The only thing on my mind is whether I can leave before crisis service’s background check reveals the massive bounty on my head. I cycle through the options of getting a shuttle ticket, trying to find a last-minute job that takes me out-dimension, wandering till I sense a temporary portal…[1]

If only I didn’t have this weight around my wrists, I could just leave. My bitterness rises, a taste I had thought forgotten. I had thought I had accepted this curse.

But I wasn’t always this weak, this helpless. And I can’t face this threat as I am now. Like a wave breaking on a cliff-side, the realization that I need to undo the runes or be myself undone crashes over me. As the wave pulls back, guilt creeps in to fill its space. I shiver.

I pick myself off of the bench that’s been anchoring me and head to the library.

The library is large, five stories tall with a huge open area in its centre. There is no roof, and the breeze that reaches the first floor is gentle and sweet.

The first book I pull tells me that runes are a method for harnessing and directing the energies[2] of the Realm[3] through written symbols. Those who craft runes inherit the ability but must study for many years to use their skills. I shut the book. I already knew the one who cursed me was an Inductor.

A few books later, I’ve found one that discusses rune lexicology and how runes' effects may correlate to their alphabet. There is a small chapter with a style of rune that matches those etched into my skin. I bring the book to a librarian who directs me to a few titles that may be related.

I pull them up on the holoscreen at the table I’m using and, a few hours later, I’ve read text after text explaining that these runes are rarely seen, that few Inductors use them, that they’re illegal in many dimensions. Most of this tells me that it would be almost impossible to find an Inductor who can undo them.

Frustrated, feeling myself hitting a dead end, I consider pulling a book on Remoin.[4] But I quickly discard the thought. There’s nothing I could learn here that I don’t already know.

Deciding to call it a day, I start returning the books on the holoscreen when I notice that the last few were all from the same author: Cal Varmia.

I do a quick search on the name and discover they’re a researcher on Setsi. I find the address of their research institution. Hope rises faster than I can push it down. I close the holoscreen and leave for the shuttle-port with an unusual lightness to my step.