Escape Artist

"What do you think?" Jack asked the assistant.

"I think you should consider traveling through a portal. Hiding your abilities in order to avoid suspicion might not be worth the risk you are taking while obtaining a vehicle. According to my data, you should be able to safely transport the entire group through your portal," the assistant recommended.

"I guess I could reveal the portal ability, but there would still be problems. The window portal shoots the user into the air and teleports them kilometers into the distance. I do not think they would survive it. And if I say that I already have a portal in the destination city after quickly traveling there myself, then this would make it obvious that I have multiple abilities. I do not think it would be wise to reveal that in such a war-hungry country where anything related to Sym energy is owned and controlled by the government, including people. I got a better idea," Jack said.

It was about to get dark and nighttime had arrived. The garage was still kilometers away, and Jack suggested that the group would take one last rest before they drive to the city tomorrow. There was a cave that was perfect for an overnight stay and allowed them to be protected and hidden. Everyone agreed, and they prepared for the night as well as dinner, which consisted of last night's leftovers. The group discussed what might have happened to the garage and prepared for the worst case in case no vehicles were available. Jack took the opportunity to learn how the vehicles work and how he can drive them by asking Ark about every single detail. Since Jack had a driver's license on Earth, the process seemed surprisingly simple. The cars do not have any electronic components but only have a small artificial Sym energy in their back, which moves the vehicle's four wheels. The structure of the car seemed very similar compared to the ones on Earth, but there was no motor and there were no gears. Instead, the vehicle used a Sym resonance ability, namely propulsion, to turn the wheels. The driver was able to adjust the speed by controlling the crystal's output, which was done using a Sym crystal interface that was connected to the vehicle's motor. According to Ark, this interface looked like a screen that had different colored buttons and was next to a steering wheel.

Newer models also contained an additional functionality called levitation, which allows the car to levitate above ground and proceed faster over difficult terrain. Due to its high energy use, it is rarely used inside cities, but it is popular in remote areas such as this since the rocky environment makes regular cars less desirable. Jack also learned how the charging of the vehicles worked, which was centralized in the garages that are scattered all over the country. Since the Sym energy reactors to draw energy from the environment are too large and expensive to be placed in every car, they must be charged approximately once per month even with daily usage due to the high efficiency of the Sym energy crystals.

Jack had developed a plan to get one of these cars himself so that the group could avoid approaching the garage that was occupied by creatures. Especially the two humanoid creatures were a wild card since they can have dangerous abilities that even Jack would not be able to defend against. Since they were about two and a half kilometers away from the garage, Jack assumed that they would be safe. He also made sure that the group was not setting up a fire for this night so as not to draw any attention.

As the evening turned into night, Jack and Morena began their first shift as they were sitting at the cave's entrance and kept watch. Jack learned more about the city they were approaching called Gosi City. It was several times larger than the occupied Jalk City, which lay at the border. Gosi was an economically strong city that had a well-known innovation and manufacturing sector. It was likewise famous for its gambling facilities and red-light district. Morena mentioned that it would be a great start to enter the business world since banking, investments, and commodities are all highly available in this city. Jack ate some more meat and listened attentively to the explanation.

"Is it possible to sell Sym crystals in the city?" Jack asked.

"Sure, there are a variety of Sym crystal manufacturers in the city, and there is a strong ecosystem of resellers around them since they are used in so many different applications," Morena answered.

"And how about the natural crystals, not the synthetic ones?" Jack asked.

Morena eyed Jack for a moment with a stern look, then she smiled and answered, "You will not be able to buy any in the city since they are government restricted. The only ways to get them would be to join an explorer company. And even if you had one, selling it would be difficult since large explorer companies control the market and have direct government contacts which buy them," Morena said as she took a sip of water.

"But didn't you say that the government will take any Sym crystals since they are too valuable?" Jack asked curiously.

"Yes, but the government cannot be everywhere. It is just difficult for individuals to access the market if large corporations are blocking the access. Governments would buy them, of course, but the system is not perfect, and corruption is always a part of large institutions. It is common that government workers will later join explorer companies since they pay better, which creates bad incentives," Morena said.

Jack was reminded of the corruption occurring in many government institutions on Earth that even reach the highest offices due to financial incentives. "People never change," he said out loud. "Let's say I have a truckload full of Sym crystals, how do I sell them?" Jack said with a smirk on his face.

