Hello and welcome back the story of Alexia, the glass alchemist. This chapter will begin introducing the main story arc. I have put a fair amount of thought into this storyline, and am quite proud of it. It will not be slow paced, but will take a long time to write, so expect us to be in this for the long haul together.
Have a pleasant read.
Chapter three, define interesting.
Alexia woke up groggily, and glanced at the clock on her wall.
Three hours till work. It was still dark outside even.
She slumped back down into her bed. She had never imagined military work could be so dull. She spent all her time signing papers it seemed. The only redeeming factor was that everyone else was doing it as well.
The first three days had been hell. She was buried nose deep in requisition forms for her own equipment, equipment for the office, and equipment for Cameron, since he didn't have any authorization. He was technically an archivist, and mostly handled the team's work that way. He had a truly strange way about him though. He arrived at the office an hour before anyone else, and left an hour later. He always looked tired, with dark bags under his black eyes, against his papery pale face. Even though he was always working, he always had a huge, ungainly stack of papers on his desktop.
Alexia got out of bed and staggered over to the shower. She opened the door and turned on the flickering, slightly broken light.
She messed about with the tap for a moment, setting the water to slightly hotter than most people would tolerate.
She stripped, then climbed in. The water beat a steady tattoo on her skin, massaging out the stiffness in her muscles. A lot of people hated her shower, they said the water pressure was too high, an it left them numb all over. She liked it though, it helped ease the tension of everyday life and loosen her body up.
She was still unsure about what to think of her job. She recalled a conversation she had with sergeant Acker a few days ago.
Alexia had asked if their whole job was like this. Sergeant Acker had just looked at her a moment before answering.
"No, we're between cases right now, but trust me, you won't mind the boring bits after your first few cases."
That had puzzled Alexia greatly. Why on earth would they ever look forwards to signing papers all day? She knew that carter specialized in alchemy related crime, but how could that be any worse than normal crime?
The thought plagued her mind as she towered off and stepped out of the shower. She knew about philosopher's stones from her old alchemy books, and she knew chimeras could be unpleasant to deal with, but what was so horrible about their work?
She dressed in a soft black shirt and military blue trousers, then her military jacket and long coat tail around her legs. She fixed her hair in a simple ponytail, the brushed her teeth.
She glanced at herself in the mirror. Perfect.
She walked out into her lounge and looked about for her bag and transmutation gloves. They were black silk, with the circle picked out in white thread. She had several pairs of these.
She packed her bag quickly with everything she would need for the day. Paper, spare glass pens, her handgun, some cosmetics and ink. She added her leather bound notebook as an afterthought. Never hurt to have a notebook.
She slung the bag's strap across her shoulder. It was a brown satchel made from tough, stiffened fabric. Alexia thought it looked military enough to be taken seriously, though it was always a nagging doubt.
She left her apartment and locked the door, then unlocked it, and re locked it. No harm in checking after all.
She quickly walked out the front door of the building and onto the street.
She loved living in west city.
The buildings were smaller than central, and lacked the grey monotone of that city. These were constructed as much of wood as stone or concrete. Wood and brick, those were the materials of west city. She looked over towards western command.
That was a building that stood quite literally head and shoulders above everything around it. While it wasn't as impressive as central command, it was still a far sight bigger than anything around it. It had a central section, a large boxy affair with an observation tower in the northeast corner. Out from that two wings extended, each one six stories tall and dotted with windows. At either end was another more box shaped building. Each of these was just beneath the height of the centre tower at ten stories tall. Atop each of these was a small spotting tower in the centre, and five large artillery pieces. The centre tower had six. Arranged around the outside of this were a series of outbuildings. There was an armory, library, archive, a couple laboratories, some warehouses and barracks. There was even a very well equipped hospital. Between these buildings was a pleasant environment of green, grassy park, dotted with trees. Surrounding it all was a low wall, about one and a half stories high, and topped with a parapet.
Alexia squared her shoulders and walked down the street towards the entrance gate. It was a strange experience walking in military uniform. Everyone was deferential, respectful, slightly distrustful. She no longer got the appreciative or leering looks of the workmen, nor the indulgent looks of the old folk. Not even the veiled jealousy of the older women looking at her youthful good looks. Everyone only saw her uniform and her pocketwatch. To them, she was just a dog of the military, and someone to be avoided.
At least her coworkers understood. Hell, they worked for a state alchemist, and a fairly famous one at that. It would be quite strange for them to distrust alchemy.
She scratched her head absently as she walked.
"Wonder what meaningless stack of paper I'll be scrawling all over today?"
