On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

“I always tell you to think these things through!” Constantine listened to his sister rant at him as usual. “Seriously, you expect us to chase down more internet rumours that are clearly nonsense? By God and all his Angels, you really are an idiot, Constantine. Why can’t you just get a proper job, like all our friends? Don’t you know how embarrassing it is when I meet people that know us and they ask about you?”

“Hése mas, sister, don’t be a bitch about it.” No wonder she’s never made a relationship work. Sophia is always such a nag, so overbearing. Her name doesn’t really match her, she should be called Tyrannos instead, as she rules the roost like a particularly shrill dictator. “I know what I’m doing. This time, it’s for sure! We’ll make it big!”

“Don’t you tell me to fuck off, you worthless layabout!” Sophia ranted. “Get a real job! This conspiracy and mystery website crap isn’t earning you anything! You even had to have me pay for the flights to Germany! I’m sick of cleaning up after your mess!”

“Peace, Sophia. I’m sorry, all right?” Constantine conceded, unwilling to argue further. It never gets me anywhere, and we are attracting attention. The people on the street in Berlin were watching them curiously as they passed, and that wasn’t improving his sister’s mood. Seriously, my twin sister is such a pain. We look so similar, so why are our temperaments completely opposite? With dark brown hair with some lighter highlights, olive skin, dark brown eyes and a voluptuous, curvy physique, Sophia had always been popular all through school and university, at least until she opened her mouth. “Though you have to admit, I’m onto something here! I’m going to break the secrets of this world right open, and then we’ll be rich!”

“I would be less surprised if you were on something, but you don’t have the guts or the money.” She sighed. “Fine. I don’t like the stares. Let’s get off the main street.” She pulled Constantine into a side junction.

“Careful. From my research Luisenstadt and the surrounds doesn’t have the best reputation. A pretty girl like you should be careful here, Sophia.”

She gave him a withering look. “Too late to flatter me, little idiot. Besides, won’t my big strong twin brother protect me? Oh, I forgot, all you do is sit on your arse all day, scrolling through crap. Not all of them for your stupid website either. Learn to clear your browser history, creep. That fetish is why you’re single. No, one reason.”

“Skatá, you have no right to be snooping through my stuff, Sophia! I don’t pry into your life, do I? Even though half the guys you’ve dated I know, I never ask about…” he trailed off at the intense look in her eyes, his voice falling. “… well, just give your brother some privacy, okay?”

“Don’t use such filthy language with me. God’s grace, you suck. Well, maybe I went a little too far with that…” she apologised, at least half-sincerely, which was unusual for her. “But I have a right to check up on you! After all, it’s me who is subsidising your … career.” She said the word as if it was dirty. “I have a real job, you know, and I’m taking time off to come chaperone you so you don’t get fooled or scammed, Constantine.”

Damn it, my sister trusts me about as much as she trusts politicians. I mean, I get it, but still, it hurts my pride. “Look, I’m hardly going to be fooled so easily. It isn’t like I’ll… uh, well, never mind. Look, we need to find somewhere to sit where we can talk to the locals. The rumour I’ve been chasing is a solid one, and this place is the epicentre. I get a really good feeling about her.”

“I’m sure you do, judging by your search history.” Sophia said coldly.

“Enough about that. Look, there’s a bar over there. It’ll do for now, it’s in the right neighbourhood.”

“Are you sure? It looks a little shady.” Sophia muttered. “Well, I guess this whole suburb is dodgy. I read the tourist advice. We need to keep our wits about us.”

“I always do, sister!” he boasted, only for her to sniff, unconvinced. Look, I’ll show you! This time it’s the one, I know it. Too many other coincidences and leads all point to something big happening. This time, I’ll uncover the hidden truths of the world! Leading her to the bar he opened the door, and perhaps due to the early hour, there were only a few men drinking large glasses of beer at a scattering of tables. The patrons looked up when Constantine and Sophia entered, their gazes showing a slight interest in his sister, but they soon went back to their drinking. Sitting down, Constantine didn’t forget to pull a chair out first, which his sister took gratefully.

“Thanks. My feet hurt already.” Sophia complained.

“Well, I told you not to wear heels. This isn’t a shopping trip, this is an investigation!” he pulled out his old laptop and opened it up. Turning it on, he waited for a server to come over, before realising his mistake as the bald, older gentleman said something in German. Ah, I don’t speak German, an oversight. After some awkward fumbling in broken English and some gestures, a couple of beers were placed on the table. Taking a sip, Constantine smiled. I guess German beer holds up to the hype.

“Not drinking, Sophia?” he asked, only to recoil at the look on her face.

“So, idiot brother of mine, even if you find this mysterious magical girl, how will you talk to her? You don’t speak German!”

