Items of Power.

I'm am joking for a certain, unknown quantity, of course, but another part of me is an awe at the workings of our world which resemble nothing so much as startlingly complicated fiction. In this case, it's commerce again, as you'll see.

After eying my funds with a certain amount of trepidation and getting my long-lost checks in the mail, I decided today that this weekend is the soonest appropriate time to make my way over to the car dealership to, well, deal. Like every other thing I've ever done, the option to leave it be seems obvious and easy, but my need seems clearer still. I have, however, wondered at my hesitation towards the prospect of vehicle-ownership. Unlike my last car, I cannot just appropriate one from a fund set aside for this purpose by an outside party but will need to pay it off over a period of time. This is not an uncommon situation for millions of people and, indeed, many people own cars and possess debts.

It does, though, make me nervous. It feels very much like investing a certain part of my freedom in exchange for an item of power. Like spending exp. to make an item. Like granting someone access to my name for a favor. Christ, I'm a nerd.

Brent often states that he doesn't understand Mage: the Ascension's Syndicate. Maybe this will enlighten him by proxy. Every debt exacts a promise, and every promise exacts its toll. When we are a debt society, who holds those reins, and what will we do to clear those obligations? Somehow this has turned into a Mage: the Ascension post, unbeknowst to me. That is the best way, though.