The Pillar of Enera

[Chapter 38 part 3] Soul - The Outbreak

...

"Anyway, shall we head to the Liquid Air Historium?" Light continued. He's eager. So am I. Through an enchantment field, the resistance and weight of air was altered to feel like water. You could swim around while breathing normally. Combined with high-quality projectors, this allowed guests to relive enactments of famous events from an aerial perspective. We splurged for a private auditorium.

"Wait, since we have a couple minutes, there's somewhere I want to take you to." Emelia pointed to a blue windowless building with a revolving door. A large sign read:

'PROTOTYPE VIDEO GAMES'

'No channeling please.'

Technology from the Barsal Empire. Emelia started towards the entrance, "The walls are coated with field blocking ambient magic. High-end electronics are sensitive to magic. Bytes in the chips get flipped when they shouldn't be, causing them to go haywire."

"There were a lot of words I'm unfamiliar with..." Free objected while following behind.

"Electronics are machines that run on electricity." Wise volunteered. "As for Bytes and computer chips..." He winced. "They make my head hurt."

"Just look up circuit boards on your wrystal." Emelia suggested.

Before them appeared green broads with all manner of components in their surfaces. The networks of metal lines could easily have passed for a school of magecraft. I wonder what they can do.

Inside, cabinets with glass screens filled the brightly lit space. They resembled the pinball machines they had seen earlier. So these are video games. One had a little circle which ate dots while ghosts chased it through a maze. Another had a space ship shooting alien bugs. On the far side, a crowd had gathered around two machines with falling blocks piling up at the bottom.

"Why don't you try playing?" Emelia suggested.

We don't have much time. After being consumed by ghosts a few times, he joined the others watching Hope have a good run at the spaceship game.

"It's fun for the novelty, but otherwise not that exciting..." Hope reported, sadly watching a flashing 'game over'.

"These are just early prototypes sent out as showcases." Emelia explained. "The latest ones are much more advanced. The Goldstone family is backing companies making big investments in the field. This technology holds great potential."

"I don't know." Rose hesitated. "They might suffer the same problem as movies. There's stiff competition out there..."

"Maybe, but games can be far more more engaging than films. Imagine experiencing the Dark Age battling from the perspective of Ethan Skyfell. Wouldn't that be appealing?" I already do that in my sleep, Soul smirked while nodding.

"I admit the stumbling block is interfacing with enchantments." Emelia continued pensively. "If we could hook them up to projectors, it'd be amazing. Maybe someday..."

Wise was the only one who understood that. "Isn't it time for the Historium?" Soul asked.

As they left, the ground trembled. Rose and Soul both pivoted to Wise.

"There's been three large explosions in the Undercity." Wise reported. "The survivors are rapidly transforming..." He frowned. "...and not just them. Anyone near the blasts is being affected. There are four hundred and counting."

So Argent was right. "Can we leave Hope to you?" Soul asked Simon.

The man nodded, "I'll get her to safety."