers to cause harm tended to backfire. The universe frowned upon those who wrought ill. Nisa got the distinct impression that the author knew nothing about The System and considered what they did to be actual magic rather than bending the rules of a simulation.
That begged the question of whether this whole ‘System’ thing was real, or just a theory. Maybe the world was real, and The System was just another paradigm. Or a working theory to explain
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