Morena, playing along with his joke, answered, "Well, that would be near impossible. Your best bet would be to collaborate with an explorer company. Our company is large, but it does not trade in natural Sym crystals and has little ties to the government outside of trading food supplies in some cases. If you had that many Sym crystals, then you would be one of the richest men on this planet and would never have to work again in your life," Morena answered.

"You must have good connections in Gosi City. Can you maybe get me a meeting with a government official who takes care of Sym crystal trades? For, let's say, selling three crystals?" Jack asked with a more serious expression.

"It is possible to get you a meeting, but I cannot promise you that it will go anywhere. Three crystals are a lot even for large explorer companies. Usually, they will only be able to get five within a year, and even gaining two a year is a good result since it makes these companies net profitable. The high risk of life, low probability of success, and lack of trained explorers makes it that difficult. There is a general 'no questions asked' policy when it comes to crystals due to their value, but showing up with three will lead to rumors and will very likely make you a target. Even if you had three crystals hidden inside your underwear, then it would be best to only sell one and keep the other two stashed away where no one can find them," Morena answered, not surprised anymore at Jack's absurd questions.

"Got it, please get me a meeting to sell one then. How much can I sell it for?" Jack asked.

"It will depend on the size of the crystal and how much energy is contained, but an average crystal should fetch 50 million CCC," Morena answered nonchalantly.

"What's CCC?" Jack asked.

"You really are from a remote village," Morena said as she leaned back with a relaxed expression. "That is this country's currency, Cibolas Crystal Coins. Every country uses a proprietary process to create coins that have a unique Sym energy signature, which allows the government to control their production. They are also easily verifiable, which makes counterfeits near impossible."

Jack assumed that Cibolas was the name of the country, but he did not ask any further. The couple talked further about money and business, which allowed Jack to gain a better grasp of the current economic and political situation. As they were talking, Jack was constantly observing their environment with multiple window portals. He had taught himself how to create multiple small portals that act like monitors and are automatically scaling the environment. It was like a small tablet-sized interface that had a mosaic of CCTV monitors hidden on the right side of his body where Morena could not see it. Jack also observed the creatures around the garage with great detail since they seemed to stand still the majority of the time. They even looked like they were in a trance or hypnosis since they did not move an inch from where they were standing. The only movements he could see were from the two humanoid creatures. What surprised Jack the most was they seemed to communicate with each other. On multiple occasions, Jack could see them approaching each other and standing face to face for prolonged time periods. He could not see their faces clearly, but their positioning suggested that they were communicating in some way.

Morena had gone over to her luggage deeper inside the cave, which contained a variety of goods that were part of their merchant business. As Jack was observing her, he was crafting a plan to obtain a car from the creature-infested garage. He knew that it might be better to tell the group about his abilities, which would greatly simplify the process, but Jack had learned the hard way that blind trust generally leads to betrayal. He did not know the situation of any of his new friends. They might be lying, be in debt, or have dealings that could force them to reveal his secrets. He wanted to trust them, but it was too early. Once he had gotten to know them better, he might be able to trust them in the future.

Jack had come up with a plan to snatch a vehicle quickly. Luckily, the vehicle itself should be quiet since it has no noise-generating components. Especially the levitating vehicle makes no noise at all, but he could not be sure that this type of car was available in the garage. According to Ark, the car can be operated simply by getting the key and activating it with something comparable to a credit card. In this country, the ID, Passport, and Credit card are all the same document, which means that any payment is always bound to an identity. Morena had shown Jack how such a card looked, and it was a rectangular card with a thickness of approximately 0.3 millimeters. All Jack needed to do was snatch Morena's card when she fell asleep and then quickly jump inside the garage that should be free of creatures and obtain a car. He had been practicing to increase the portal size, which allowed him to make a large portal that can fit an entire vehicle with ease.

As Morena had sat down leaning against her luggage and looked like she was about to doze off, Jack searched for a hidden area behind a rock formation to set up the large portal which he would use to steal a car. When he returned, he could see that Morena had fallen asleep. Jack knew that he would need to be quick since he could not leave the group unprotected for long. Even though there were no creatures here, there might still be wild animals around. To make sure that no unwanted guests entered, Jack placed a large portal which closed the cave off completely. To anyone who was sleeping inside the cave, the black-purple portal would just look like the dark of night, but it allowed Jack to sense if an intruder were to enter the cave. He had set up two portals right next to each other so that even if someone were to wake up and step out of the cave, they would just step through the portal. They might be confused about the sudden change of the lighting conditions once they enter the night sky, but it was better to risk exposure than to risk their safety. In the worst case, he could just collapse the portal as soon as someone steps through and then blame it on their sleepiness.

