The modern corporate Driver was often compared to an office worker. Their duties were near one-to-one, with mild distinctions being offered every once in a while for those lucky to be chosen to take care of the more physical affairs. Oftentimes, however, most positions were caught hauling papers, replying to week-late emails, or attending the occasional meeting to ensure business was flowing smoothly.
All of these often took place in brobdingnagian high-rise skyscrapers, the majority of which's floors consisted of somewhat spacious cubicles decorated in the personal style of the unlucky desk jockeys who were unfortunate enough to be locked to a screen for more than half their waking hours every day, Said skyscrapers numbered in the hundreds in the districts that housed them, but were often centered more towards densely populated residential districts like San-Selto, Cheshin, or Magkra.
Raoul never made it a habit to step into buildings of the like. He recalled two instances in the recent past when he had made short trips to them, and both were a result of conducting research on the expansive interiors crafted from spatial magic. Despite the thin, lanky exteriors of skyscrapers, the insides were often enchanted by wizards or artificers to contain much more space than what was visible outside. These were often the result of the fourth-tier Planar Expansion spell, a wider, more accessible version of the sixth-tier Create Demiplane.
Apaxian Dynamics was the name of the office. Jhestine didn't hesitate to nudge Raoul through the three-person-wide revolving glass doors and into the expansive front lobby. After a quick chat with the guards stationed at the elevators about the nature of her visitor and their visit, he was promptly welcomed inside.
The air was clean. Too clean, in fact. Pointing toward Modernity, it was true that Rynthians that lived in that Cycle and beyond usually had perfected the art of carbon dioxide conversion and filtration into breathable air, but there was such a thing as too clean. Even the outside air of Cias Buril as a whole, while obviously a product of technology and not nature as a whole, still felt identical to its natural state when breathed in the lungs.
Raoul was lucky to be free from it once the elevator doors had shut and they were moving. By then, mild coughs eased out of his throat, but he made a stark attempt to make it look like it wasn't affecting him much.
"What does Apaxian Dynamics do, Miss Marrow?"
"Hmm? Apart from the recruitment and training of budding Drivers, the appeasement of investors who want to turn Drivers' willpower into an opportunity to steer Rynth like evil overlords, and the advancement of technology in order to foster the creation of new Cycles? Nothing much."
"The second concerns me," Raoul frowned. "Is it really possible to control Rynth en masse by using a wide gathering of Drivers?"
The elevator sounded its low, passing-floor chime six times before Jhestine answered.
"Maybe…?" She trailed off. "There hasn't been a concrete example of the one percent having been able to create any sort of meaningful change to the world as a whole. There were a few occurrences one or two decades back, like the Menixi-Burilan squabble or the Nas-Handi insurgency. Both came about as a result of a group of determined, single-willed Drivers under the payroll of a faction of nobles that sought to control the city."
Jhestine continued. "The thing with Drivers is that while they each have the capacity to decide how Rynth progresses, unless they actually have the means to do so, oftentimes their sphere of influence and change only extends a few hundred miles or so. So, in reality, you'd only be controlling eighty or ninety percent of Cias Buril—not that the city isn't huge, of course!"
Raoul reached over to part a strand of hair that fell short of his eyes. "I recall reading about Urdha's rapid expansion during the seventh Cycle. It was said to be a result of a dozen Drivers communing with the God of Travel and receiving the knowledge of means to travel around the world and to outer planes. I… I believe that was how World Arks came to be."
"Ah, "The Great Expansion", yes. That one is a great example. However, it would not have been possible for Rynthians to have discovered other planes of existence or how to breach the Sunset Veil without Hesthemazine's gifts. Still, I believe we would have discovered it eventually. Just much later."
Another six chimes.
"What does the Driving Test consist of, Miss Marrow?" asked Raoul, steering the subject to his current worry. "How do you find out a person's Cycle?"
"It'll be much more fun if I tell you when we're there."
Four more chimes. A blast of cold air flowed onto Raoul's face, prompting a hurried shiver from his body. The elevator doors slid open, putting into view a wide, sealed room strangely similar to the white rooms people used for sensory deprivation and torture. The walls were pillowed, curving towards their middle and sliding back into the frames they were built on. The same went for the floors, and each step Raoul took sank his shoes.
Towards the upper one-third of the room were fully transparent windows. Tiptoeing, Raoul was just barely tall enough to peer into the chamber that was populated by tens of scientists donning lab gowns that passed their knees. Screens twice as wide as conventional televisions lined the dimmed walls, each one displaying different angles of the white room below. At the two's entry, all the scientists focused their gaze on them.
Jhestine raised a hand to greet them before disappearing into a door in the far corner of the room. A set of stairs laid hidden behind, and within a few seconds she appeared in that same observation room. Static buzzed across the entire perimeter through the single intercom positioned directly in the center of the ceiling. Her voice came out in a slightly deeper tone, but Raoul still recognized the speaker as Jhestine.
"Okay, we're just about ready to begin, Raoul. First, allow me to give you the rundown of the test."
Hunched over a set of controls, Jhestine flicked three spaced-out switches. The intensity of the light in the white room increased, adding a slight stuffiness to the otherwise empty space.
"We refer to this room as the Resonance Chamber. Another aspect of The Path that you may or may not know yet is its malleability. It's not only a way to enter your personal world, but also a way to bring your personal world into reality. Such an action is Emergence."
She continued. "It's a pivotal skill for Drivers to be able to manifest their own Path into reality when the environment does not favor their skillset. A Driver of Shaping might not fare as well in an endless, desolate desert as they might with a space filled with hundreds of different objects. To this extent, we're going to have you attempt to emerge your Path into the Resonance Chamber. Using the assortment of measuring instruments we have up here in the Observation Chamber, we'll be putting a name to the Cycle you attuned to through gauging and identifying the energy readings your Path gives off."
"Don't be ashamed if you're unable to manifest it fully on your first try; it's not something even Drivers with abnormal aptitude can perfectly replicate. Even just a smidgen of Path energy will be more than enough."
"I see," Raoul nodded. "How do I have my Path emerge?"
"Remember the process you took to enter your Path a few hours ago? That was when you peered into your past and identified the moment and source of your awakening to Driving? In lieu of that, you're going to want to look outwardly instead of inwardly and attempt to imagine the white room as an extension of your own Path. The world will naturally attempt to resist any attempts to modify it, so it will turn into a battle of conviction between you two."
"I… I see. Then, please let me try my hand at it."
An eager look fell upon Jhestine's face. She gestured with a hand to the scientists in the room with her and began mouthing out a series of commands. Each one nodded, rushing to adjust and calibrate the various meters and scales that each displayed various aspects of the Resonance Chamber below.
"Oxygen and Jati levels are stable, Miss Marrow," one scientist reported.
"The Driver's vitals are normal as well," another added.
"Path detectors are up and ready to detect," a third said.
"Well done, everybody," Jhestine gave a look of approval to each one, and then turned back to Raoul. She flicked up a thumb to signal her readiness. "We're all ready here, Raoul. Do your best to manifest your Path."