Summer is synonymous with freedom, and yet I was feeling very trapped at the moment.

  My dad had dragged me along on a camping trip on the very st weekend of August, and so I was now on a hill overlooking my home town of Bckbriar. I had found a small path leading away from the campsite that lead to a clearing that gave me a pretty good view of the town. There was a lone oak tree here with a huge canopy and thick branches. From here I could see the tall white steeple of the Methodist church, the low and squat building we called a city hall, and the rural sprawl that faded into farmnd the further from the town square you got. All the trees in town had just flecks of orange that made them appear to shimmer whenever the wind blew through them. It was a very scenic sight, practically made for a postcard.

  The problem is that I would much rather be staring at my computer monitor than this New Engnd splendor. But my dad had insisted we do something as a family before school started for me again, so here I was.

  I sighed and walked back to the campsite to find my dad getting a fire going so that we could cook some dinner. He pulled some burger patties out of a nearby cooler and set them on the small metal grate that sat over the burning coals. I was willing to admit that the cooking meat did smell pretty good, but I keep my face neutral to show him that I was displeased with the outing as a whole. The sun was getting low as we sat down and began to eat our dinner. We didn't really say much for a while. I liked it that way.

  "So," my dad said, "Senior year. How's that feel?"

  "Eh." was my response. Going back to school wasn't the most enticing prospect, but if I just kept my head down I could get through it just fine.

  "Well," my dad said, "what about colleges? Have you figured out which you wanna apply to?"

  "Yeah, I got a list." I said. "I'm trying to get into one with a good computer science program, so I'll talk with my counselor about that when school starts."

  Not a total lie. I did want to go into computer science, but I hadn't done the research as to which schools in the area would be best for that sort of thing. It didn't matter much to me though; with my grades I should be able to get into anywhere, and IT pays well so student loans shouldn't be that much of an issue.

  "Gd to hear you got a pn." my dad said. "I suppose not all that time spent cooped up in your room was spent gaming after all."

  We didn't say much more after that. We finished our burgers and then watched the sun finally set behind the hills that surround our town. I stood up to get into our tent when I felt my dad's hand touch mine.

  "Hold on there, son," Dad said, "there's something I want to talk to you about."

  Ugh. I sat down.

  "Look, Alex," he said, "you're going into your senior year, and...and I've never seen you bring friends over, or join any clubs, or--"

  "There's Matt." I said.

  "Alex, I think you made Matt up so that I wouldn't bother you about socializing." Dad said as he crossed his arms.

  "He's real, I just don't bring him over. I've shown you some of our chats." I expined. That wasn't a lie; me and Matt had a few csses together st year and we found out we both liked computer science, so we would chat at school and then game whenever we had the chance. We had an agreement that hanging out in Discord was about as good as going over to each other's houses or whatever. Sometimes we visited the game store in town, but that was about it.

  "Ok, all the same," Dad continued, "this is your st year of high school. Most people would kill for the chance to relive that experience. I want to see you make the most of it, ok? Go to Homecoming, or join a sports team--"

  I snickered.

  "Ok, maybe not that one, but you see what I'm saying, right? I want to see that you can reach out to people, live a life outside of your room." I'm not asking the world of you just...put yourself out there. It'll be worth it. I promise."

  I nodded. "Ok, Dad. I promise."

  "Good." Dad said. He patted me on the shoulder as he stood up. "Now, let's get to bed. It gets chilly quick this time of year."

  ***

  I id in my sleeping bag turning Dad's words over in my brain. I did plenty of physical tossing and turning too, but I knew that wouldn't bother Dad much. One time he slept through the worst thunderstorm the town had had in fifty years. The man practically turns to stone whenever he closes his eyes.

  I thought about trying to be more social. How could I even do that? I'd become a ghost in my school career, a purposeful act of concealment so that I could avoid being bullied or dragged into a clique. If I suddenly started trying to be more social I feel like no one would even know who I am. Plus, who would they even see me as; a nerd who pys games until 2am and knows way too much about anime? Yeah, I'd rather they just forget about me all together.

  Ugh. All this self reflection was making me uncomfortable. I needed to get out for a bit. I slowly got up out of my bag and tiptoed out of the tent. The air had gotten chilly surprisingly quickly. I didn't mind though. I needed the fresh air. I walked down the path back to the clearing with the oak tree and looked out over Bckbriar. It wasn't a bustling metropolis or anything, but I could still see some cars driving around and people out and about. It looked peaceful.