Jack aimed his window portal at the garage and monitored the destination point closely. The creatures had begun marching around the garage, and he could see one humanoid seemingly controlling them. The second humanoid was levitating in the air and was paying attention to something in the sky, but Jack could not figure out what it was focusing on so intently. He confirmed that there were no creatures inside the garage and then looked to a safe spot that is hidden from the windows and did not leave him exposed.

Then he jumped.

Jack found himself under a desk, which he deemed to be the most hidden space in the facility. The garage looked like a car repair shop since it had desks and about fifty different vehicles inside the same large hall. The walls were large windows, which greatly inhibited his mobility. Jack would have to use window portals to jump between locations since they allowed him to quietly escape any potential glances from the creatures.

Jack jumped near a vehicle that looked like it was suitable for eight people and had levitating capabilities, which he recognized based on the wheels that looked like there was a folding mechanism to turn them inwards. The assistant allowed him to read the characters on the vehicle, which provided a numeric identifier corresponding to the number 118. He then looked around to find the appropriate keys but could not see the desk that Morena had mentioned to him before. He jumped to a few other locations but still was unable to find the device that should look like a vending machine. Jack was getting frustrated but remained focused so as not to give away his position.

"Maybe the device carrying the keys was removed," the assistant interjected.

"Why do you think that?" Jack asked.

"Look at the corner next to the desk," the assistant said as it highlighted a certain location within Jack's visual field. "This looks like a large device used to be here, but it was forcefully removed, thereby destroying parts of the ground and the desks nearby. The cars near the garage exit likewise have significant damage on their sides."

"Damn, they must be smart. This must be a trap to kill humans," Jack said, deep in thought. "That's a problem."

As Jack turned his head to see where the device had been brought, he could see the octopus head of a creature that was staring right at him. Jack flinched internally, but his body remained perfectly still. "Fuck," he thought.

For a moment, the creature was just staring at him, but its behavior was strange. It did not seem to look at him but rather right through him. Even though their eyes were all black like that of a sea creature, he had stared enough creatures in the eyes to know when they were looking back at him. This one was ignoring him. Jack quickly jumped to a secure location and observed the creature, which was standing in its group from a safer angle.

"Either it didn't see me or it didn't care," Jack said.

"I think these creatures are being controlled like cattle. They do not seem to be underlings but rather slaves. So maybe the creature had no need to react at all," the assistant speculated.

Jack kept observing the creature for a few more moments but saw that neither it nor the humanoids had left their position. "Interesting," Jack said to himself.

Jack could not see the keys and was getting anxious, and he said, "We might have a problem."

"I might be able to help. Go over to a car and place your hands on the lock. It could be possible that I am able to analyze the mechanism and help you open the door," the assistant said.

Jack did as the assistant said and jumped back to the car number 118 to place his hands on the lock.

After a long pause, the assistant said, "I can sense a complex mechanism which seems to include a unique code that unlocks this door. If you allow me to guide the Sym energy in your hand, I can recreate the key mechanism, which should allow you to open the door."

"Sure, let's go," Jack answered as he focused on channeling Sym energy into his hand and removing his conscious control to allow the assistant to take over its accumulation pattern. After a few moments, he heard a faint clicking sound, and he was able to open the door. He carefully stepped into the vehicle and found the setup quite familiar. There were eight seats in the car, which was perfect for his group, and the car seemed functional. "Let us just unlock the brakes and then push the car through the portal."

Jack placed his hands on the steering wheel, which contained a crystal device, and let the assistant unlock the car controls. He then followed Ark's explanation on how to operate the vehicle. He pulled a lever to unlock the brakes and could sense the car moving slightly. He then quickly got out of the car and held it so that it would not roll through the hall. He carefully looked around and checked if the creatures had shown any signs of movement. They were still standing in their previous positions, and he could see the two humanoid creatures seemingly communicating with each other. He also looked at his window portals, which he used as monitoring devices to check up on the group, but everything seemed fine.

When Jack confirmed that everything was safe, he created a large portal behind the vehicle where it was not viewable from the outside. From there, he only lightly pushed the car through the portal and observed it slowly disappearing as quietly as a piece of lumber floating on top of a river. Jack closed the portal and looked back at the group of creatures. He could still see one of the humanoids, but the other was nowhere to be seen. As he was crouched on the ground, he scanned the area including the sky through a window portal, but he could not make out its location.

Then he heard a voice behind him.