“Well, I’ve thought of that, honest! Look, sometimes we have to take risks, right? You’ve already seen some of the data. Just look at the videos.” He opened a series of YouTube videos while drinking his beer, including his favourites, from an anonymous Australian content creator. Sadly after the first few, there had been no more, and the comment sections were alight with conspiracy theories that the big special effects companies had clubbed together to have them kidnapped to steal their technology, or that it was all a guerrilla marketing campaign for an unknown upcoming film.

“Oh yes.” Sophia agreed, finally taking a drink of her beer, watching. “I’ve seen that. Everyone has. It’s really clever. But let me guess, you think it’s magic, right? That’s stupid. Occam’s razor, ever heard of it? The simplest solution is usually the correct one.”

“Come on, I’ve watched a ton of videos going over this and a few others. Nobody can tell how it’s done.”

“Yes, but I heard that there are a few areas where it’s flawed, showing it to be a clever fake.” Sophia objected.

This is why you don’t have it in you to be a seeker of truth, Sophia! With a superior smile on his face, Constantine elaborated. “Yes, that’s the clever part. If I was going to throw off those looking for the truth, I’d drop a few clever hints to make it seem fake. It’s genius, really!”

“Right.” She sighed. “Well, at least someone is, you certainly aren’t, my gullible brother. But so what? You think that miracles and magic has been kept hidden for thousands of years, and then some magus just drops all secrecy and reveals it on YouTube of all places? Don’t you see how insane that sounds?”

“It sounds reasonable to me. Have you seen the views? Hundreds of millions. That’s a lot of advertiser revenue. I’m jealous.” I don’t have any advertisers interested in my website. For now. That all changes today!

“If someone could really control water like this video, I don’t think they’d need to resort to advertiser revenue. They’d be a celebrity. But I don’t believe in any of that. The only miracles come from God.” Sophia protested logically.

“It isn’t just this. Sure, I’ll concede that maybe one strange thing like this might be a hoax or clever trick. But it’s not just that. There was that Nordic weightlifter, who said he was blessed by Thor…”

“Thor is a heathen god, a work of fiction.” Sophia snorted, her face a little red as she had finished half her beer. “He was clearly on drugs.”

“Maybe, though the fact he broke the world records then went missing is undeniable. There’s a lot of chatter on my forum about it. Look, one or two things might be coincidence, but over the last few months so much as been happening. Everyone is talking.”

“Yeah, all just you and your loony conspiracy nuts.” Sophia signalled for another beer. “Really, it’s nice to dream but the world isn’t that fun. Why can’t you just knuckle down and get a real job? I may be harsh with you. But you’re not that stupid, Constantine. Look, I’ve scraped together the money for this. If it doesn’t pan out, it’s time to quit and face the real world, all right?”

“Skatá. All right, I admit, it’s been years. But don’t you dream of anything wondrous, of something exciting?” Constantine shook his head as two more glasses of strong German beer arrived. “Look, all right? I have a lot more…” he opened up a clip of a young Asian boy crying out, bleeding, wounded and distressed. “See? This was uploaded recently. There’s definitely something going on here, I know it.”

“Disgusting.” Sophia pursed her lips, upset. “If that’s real, it shouldn’t be online. Poor boy. But look at the comments…” she pointed, and Constantine held in a wince. That’s my sister, sharp as ever. But…

“I know it says that there have been reports of it being a terrorist group attacking. But I’m not so sure. Do you know how many religious figures have been seen in Kyoto over that weekend? It stretches credulity that it’s a coincidence!” he declared confidently.

“No it doesn’t.” Sophia disagreed. “Occam’s Razor. Remember? Does it seem more likely that a group of madmen attacked, or that the Government is covering up something so clumsily?”

“Well, true, but… it’s not just that. There was the incident in Brazil, and the US has had several unexplained disappearances that have been well documented, all with strange circumstances, and then…” He brought up a series of poorly shot videos and grainy images taken by some low-quality phone cameras. They did seem to detail a number of strange phenomenon, such as people moving faster than was humanely possible, or shrugging off being shot.

“They could easily all be fake. There’s never an end to human deceit, and hoaxes can be pretty convincing. That’s the point of a hoax.” Sophia dismissed them. “You think that the Government has been able to cover up this stuff for years? Ours can’t even cover up their own mistresses and bribery scandals. If there were superhumans among us, we’d know.” She had almost finished her second beer, and Constantine decided they needed some food.

“Look, I know all that. But here.” He brought up some charts. “All of the strange events started spiking around the same time period. The end of July and into August these hoaxes, as you call them, started up, and the rate of them has been rising steadily since. Now, numbers don’t lie, right?” he had a conversation with the barman as best he could, and soon more beers and a plate of steaming sausages and cabbage was on the table. He bit into one, surprised it was so good, while his sister was examining the screen, her expression pensive.