  I couldn't really imagine life outside of this town. I couldn't imagine much of a life at all, really. I was always just kind of coasting along. I wanted to do stuff with computers, sure, but whenever I tried to picture how things would look for me in five years my mind came up bnk.

  I closed my eyes, leaned against the tree and sighed.

  "I wish..." I said, my voice trailing off. God, I couldn't even think of something I wished was different in my life. Easiest question in the world and I'm blowing it.

  That's when I noticed something. A pale pink glow that I could see even through my closed eyes.

  I opened my eyes and saw that the glow was coming from somewhere glows usually don't come from; the tree I was leaning against.

  "What the..." I said. I stumbled back from the tree. The whole tree was glowing a soft pink, from its leaves to its roots. I realized that it was also warm too. I racked my brain trying to remember if radioactive things glow pink, but then I figured I'm probably already dead if it's radioactive, so I may as well investigate. I reached out and pced my hand against the tree trunk. The bark began to recede, peeling back until a small hollow was revealed. Sitting it was a small wand. The handle was about six inches long and about an inch thick. It was topped by a crescent, with both ends pointing away from the rod. The whole thing was made of metal the color of rose gold. I hesitantly touched it; it was cool. I picked it up and held it in my hand. It was very girly--

  Is that a bad thing? I heard a woman's voice say.

  I looked around, shocked that someone else was out here. I couldn't see anybody, but I had heard the voice, clear as day. Did someone else notice the glow and come to investigate?

  Excuse me, sir. The same voice said again.

  "Who's there?" I said, doing my best to sound intimidating. "Show yourself!"

  I already have. The voice replied. Or rather, you made me show myself.

  I paused. I looked down at the wand in my hand.

  "No way." I said. "I must be going crazy."

  I assure you that you are not going mad. The voice replied. I must say, it is nice to finally be awake.

  "I...woke you up?"

  Yes, though I admit I am...not sure how. The wand said.

  "Wait, wait, wait, hold on." I said. "Are you...magic?"

  A pause from the wand. I somehow got the impression that I'd offended it somehow.

  Why no, young man. The wand said. I am able to talk and glow through the good grace of God, blessed be his--

  "Right, right, ok, got it, stupid question." I said. "So you're magic, ok, cool. Who made you?"

  I...do not know. The wand admitted. My memory is...fuzzy...

  "Ok, um...do you have a name?"

  Another pause. I can't say I do.

  "What?"

  The glow of the wand began to dim.

  Oh, I'm sorry, I am seem to be...much weaker than I thought. the voice said. I must rest until...the next nightfall.

  "Wait, hold on." I said. "I have more questions."

  But that was that. I didn't hear the voice again.

  I couldn't just leave something like this alone. I tucked the wand into my pocket, then I crept back into the tent, quiet as a church mouse. My dad was thankfully still asleep. I tucked the wand into my backpack, pulled myself into my sleeping bag and did my best to fall asleep.

  ***

  Dorothy Beauregard stood in her penthouse suite, looking down at the city below. The cars moved like ants through the grid of streets that made up Manhattan. It was something that made her nervous at times. This truly was the city that never sleeps, but that meant that stopping to rest would be showing weakness. She'd stepped on too many toes to get to where she was now, and she always dreaded sleep because it meant that there would be a period of time when she wouldn't be able to do anything. Who knows what some rival company would do if she let herself rex for too long?

  Some might find this fear irrational, but one doesn't get to be the founder and CEO of a multi-billion dolr tech company by being passive. Even though Dorothy could afford to delegate most of the day-to-day duties to those below her on the corporate dder, she still involved herself in almost every facet of running the company. Some called her a workaholic. Dorothy called those people zy. It was her drive and dedication that had taken Tempest Industries from a start up to one of the top 3 tech companies in the world. She was the richest woman in the world, with a net worth of 125 billion dolrs. Yet there was something that alluded her. Something that she could not buy with money. It was the thing that kept her up at night. The very same thing that had made her get out of bed and look out the window, deep in thought.

