Chapter 51: Illogical Ability

[Command Console]

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↑…

[Debugging Protocol]: Analysis complete.

[Debugging Protocol]: Creating glitch report…

[Debugging Protocol]: Report created successfully.

[GLITCH REPORT]: Codebreak-005 Debugging Report

[Type]: Physical Anomaly

[Origin]: Unknown

[Status]: Active

[Analysis Findings]: Codebreak-005, herein designated as a Physical Anomaly, is an enigmatic irregularity with an undetermined origin. This abnormality centers around a brick displaying the nomological capability of inducing instantaneous unconsciousness upon hitting any object or entity, irrespective of composition, scale, or other attributes and characteristics.

[Description of Codebreak-005-A]: Codebreak-005 manifests as an unassuming red-colored brick. It measures precisely seven and a half inches long, two and a half inches tall, and three inches wide.

[Glitch Status]: Codebreak-005 is currently "Active", exerting its influence on its surroundings upon contact.

[Investigation Notes]: This anomaly challenges established norms, as no methodical source or script has been identified to account for its behavior. Efforts to trace the anomaly's script lineage or detect any alterations it may have induced have yielded inconclusive results.

[Recommendations]: Immediate containment and intensified scrutiny are advised. Exploring potential countermeasures or protective protocols against similar anomalies is also recommended.

[END OF REPORT]

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Users:Magnus_Wright:\>

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"Huh, what's wrong, Magnus?" Celia looked concerned as she noticed a change in Magnus's face. His eyes were fixed on something invisible to her, and he seemed lost in his thoughts. Even when she spoke to him, he didn't respond, as though he were miles away.

"Magnus!" She raised her voice, calling his name louder this time, which seemed to snap him out of his trance.

"Oh, what? Sorry, I was deep in thought. I think I've figured out what the brick does, but honestly... it's a bit wild," Magnus replied, his voice tinged with disbelief. Celia, on the other hand, was taken aback—Magnus hadn't even touched the brick for hours, so how did he figure out what it did?

Then again, it's not like I really know how Magnus's abilities work. The fact that he can use magic that is automatically standardized in comparison to the rest of the world is already pretty crazy.

While Celia's thoughts were focused on the nuances of Magnus's abilities, Magnus's mind was still a bit engrossed in what he had just read. There was a lot to process after reading the debugging report the Command Console had just printed out for him; however, what stood out the most to him was the information about the bricks ability.

It was able to render whatever it hit unconscious.

If it were just a simple instant-knockout ability, I wouldn't be so confused. But the report specifically said it works on entities and objects. That essentially means it works on anything physical. But that doesn't make any sense.

After pondering a moment longer, Magnus shut the Command Console and looked over at the brick on his desk. Standing up, he walked over and picked it up. Just like before, it felt just like any ordinary brick.

"So, what does it do?" Celia asked, eager to know.

"It's kind of bizarre. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it, but we should probably test it to be sure," Magnus said, sounding unsure but curious. But still, despite his uncertainty, Celia seemed eager; she was always ready for a new experiment.

"So, do I need to fetch anything specific for this?" She asked, pulling out her notebook and flipping to a new page.

"Not really; it should work on anything. Although we should probably use something replaceable…" Magnus glanced around briefly before spotting one of the empty teacups sitting on the table from when he and Celia had been drinking tea.

Noticing his glance, Celia offered, "I have more of those at home, so feel free to use one."

With a nod, Magnus approached the table, brick in hand, positioning it next to the cup. Celia documented everything he did as she watched from the side.

It said I just had to hit something with the brick, so a tap should count, right? Well, I guess we'll find out.

Without further ado, Magnus lightly tapped the side of the teacup with the brick, applying just enough force that he wouldn't cause it to break but still qualified as a 'hit'. For the first few seconds, nothing seemed to change. The teacup was still just a teacup, and it hadn't magically come to life or anything. It was only when Magnus's gaze landed on the inside of the cup that he noticed something odd. At the very bottom of the cup, the small amount of tea still left was beginning to swirl, slowly forming a miniature vortex in the cup.

Well, that's weird.

Those were the words that came to mind as the inside of the teacup slowly began to take on an unusual appearance. It was hard to explain; the swirl of tea was still there, but it seemed as though a layer of steam or some mist was slowly starting to cloud the entire inside of the cup. This didn't make any sense, considering the tea had cooled off quite a while ago.

Then, in that moment, he saw something. Right at the heart of the vortex, amid the misty blur that clouded his view, a projection flickered to life. Magnus couldn't tell where the light for the projection was coming from or if there was any actual light at all, but in that projection, he saw himself.