As it turned out, none.
As she arrived the door was open. Cameron was already sitting down, pen scratching away at some paper.
Alexia stepped inside and sat at her desk.
"Cameron. Your mess has spilled all over my desk. What the hell?"
Cameron mumbled an apology and began to scoop up his papers. Sergeant Acker walked in and sat down as well, stretching and yawning.
"Alright, we're almost finished with the paperwork. Should be done in a couple hours."
Alexia leaned her head back to look at the ceiling. "Sweeter words have never been said by mortal men."
Hannah smiled and picked up her pen.
The door opened abruptly and loudly. Lieutenant colonel carter stood in the doorway, shadowed by lieutenant fletcher.
"Everyone, pack your things. We have a case."
Alexia sat bolt upright. Sergeant Acker stood up and began to retrieve items from within her desk. "What's the case?"
"Disappearance in the southern district. According to the family members, a piece of a transmutation circle was found on the floor in chalk. We've been called in to consult."
Alexia picked up her bag and rummaged through, stuffing the cosmetics into her desk drawer. She picked up a pen and her notebook, as well as a spare pair of transmutation gloves.
"Sounds better than doing paperwork. That's for sure."
The smoke alchemist nodded. "Agreed. Now let's go. You as well Cameron."
Cameron nodded and stood up. His long black hair looked as rumpled and disheveled as always, but his coal black eyes had a new glint in them.
The five left the room and made their way down towards the motor pool.
The motor pool was a large building near the command centre. As she stepped inside Alexia looked about the place.
The floor, walls and ceiling were all made of plain grey concrete. In the centre of the boxy structure was the western command motor pool.
It mostly consisted of multipurpose, unarmored vehicles. The majority were cargo trucks of one description or another, though some, like the one that Carter was headed to, were more standard looking cars. As she walked through Alexia stopped short, staring at the vehicle next to Carter's car.
"Woah"
Lieutenant fletcher turned around to follow her gaze. "Oh yeah, that's the latest addition to west city's armory, an imported tank from Briggs. Neat huh?"
Alexia nodded, the climbed into the car, sitting herself between Cameron and Hannah. Fletcher and Carter climbed into the front.
Carter started the car and maneuvered out onto the street, flashing his pocket watch to the gate guards.
Alexia hadn't ever ridden in a car before, but found it quite enjoyable. This particular model was boxy, with a long nose and open passenger cell. The lack of a roof was an interesting experience, the wind whipped Alexia's hair from its carefully constructed ponytail to send it streaming out behind her in a mahogany colored banner.
Lieutenant colonel Carter addressed his team as he drove, weaving in and out of the lanes as he headed towards the southern district.
"Our absentee is a thirty year old industrial worker. He was a welder in the car factory on the outskirts. As far as we know, he hasn't even read an alchemy book before. Despite this a fragment of a transmutation circle was discovered in his room. Major Jonathan hunt has called us in to give the scene a look, and to identify the circle."
Alexia's heart beat faster. This was what she had signed up for, not sitting in a chair filling out forms all day.
Cameron sat next to her, his black eyes hooded, and hair streaming in the wind. Acker sat on the other side of her, short dark hair held back with a headband.
Before long the car pulled up outside a house, and Alexia hopped out eagerly. Carter stood up and fixed his coat. He motioned for the rest of them to fall in behind them as he walked towards the door.
The house was small, and constructed of red brick. Outside stood a single guard, with a rifle slung over his back. Carter brushed past him into the building, his team following closely. Alexia stepped inside last, and looked around. The place was tidy, and simple. The decor was a plain whitewash, with wooden furniture and pitted steel countertops in his kitchen. A bureaux sat next to the front door, adorned with framed photographs. A family photo, of a young man with blonde hair and an honest face, with a young, brown haired woman on his arm. She was holding a swaddled baby, and a small boy with his fathers blonde hair stood in front of her, smiling happily into the camera.
Alexia opened her notebook and started jotting down her observations.
Family man, two children.
She looked around at the rest of the house.
Few books, mostly novels and storybooks. Likely for the kids. Reasonably comfortable home, so he earned a decent wage. Possibly a little too decent for a welder at a car factory.
She closed her notebook and walked over to her superior. He was talking to a short, thin man with grey hair and angular features.
"So no known alchemical affiliations?" Carter quizzed him.
"None at all, and I didn't even spot any chalk he could have drawn this with."
Alexia peeked around them.