  It had happened after a long party in a mansion on the Tuscany coast. She'd been invited to attend a conference by the leaders of some European tech companies, and they had convinced her to come to this 'afterparty', as it were. Most had spent the night hitting on her, but she had become skilled at deflecting the unwanted advances of powerful men.

  She was standing on a balcony looking over the Mediterranean. A handsome Italian gentlemen in a sharp suit appeared beside her and leaned against the railing. Dorothy looked him over. Very attractive, to be sure, but she did not attend these sorts of functions in order to fulfill those desires of hers.

  "I admired your speech at the conference, signora." He said. "What you said about taking hold of the future was very inspiring."

  "Ah yes," she said, "'The future is something that must be seized, lest it disappear into the night before we can make use of it.' Remind me to give my copywriter a raise."

  The Italian man chuckled. "Oh, I doubt those words were written by someone who didn't truly believe in them."

  Dorothy ran through her mental database of who was at this party. A few automobile manufacturers, telecom CEOs, and--

  Found him. She was currently speaking to Alberto Bernardi, CEO of Voce D'Italia, a wide reaching news organization with its hands in TV, radio, print, and internet news.

  He was also the owner of the mansion they were currently in.

  "Signora Beauregard," he said, "I was wondering if you'd be able to help me with a...project."

  Dorothy raised her eyebrow. "Project, Signor Bernardi?"

  "Yes, it is something I believe that a woman of your disposition would be most interested in." he said. "If you'd follow me."

  He turned away and walked back into the mansion. Dorothy followed him past drunken partygoers and through elegant hallways until they came to a massive set of wooden double doors. Alberto produced an iron key from his pocket and unlocked the doors, then he pushed them open. They swung aside to reveal floor to ceiling bookshelves, stretching up so high that rolling dders had been attached to allow access to the higher shelves. Ornate reading chairs were pced throughout the room, and rge round windows on the opposite wall allowed the setting sun to cast its orange light into the library, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere.

  Alberto ignored all these things and strolled over to the bookshelf on the east wall. He pulled on a slim red leather volume, and a section of the bookshelf began to recede into the wall before sliding aside, revealing a dimly lit room beyond the threshold. He turned to Dorothy with a pyful smile. "I've wanted a room like that since I was un raggazino." Then he turned and walked into the mysterious room. Dorothy followed.

  There was just one item in the room. It sat under a gss dispy case, lit by a single LED shining from above. It was a book; an ancient one, bound in leather that had begun to curl and with yellowed pages. A symbol inid in gold still shone brightly on the front cover. It was a circle with two lines spiraling inwards from the edge, dancing around each other as if they were caught in a whirlpool.

  "See, I am a collector of rare books." Alberto began to expin. "I mainly focus on collecting the esoteric, the unusual, the things that exist on the periphery."

  Alberto pressed on a part of the wall, and it gave way, sliding down to reveal a compartment holding two white gloves.

  "I came across this volume while visiting Urbino." Alberto said as he put on the gloves. "A local dy was selling her te aunt's possessions, and she cimed that she had used this book to accomplish things that would otherwise be unexpinable. I was the only one willing to buy it."

  He lifted the gss off the dispy and set it aside. He gingerly lifted up the book and opened it to a page in the middle. Alberto traced his finger along a line of text, muttering to himself, then he became quiet. He held out his hand with his palm facing upwards, his inviting smile turning into a thin line. He whispered something under his breath, and then it happened.

  Alberto's palm began to glow, but then the light began to float up out of his hand in little drops. These drops began to coalesce until they formed a small sphere that floated about six inches above his hand. Whenever he moved his hand, the sphere would follow the motion so it was always floating above his palm. Then he snapped his fingers, and it was gone.

  Dorothy, for once in her life, was speechless.

  "Well," Alberto said, "are you interested?"

  Dorothy took a deep breath, and then nodded.

  ***

  Alberto was cagey about the details at first, but he was willing to open up more as they drank more wine and id back in the comfortable chairs in his library. The book was written in a type of cipher that he'd only cracked a month before. The light spell was about all he could manage at the moment, but it seemed to confirm that the other spells in the book should work given time and practice. No author was listed, and Alberto had been unable to find anything like it in the rare books market.

  "But you, signora," he said, his words slurring slightly as he spoke, "you can change that."

  "How so?" Dorothy said.