“So, what do you think?” he asked.

“Well, okay, statistically speaking, you’re right. Though there are always outliers. The upsurge, assuming your data isn’t pulled out of your behind, it’s what…” she concentrated, working numbers on her phone. “… Two Sigma certainty, at best?”

“You always were good at mathematics, Sophia. Shame your job doesn’t use that much of it. Well, maybe when I strike it rich, you can get a job you like more…”

“Oh, so you’d make your sister work, even if you were wealthy? Considering all the money I’ve lent you, never expecting it back…” she shook her head, tipsy. “No, there’s no point listening to your pie-in-the-sky nonsense. Look.” She said, a serious expression on her face. “Even a Two Sigma probability means five times in a hundred, it’s just coincidence. And when you are trying to tie together so many different events and data points, well, garbage in, garbage out, right? I still think it’s coincidence, or just pattern recognition. We are predisposed to identify false positives. Basic biology.” She sighed. “Thinking you see a tiger and being wrong, is far better than thinking you don’t see that tiger and being wrong.” She bit into a sausage savagely, and Constantine was a little embarrassed by the looks his sister was getting. Yes, another reason she’s single, she can be rather tomboyish at times.

“Well, that’s why we are here in Germany, right?” he flicked to the remaining videos, which were shot of a young-looking blonde girl, clearly beating the hell out of what looked like a gang of German skinheads. This was well-shot footage from a decent phone, and it had been passed to Constantine by a regular on his website. It had been uploaded to the internet a few times, but each time it disappeared quickly. Very suspicious. “This girl here, see that? Her moves shouldn’t be possible.”

“It could still be a movie promotion, or footage leaked from an upcoming project. By the Lord, you are gullible, Constantine.” She offered the most reasonable explanation. “The reason the video keeps getting scrubbed is likely copyright, okay? Always go with the logical solution.”

“Maybe so, but… filming in these infamous parts of Berlin? The video was located to here, as were the still shots and other less detailed footage. Geolocators take their craft very seriously, and several of the images were definitely taken from around here.”

Before his sister could protest. A shadow loomed over them. Looking up, Constantine could see a massive man, with muscular arms sticking out of the torn-off sleeves of a faded denim jacket. He had an angry scowl on his stubble-covered face, and he rattled off a quick sequence of angry-sounding German, pointing at the screen.

“Uh, Constantine, what do we do? This is why this was a stupid idea! Now he seems angry.” His sister said, suddenly scared by the overwhelming aura of aggression from the big man.

“Aha!” Constantine declared triumphantly, though he too was uneasy at their visitor. “I have thought ahead. Translation apps have come a long way.” He clicked on a few links, and soon the angry German was being translated into passable Greek.

“Why are you here looking for her? Who do you work for? Government? Police?” the software spat out. The other patrons of the bar were looking on, and one was reaching for a pool cue, which was leaning against one wall. Sweat dripping from his forehead, Constantine changed the language settings.

“No, we aren’t any official people! I’m a journalist! Internet!” he declared. “I want to know about the girl. She’s special, right? If I could just prove one exists…”

“Selfish.” The man slammed down his glass of beer, and panicking, Constantine operated the laptop. “She just wants to be left alone. You are not welcome here!”

“So… she’s real?” Sophia asked, puzzled. “This isn’t a film shoot or anything? No, this must be some sort of hustle, picking on gullible tourists…”

“Go home.” The man said, and those in the quiet bar echoed him. “She is the Rachsüchtiger Geist, our vengeful ghost. Many have come looking. The wise left empty-handed. The foolish tasted her vengeance. I suggest you leave. While you still can.”

I knew it! There’s something going on, the secrets are out there! Why else would they be worried about the government and the police? If this girl can do what the videos show, then so can the others. It’s true! It’s all true! His excitement rising, Constantine couldn’t stop himself from talking. “So, why are you all so concerned? Do you know her?”

“Stop asking questions! We should go!” Sophia hissed.

“There’s no way I can back down now! This is the truth!” Constantine shot back.

“Yes, we know her now.” The man agreed. “A lost child, buffeted by the storms. Coming to rest in our neighbourhood, seeking shelter.” The man lowered his voice, ashamed. “There are many here that are not good people. She had it hard. But those who sought to abuse her realised that she is not for them. Now go back. The incarnation of the Furies has little mercy.”

“The Furies?” Sophia, who was oppressed by the atmosphere, perked up a little at that, her curiosity piqued. “You mean the Erinyes? Well, obviously they never really existed, but to think we’d hear about Greek culture here…”

“Is this really the time for that?” Constantine hissed, knowing she could be curious about the strangest things. “We need to convince these people to tell us what they know.” And not beat us up and toss us out into the streets. Or worse.

