Wicked As You Wish (A Hundred Names for Magic #1) - Rin Chupeco Page 0,11

offender, her anger clear in every word and gesture. “You think this is funny?” She snapped, and the giggling died. “Do you think spelltech is nothing more than taking selfies with built-in celebrity holograms? Or overdosing on concentration boosters in your pumpkin spice latte for finals week? Or over-the-counter prescriptions for acne glamour concealers?

“With the Emerald Act, they can add toxic spells to those concealers if they think it’ll turn them a better profit. And if the side effects turn you into a literal donkey, then that’s not their fault, and you can’t sue them. And if they can do that with category three spells, imagine the chaos they can sow with a category two charm. Imagine guns with them. Imagine bombs. You have no idea of the sacrifices King Ivan made to stop this from happening. At the cost of his life, and at the cost of his own country. And then to have his name slandered by the media, by governments, as being as much of a tyrant as that horrible ice bitch…!”

A few students gasped. Tala did.

“This is a move to legitimize the Emerald Act lobbied by OzCorp, to award the Royal States government the rights to magic that it never had in the first place.” Miss Hutchins turned directly to the phone camera, indicating for the first time that she knew she was being filmed and was going to make the most of it. “Avalon controlled most of the world’s magic. They were adamant about not giving away their secrets, knowing they would be exploited.

“And that is why it is to every corporation’s advantage to teach you all that King Ivan of Avalon was a dictator and an evil man, solely to render those s invalid and claim them for their own. We have always been led to believe that Americans are the good guys. That they know what’s best for the world, that they’re democracy and freedom ringing and good old apple pie.” She looked around.

“But they’re not,” she said helplessly. “And they can’t be. Not this way. Not when your government is working with the—”

At that point several security guards burst into the room, and the poor woman found herself slammed against the wall, restrained, and cuffed, with the officers making no attempts to hide their manhandling. “Turn that off!” one of the men barked at the student, and the footage ended abruptly.

“Wow,” Tala breathed, still staring at the screen. It had only been posted an hour ago, but the views were already ratcheting up into the hundreds of thousands, with a stream of unnecessary hot takes in the comments. She was suddenly aware of the chatter around her, of other people viewing the same video through their laptops and phones. “What…why did she suddenly…?”

“She’s right,” Alex said quietly. “All Dad wanted was for Avalonian magic to be used responsibly. And when Avalon fell, someone must have found some of the patents Mom owned. That must be the reason behind this push to change the law.”

“But they can’t actually use most of your family’s spelltech, right?” Only Avalon had enough glyphs to mass-produce the more powerful spelltech, but the whole nation was under ice.

Alex smiled grimly. “Why do you think they’re looking for me? Of course they think there’s a way for me to lift the curse and break the spell. I’ve already called Mr. Peets, my lawyer. He’ll help Miss Hutchins.”

“Alex, I know you want to help her out, but if she’s in the spotlight and you get involved, they could find you.”

“I’ve been here for nearly a year and no one’s found me.” Alex sounded almost pleading. “I have to do this. I couldn’t do much for my people, but I can do something for her now.”

His phone chirped. He glanced down and stood. “I’ll be careful. I’ll tell you what I can later, but I gotta go.”

“Sure,” Tala muttered, watching as he stuffed the rest of his things in his backpack and left, giving her a half-hearted wave on the way out.

Tala took out her own laptop, but homework was the last thing on her mind. After staring blankly at the screen for what felt like an hour, she began some research on her own, accessing the Wiki link about OzCorp.

OzCorp (formerly Ozma Tech), founded in 1889, is an American multinational company in San Antonio, Texas, that specializes in spell and thaumaturgy technology, and magic storage and application software. CEO Ruggedo Nome said that he envisions OzCorp as a spelltech provider,