What the hell…

The projection filled the entire inside of the teacup and looked foggy. When he tried to focus on any particular part, it shifted and changed, becoming somewhat unclear. It gave Magnus an odd sense of déjà vu.

Why does this feel so familiar? Like I've experienced something like this before?

Just then, an unexpected answer came from Basker.

[Master, I'm fairly certain that what you are seeing now is a dream.]

That explanation made something click in Magnus's mind as he continued to look at the projection, which showed him from a third-person perspective. That's why it felt so familiar—the hazy, fleeting nature of it was just like a dream. It made perfect sense that Basker, a creature who could enter minds and manipulate dreams, would recognize this right away.

The version of himself inside the projection was an exact replica, dressed in the same pajamas and standing in a room that looked exactly like the one he was in, even down to the table.

However, unlike in reality, the projection suddenly displayed a hand, seemingly belonging to no one or perhaps to someone just out of sight. The hand tapped him on the shoulder, and the Magnus in the projection quickly spun around in surprise, banging his shin against the table and wincing in pain.

As he watched, the hazy projection began to fade, much like a dream slipping from memory, leaving Magnus more puzzled than before.

What the hell was that all about? Did I just see a dream about myself?

Even as the projection completely vanished and the swirling tea vortex calmed and disappeared within the cup, Magnus couldn't shake off the bewilderment over what he had just seen. But before he had time to dwell on it, another odd thing happened.

As he was trying to recall the projection, Magnus furrowed his brows in puzzlement.

Wait, that doesn't seem right. Why can't I remember what I just saw?

He had just seen the projection, yet the memory in his mind felt cloudy and fragmented. But at the same time, that didn't make any sense. With Basker, Magnus's memory was nearly flawless, able to recall even the tiniest details as long as his mind had been focused at the time; he could even recall moments from his infancy with some clarity.

"Magnus, what's going on? Can you hear me?"

Suddenly, a tap on his shoulder and a voice broke his concentration. The unexpected contact sent a shock through him, making him spin around and accidentally bang his shin against the table, jostling the tea set resting on it.

"Ow…" A groan slipped from Magnus's lips, and his eyes shot open. All at once, the memory he had just lost—the confusing, elusive vision he had seen in the tea cup—all suddenly snapped into focus, like remembering something that had been just on the tip of your tongue.

Basker, did that dream just...

[I believe it did, Master.]

After a quick exchange with Basker, Magnus spent the next ten minutes calming Celia, reassuring her he was fine, and promising to explain everything tomorrow after some personal experiments. From her perspective, Magnus suddenly stopped moving while staring at a teacup, and then when she touched him, he ended up hurting himself.

Putting that aside, his words to her were the truth, though. When it came to the full extent of the brick's capabilities, he remained uncertain and needed some time to mull it over. However, when it came to the teacup, Magnus's reaction and dumbfoundedness didn't stem from a lack of understanding of its abilities but rather from his astonishment at what he did understand.

So, with their experiment unexpectedly cut short, Celia agreed to Magnus's suggestion to head home for the night. However, she promised to be back first thing in the morning to talk more about what was going on.

Now, alone in his room and lying on his bed, Magnus found himself lost in a deep conversation with Basker.

So, if I understand this correctly, what we witnessed wasn't my dream, but the dream of the teacup itself.

[That seems to be the most reasonable explanation, considering Codebreak-005's abilities.]

But I still can't wrap my head around it. How can a non-living thing get knocked unconscious? Doesn't that require consciousness in the first place? Have inanimate objects been conscious all along?

[No, that shouldn't be the case. In both my physical and mental form, I can detect the minds of others within a certain range, whether they're humans or not. However, I've never sensed the consciousness of an object.]

Hmm, I see.

With Basker's response, Magnus shelved the idea that all inanimate objects secretly possessed life. He was also sort of relieved by that. Thinking he lived in a world where objects had consciousness would make him feel uneasy about everyday life. Still, as he lay on his bed, he absentmindedly stared at the ceiling and pondered other possibilities.

If it's not something inherent in inanimate objects, maybe it's manually added when they're hit by the brick? What if the brick causes a change not on the physical level but in the source code itself, adding an unconscious state to the object? After all, since source code is everything, the only thing preventing something from being possible or impossible should just be the change of a variable.