Another man came over and addressed the first man, in rapid, quiet German, too fast for the software to decipher. Watching their expressions anxiously, trying to determine whether they needed to run, he was surprised when the second man grabbed the laptop.

“Hey, that’s mine…” Constantine began, but a glare froze him, and a bit ashamed of his cowardice in front of his sister, he watched as the man looked at the other open windows. The two men then had a conversation, before the man handed back the laptop and said something to the barman. Moments later more beers arrived, and the newcomer gestured to several of the images. “I am curious. What are your names, foreigner?”

“Constantine Nikolaou. This here is my sister, Sophia.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you all.” Sophia said timidly. “Uh… my brother is an idiot, but he means her no harm, I promise.”

“Well, you can call me Karl.” The man said, giving no surname. “So, a journalist? One with… interesting… views. Well tell me, Herr Constantine, why should she reveal herself to you? After all, if she hides like a ghost, clearly not wanting to be found, isn’t it rude to seek her out? Besides…” the man said, this time not through the translation, but in tolerable Greek. “… these images. The people in them disappeared, didn’t they?”

“You speak Greek?” Sophia asked, surprised.

“English and Russian too. Back in the day, I was quite the important man. As to how I ended up here, that is a story I do not care to tell.” Karl declared. “Now, is your truth worth putting a girl at risk, Herr Constantine?”

“Hang on, you are talking like all this is something real. It’s a hoax. It has to be!” Sophia objected, and the man gave her a pitying look, which was riling her up.

No, this is a bad time to get angry. “Calm down Sophia, we don’t want to cause trouble. Gamóto, this is tense.” At his words, Sophia kept her silence, grabbing her beer and taking a long swig. “So, you said that the police and the government and foreigners have been here looking for her? That makes sense, if I was able to find out, well then so could others.” As he talked about it, his enthusiasm returned. “But how did she evade capture? Wait… were you helping her?”

“The ghost does not need our help, but we still choose to offer it.” Karl said. “After all, she is vengeful, but does not forget those who show her kindness. Even for the Government, Berlin is a big city. They cannot cover it all. And there are many places to hide.”

“Well, what about surveillance. Tracking her phone or some such? I know that it happens. That’s not a conspiracy, it’s established fact!” Constantine proclaimed.

“She does not use them. After all, who would a lost runaway call?”

“A runaway? That’s sad.” Sophia said, her tense expression becoming more compassionate. “You must be kind people, helping her.”

Karl looked ashamed at that. “Hardly. Those who were not kind were many. But the ghost is not so easy to prey upon. Now go. You have what you need to know. The Rachsüchtiger Geist exists. Let that knowledge be enough. So go. Do not return here again!”

“But I need to know. There are others! Others like her! The weightlifter, whoever was doing the YouTube videos, many others. Why is it secret, what is happening? If…”

“Enough.” A young voice said, and the translator app, left on German, repeated it back. “Karl, I’ve been listening. I admit to being curious about what he knows.” The speaker was indeed the girl in the video, though her appearance had changed, her hair pulled into a ponytail, and she was wearing a long duffel-coat, hiding her figure. “Besides, it’s a problem that he managed to find this place. I’d like to know how. I’m sick of having to hide. I don’t want to leave, not now I’ve found a comfortable place to live.”

“But are you sure?” Karl asked, and she nodded.

“If they try anything, well… Alecto’s anger will surely fall upon them. Besides…” she reached out and effortlessly hoisted up a heavy table one-handed, bigger than her own small body. “They don’t look so tough.”

Sophia was gaping open-mouthed at the display, but all Constantine was feeling was triumph. That’s not natural. No, I’ve found it! The impossible, I knew it! Two Sigma, Sophia says. Well, what does that make this now? If this girl is the real deal, then are all the others? No, maybe not all, but it’s impossible that none of them are. His breath coming fast, hands sweaty, Constantine stood up and greeted the girl. “Greetings. I thank you for showing yourself to me. I promise I mean you no harm. I simply have to know more about you, and any others like you! The world needs to know, but…”

“What is he saying?” the language app interpreted her words and her confused look to Karl made Constantine wince. Oh yes, the app. I need to change the settings. It’s only Karl that speaks Greek…

“He says he wants the world to know about you and those like you.” Karl translated, and her cold blue eyes made Constantine tremble, his sister Sophia shaking like a leaf in a storm. I can feel it. It’s like her anger has a physical presence, a chill. No, if I was to anger her, who knows what she could do to me? Even so… he looked at his scared sister. “Sophia. I was right, see? But… what should we do? Now that the truth is in front of me… Gamóto, what in God’s name do we do?”