Free Reality Hack by Niall Teasdale

said. ‘I know something of these people you have become involved with and what they do. It can be very dangerous. You need to study, hard.’
    ‘You know,’ Nisa said warily, ‘I can’t help but think that an intelligent cat sounds like a Bug, and I’m supposed to hunt those.’
    ‘Witch Cats fall into a grey area as far as your masters are concerned. I’m sure your tutor is painting things as very much black and white, but he will eventually have to admit that not everything considered unnatural is bad. If it were, he would have to eliminate you, and himself.’ There was a little pause and then she said, ‘What happened to you that makes you wake up screaming, Nisa?’
    ‘Part of the problem is that I don’t remember. I know, but… I’d been practising the light spell, a lot. I attracted an incubus. His mind control made me forget what he did , but I know what they do …’
    Faline got to her feet and padded over, rubbing herself against Nisa’s leg. Nisa picked her up and a furry head rubbed against her cheek.
    ‘I am sorry that your first successful spell brought you such harm,’ Faline said. ‘I will help where I can.’ She began to purr and the pain in Nisa’s chest, which she had barely noticed, was soothed away.
    ‘You’ve already helped a lot,’ Nisa whispered.
    Westminster, July 1 st .
    The paper target twenty or so yards down the small firing range vanished in a blaze of flame and Kellog turned to look at Nisa who was watching with a bright, wide-eyed grin on her face.
    ‘Basic fireball spell,’ he said.
    ‘Awesome!’ she replied.
    Kellog gave a grunt. ‘Do you think you could do something like that?’ He turned again, pressing a button which pulled the target holder back along a rail so that he could fix a new one in place.
    ‘Uh, I guess. It’s summon the energy, shape it, and then throw it, right?’
    ‘Precisely.’ He clipped the target in place and cycled it back toward a rather closer mark than he had used himself. ‘When you’re ready,’ he added, stepping back.
    Just as she had done when trying to talk to Faline, Nisa formed the image of energy flowing in toward her in her mind. It felt like it kept slipping and, over a minute later, she was feeling rather embarrassed even though Kellog was watching her with his usual stoic expression. Sure she had enough juice, she curled her hands around empty space in front of her and watched as a glowing, blue-white ball of light appeared between her hands. She actually giggled and then threw it toward the target, which vaporised very nicely. Sparks danced along the metal holder strip and up the cables.
    ‘What,’ Kellog said, ‘was that?’
    ‘Uh… I think I over-cooked it. Plasma bolt?’ She was feeling dizzy and when she reached out to steady herself against the wall, sparks jumped and she yelped.
    ‘Indeed. Perhaps something… less cooked. You’ve got some backlash effects as well. The energy felt slippery? You kept trying because you weren’t sure you had enough?’ Nisa nodded weakly. ‘Your control needs improving, but that will come with time. No one learns magic in a few weeks. In the meantime, might I suggest you keep away from anything electronic until the static stops?’
    ‘Right… Does this kind of thing happen a lot?’
    ‘Essentially, magic is unnatural. Doing it badly creates minor Glitches. I’ve lost my eyebrows more than once. I spent several hours hiding in my room one day because I’d turned scarlet. Minor electrical effects, tiredness, small burns, those are quite common.’
    ‘And people keep doing it?’
    ‘Of course. The rewards outweigh the disadvantages. Mostly.’
    ‘Encouraging, Kellog,’ Nisa told him. ‘That’s really encouraging. I think I need to sit down for a few minutes. Damn.’ Then the door gave her a shock when she tried to leave.
    Tower Hamlets, July 3 rd .
    ‘Hey, Faline?’ Nisa called out. The cat was munching biscuits in the kitchen, but that was not very far away,