In games, why could players stun each other? It was because each player had a "stunned" status that would activate if they were hit by a stunning attack. But sometimes, these stun attacks wouldn't work on certain bosses. Was it because these bosses were too big and tough to be stunned? Maybe that's what the developers wanted players to think. In reality, the bosses simply didn't have a "stunned" status to activate, making them immune to stuns.

Magnus believed something similar was happening now, but in reverse. Normally, objects don't have an "unconscious" state like humans do, who can be knocked out with a hard blow to the head. However, due to a glitch in the brick's abilities, it could now create an "unconscious" state that could be triggered.

[That is definitely a possibility, and the most likely one I can imagine. Though it still raises a question.]

Magnus nodded in agreement with Basker.

Right, if the brick really does give an unconscious state to material things, why would a tea cup's unconscious state allow it to dream about the future?

It was hard to believe, even in a world filled with fantasy and magic, but that was precisely what had happened. When Magnus explored the tea cup's dream, he saw a future scene of him reacting to Celia touching his shoulder, which then unfolded in reality just moments later.

[I can find no logic in the existence of Codebreak-005; its abilities defy all common sense. It's an illogical anomaly; even the Command Console acknowledges this.]

Yeah... and of course, it just raises a plethora of even more questions. Like, why didn't the Command Console react to the existence of the tea cup? It acknowledged derivatives like the mana sphere in the past. Plus, we've already established that there are laws separating reality from the imaginary, yet we saw that dream in reality. Does that mean the brick has even more authority than the Command Console?

Though Magnus asked these questions, Basker didn't respond; after all, he didn't know the answers, and neither did Magnus; he was mostly just venting in his own mind.

The Command Console was already more powerful than Magnus could imagine. If the brick had even fewer limitations than it did, then the Command Console's recommendation for containment made sense. As much as he wanted to use it to his advantage, wielding something that dangerous right now, especially within the academy where he might be under surveillance, was too risky.

On the other hand, he had no clue how he could even contain a brick. Just thinking about it made him raise his hands and place them on his face, letting out an exhausted sigh.

Just when I thought I had things almost under control, I get a curveball thrown at me that knocks everything for a loop.

He looked back at the brick on his desk, his mind teeming with thoughts and the beginnings of a headache. But one worry stood out above all the others:

I stumbled upon this brick by sheer luck. But if it happened once, it could happen again. What if there are more glitches out there? All of them with abilities just as crazy, if not crazier, than this one? I got lucky this time, and it landed in the hands of a random goon. But what the hell am I supposed to do when someone who's a real threat gets their hands on one?

Without any limitations holding them back, like Magnus with the Command Console, he didn't even want to imagine what could happen.

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Footsteps echoed through the stone corridor, illuminated by the soft orange light of torches along the walls. Despite the absence of windows and the eerie ambiance, it was evident that the hallway was meticulously maintained and lavishly adorned. A rich, dark purple carpet ran down its length, complemented by intricately woven tapestries from diverse regions gracing the walls.

The sound of footsteps echoed down the corridor, announcing the arrival of a group of four individuals. If Magnus were present, he'd immediately spot Zeth among them. Flanking him on both sides were members of his branch, dressed in the same black uniforms as those who had fought Magnus in the smithy.

Zeth walked with a calm demeanor, leading his group. They stopped in front of a set of double doors midway down the corridor. With no signal from Zeth or his men, the doors swung open, revealing a brightly lit room adorned with luminous crystals embedded in the ceiling.

Inside, there was a large round table, surrounded by twelve leather armchairs. Six on each side, with a prominent chair at the head of the table.

"Ah, so he finally arrives, last as usual. We were just talking about you, Zeth," a taunting voice called out from someone seated in the central chair across the table. Glancing around, Zeth saw that nearly all the seats were filled except for his and the Head's chairs. He really was the last to arrive. Behind each chair, three guards stood alert, each dressed in distinct uniforms with varied dark hues.

"Well, Heiman, some of us are busy with real work and can't spend our days hosting drug-fueled orgies, or whatever you call those 'gatherings' of yours," Zeth replied, his tone light and without malice, almost like he was exchanging a casual greeting. A small smile played on his lips as he spoke.

Zeth moved to his seat, one of the two nearest the head chair, and gestured for his men to position themselves against the wall behind him, mirroring the stance of the other guards. Heiman responded with a chuckle, which echoed around the room. Tapping his pitch-black painted nails rhythmically on the table, Heiman's pale skin looked ghostly under the light, making him appear almost lifeless, his dark eyes and hair blending into the shadows. Yet the slight smile on his face was a clear sign of life.