The man's room was as simple as the rest of his house. A single bed with a grimy white coverlet. It was somewhat rumpled, as if he had gotten out of bed without making it afterwards. No obvious signs of a struggle. Alexia's attention turned to the half finished circle drawn on the floor.
It was a simple, ambiguous start. A single circle, representing power, with four smaller circles around the perimeter, spaced equally. Two were filled with symbols. A wave, representing motion, and a fire, representing power. Motion and power were the basis of every shifting transmutation. That is to say, every transmutation that didn't change the matter beyond rearranging it. The power lines inside were like the spokes of a wheel. This meant that whatever it was would have been a simple transmutation. Alexia's own glass circles had interlocking, fractal line. This represented interlinked, complex, but structured use of power. This circle on the floor was simple channeling. There was more to it though, something didn't feel right.
The lieutenant colonel suddenly appeared beside her.
"What do you make of it?"
Alexia shook her head, bottom lip between her teeth.
"I'm not completely sure. The overall matrix looks really quite simple. But it's too large. A circle like this could have been a third this big."
Carter nodded. "Indeed, I surmised as much myself. Anything else you notice?"
Alexia leaned forwards and studied it closely. Suddenly she rocked back and sat cross legged by the circle.
"I think the circle was disguised sir."
The lieutenant colonel looked surprised at this. "Go on..."
Alexia pointed at the inner spokes.
"You see these lines? They've been broken and repaired, indicating that someone changed them. And this chalk dust on the floor, clear sign of a redrawn circle. I mean, how often do you partially rub out a straight line then repair it? It's far better to redraw the line completely. And by the positioning of the scuffs and breaks, I would guess there were at least two other layers to the circle."
The lieutenant colonel nodded slowly. "Excellent work, glass alchemist."
He turned to Cameron. "Did you get all that?"
The strange boy nodded slowly.
Alexia stood up and brushed down her uniform. "I'll take another look around if that's alright lieutenant colonel."
Carter nodded and motioned for her to continue.
Alexia left the room and shut the door after her. Something felt strange on the handle.
She turned and knelt down by the door. She inspected it closely. It was brass, with a simple round doorknob and discreet lock. On the very edge of the lock was a small rectangle of metal, which jutted upwards from the surface slightly.
A transmutation mark.
"What are you looking at?"
Alexia jumped to her feet and spun around, one hand flying to her chest to lie over her heart.
Cameron stood behind her. His posture was polite, and open. His hands were clasped behind his back.
Alexia sighed exasperatedly.
"How do you move around so quietly? It's creepy."
Cameron bowed his head and shuffled his feet. "I apologize for any distress I may have caused."
Alexia waved him off. "It's fine, you startled me is all." She turned to the lock, indicating Cameron do the same.
"The lock here, do see that mark?"
Cameron nodded. "A transmutation mark. Someone used alchemy as a lock pick."
Alexia nodded. "Yeah, that's some pretty advanced stuff." She shook her head.
"I'll take it back to the office with us, maybe I can learn some more from it there."
She pulled on a black silk transmutation glove, and extended her hands to touch the door. Alchemic light blossomed from her hand and the wood around the lock turned into clear glass. Alexia pulled the lock from the door, the glass sliding from the door easily.
Cameron nodded approvingly. "Hmmm most resourceful."
Alexia stood up, inspecting the lock closer. "Thanks..."
The door opened, and lieutenant colonel Carter walked up to them. "What was the alchemy for?"
Alexia handed him the lock. "Transmutation marks on the lock. Someone wanted to get in quite badly."
Carter nodded, and slipped the object into his satchel.
"Check the house for any more transmuted locks. Any that you find, bring with us."
Alexia and Cameron nodded.
As it happened, only the front door lock was transmuted as well. Alexia cut it from the door in the same way, transmuting a glass ring around the metal, then pulling it from the door.
She inspected the second lock closely.
This one had more marks, radiating out from the keyhole.
"Interesting..."
She heard a footstep behind her.
"Define interesting, glass."
Alexia turned to face Carter. He stood with back straight, and shoulders back. He was flanked by Acker and Fletcher, who both clutched boxes of evidence in their hands.
Alexia cleared her throat nervously. "The front door lock was much sloppier. Probably done in more of a hurry. Why, I can't say."
Carter nodded. "Perhaps he didn't want to be noticed, even a small transmutation like this generates some light."
Alexia nodded. Why hadn't she thought of that?
"In any case, we should get back to the office. You can help me and Acker with evidence review. Fletcher and Cameron, you go over the statements from the family members."
Alexia nodded and moved towards the car, locks clutched in her hands. Interesting indeed.