  "You have a 60% worldwide market share in smartphones, and 40% in personal computers." He said. "If you could use those devices, tap into the private messages, photos, all those little pieces of data that make up a life, then we could find more books like this in no time at all!"

  "It wouldn't be that easy." Dorothy said. "We're talking about petabytes of data. Trawling through that much information to find anything is-"

  "Possible." Alberto said. "It's possible. That's what important."

  Dorothy paused. "Why would you want to learn about magic?"

  Alberto swirled his wine. "When you live in our world," Alberto said, "the world of the rich and powerful, not much can be denied to you. There are very few things you can't pay a man to do for you, but there are some goals none of us can achieve. Immortality, precognition, et cetera, et cetera. But now," he said, leaning forward so close that Dorothy could smell the alcohol on his breath, "you and I both know such things aren't impossible."

  Alberto suddenly stood up, stumbling a bit before he found his bance. "You may stay in one of the guest bedrooms tonight." he said. "Would you like to speak more in the morning?"

  "Yes, of course," Dorothy said, "who wouldn't?"

  "Very well, signora." He leaned down and sloppily kissed her hand. "I shall see you then." With that, he walked out of the library, leaving Dorothy alone.

  Dorothy pulled out her smartphone (a Tempest X, of course) and opened up an encrypted chat with her own personal tech support.

  Dorothy: Eliza?

  Eliza: Ms. Beauregard? It's the middle of the night where you are, why are you texting?

  Dorothy: Listen, can you get into the personal files of Alberto Bernardi? My phone is connected to his mansion's WiFi, so that can be you way in. I'm looking for anything involving ciphers, decryption, and encryption.

  Eliza: What? What is this about?

  Dorothy: Do it. I will expin ter.

  Eliza: Yes, ma'am.

  Dorothy got a text back about ten minutes ter. Eliza had dug up a huge folder of photos and documents that chronicled his attempts and eventual success and decrypting the book, along with a handy key guide to the strange alphabet that it was written in.

  Dorothy: Thank you, Eliza. Secure that in my private files. Make sure only you and I can access it, and wipe it completely from Bernardi's system. I'll take care of things from here.

  ***

  The next morning, the brakes on Alberto's sports car mysteriously failed, causing him to crash through a guardrail while driving along a seaside road. Foul py was suspected, but the police couldn't tie the accident to anyone. He had no next of kin. During the estate sale, Dorothy Beauregard purchased a handful of items, among them a strange antique book that had been a part of Alberto's personal collection.

  Now it was a year ter, and as she gazed down at the city she couldn't help but feel frustrated. Eliza was working overtime trawling though the data from millions of Tempest devices, but she hadn't found any hint of anything as genuinely magical as the book. Dorothy had read the whole thing front to back, and she could do some things that the average person might find extraordinary enough; move small objects with her mind, make a jet of fme shoot out of her hand, but she knew there was more. She didn't want to be able to just do parlor tricks; she wanted power.

  She decided now would be a good time to perform a little ritual of hers. She walked from her bedroom to her study. The pce had a bookshelf taking up one whole wall, filled with books on business, technology and psychology. Her state of the art PC sat on her desk; it wasn't any sort of commercial model, but was instead built out of prototype parts made by Tempest. The room had no decor other than a map of the world hanging above her desk, with little pins representing Tempest facilities dotting it. There was a pin on every continent except Antarctica.

  She pressed her hand against the map and closed her eyes. She had cast this spell everyday since she learned it; it was designed to detect high magical activity. Everyday she cast it on the map, hoping she would be able to sense something, but--

  There.

  Right there, she felt a pulsing sensation in her palm. She opened her eyes and saw something.

  On the map, the whole region of New Engnd was glowing blue.

  The temptation to let out some sort of expletive was strong, but Dorothy tamped it down and instead followed her pn for this sort of thing. She went to her bookshelf and pulled down an ats of America. She flipped through the pages until she got to a page showing all of New Engnd. She pressed a finger against the page and whispered the spell again.

  Now only Massachusetts was glowing.

  She flipped through the pages again, doing her best to keep herself from panicking. She needed to narrow this down, figure out what was going on before it slipped through her grasp.

  She got to the page showing Massachusetts and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes, touched the page, and recite the spell again. When she opened her eyes, she saw that one name was glowing brighter than any other.

  Bckbriar.