"Must you two constantly jab at each other when you meet? We're all executives; we should at least pretend to be cordial on the surface." The one who spoke this time was a woman seated on a chair down the table from Zeth. One of her hands rested on her chin as she gazed at both Heiman and Zeth.

The air around her and her overall demeanor could almost lead one to mistake her for a noblewoman. Whether it was the ruffled cuff shirt beneath her corset or the finely tailored, embroidered jacket draping over her shoulders, all of her attire spoke of luxury.

However, the fact that she occupied a seat in this room made it clear that these luxuries were not gained through noble wealth but through the blood of others. At her words, Zeth and Heiman exchanged glances before Zeth shrugged and replied.

"I don't mind playing nice, but don't forget, Lorivel, you supplying and indulging him is part of the reason we had to have a meeting last month off schedule. One of our trafficking rings was almost discovered, and we had to spend a lot of money to get things back on track." Lorivel gave a slight nod, acknowledging Zeth's point.

"Fair enough, it was my oversight to think Heiman, of all people, would be able to show any level of self-restraint without instruction. But we've talked even after the meeting, and that won't happen again, now will it, Heiman?" Her gaze completely focused on Heiman; they weren't threatening, but instead looked like the eyes of an adult coaxing a child.

"Of course, I'm not one to repeat my mistakes. But if we're bringing up mistakes, we can't just ignore that rumor about Zeth almost getting himself killed by some kid now, can we? I mean, even if you're the weakest among us, that's got to sting. I heard you even put a bounty on his head." Heiman's jab seemed calculated to irk Zeth, who this time only narrowed his eyes briefly before turning to look at the chamber door.

Just then, the doors creaked open, and a figure recognized by all the executives entered, prompting even those who'd stayed out of the earlier spat to stand in respect.

His name was unknown, unspoken, and referred to only by his title—The Head.

He walked alone toward the central chair, his deep blue eyes sweeping over everyone in the room, carrying a subtle hint of danger. When a guard accidentally locked eyes with him, he felt as if he were drowning in the depths of the ocean, struggling for air under an invisible pressure. This overwhelming sensation only subsided when the Head looked away. It wasn't something he did on purpose or with any ill intent; it seemed more like an uncontrollable part of who he was.

"I'm glad to see everyone here. I know you've all been busy, so your presence is truly appreciated," the Head stated genuinely as he settled into his seat.

"Of course, sir. The fact that we're all so busy is proof that Nightshade's expansion is going extremely well. Compared to a few months ago, we've been absorbing more criminal rings into our structure by the week," Lorivel chimed in.

Zeth nodded in agreement and added, "She's right. We control nearly every major criminal operation in Arlcliff City now, and we still have a finger in the ones we don't.

Plus, our organization is on the brink of a complete internal overhaul. Once that's done, we'll grow even faster."

The Head listened quietly, only speaking when they finished.

"Good. In that case, before we move on to branch reports, Zeth has something to show all of us." He gave Zeth a nod, signaling for him to proceed. Standing, Zeth reached into his clothing and produced a vial. Held within was a deep purple liquid that instantly drew the eyes of every executive, especially Lorivel.

Among the Nightshade's six branches, she presided over their drug operations, managing everything from production to distribution. Nearly all the illicit substances in Arlcliff City's underground market were there because of her influence. However, as she examined the vial and its mysterious contents, she couldn't identify them. Thus, she posed the most straightforward question.

"What is that?" she asked, breaking the room's silence. Zeth smirked and shook the vial lightly.

"It's a stimulant I made myself, something I like to call the Titan Tonic. A single vial can turn your run-of-the-mill person into something akin to a super soldier, something beyond human. They might not match up to a knight in terms of sheer power, but they don't require anywhere near as much training or discipline."

As he spoke, a palpable mixture of surprise and skepticism crossed the faces of those in attendance. After all, the notion of a simple vial possessing such transformative abilities bordered on the realm of magic, a domain that only mages were thought to traverse, not someone like Zeth.

However, the next question about the tonic didn't dwell on its authenticity. Instead, it came from another executive, seated beside Heiman, who had been silent up to this point. He had a fairly normal voice, even though it emerged from a hood and mask that obscured his face.

"So, what do you plan to do with something like that? It sounds intriguing, but unless we intend to wage open warfare, it doesn't seem all that practical for us," he pointed out.

Zeth's smirk didn't waver as he turned to the masked man.

"The Titan Tonic won't be for our organization's use. Instead, it's going to give us a fresh new product to sell, and it's this product that will finally grant us access to the nobility within the Upper City."