The base… wasn't that active at the moment, what Alexandra found was some minions here and there milling around, nothing that harsh compared to what she had thought would be found. If anything, there were fewer minions going around than before…

"Halt, code name, and last mission?" One Minion came rushing to her, it was one with a white mask that had some extra decorations, just like how [Gabriel] had.

Was this one like those that had stood above the rest of Minions before? A [Lieutenant] rank Minion?

"Rhapsody, I came from the mission from the Theater Guy," Alexandra answered while checking her memories about those Lieutenants; she remembered [Gabriel], [Eleanore], [Hermes], and…there was another one, right? Or a couple more?

God damned, Alexa hadn't been paying attention, had she….How could they even forget something? Wasn't their memory encoded into [Main Core]? It should be impossible for her to forget!

"Rhapsody…huh…weird, this says you were at the epicenter of it all, we have reports from [The Theater Master] that put you in the center, how are you even in one piece? No wait…" The [Minion] 's eyes narrowed, how was he doing that with a mask? "I'll need to take a scan of your mask, please do not resist."

The Minion then pulled what looked like a [Gun] but instead of a hole at the front, it had a crystal that sent waves of light at her Mask.

“[Detected transmision…intercepted by Mask, mask is sending a hail back…No action is needed.]" Main Core reported, so this thing was interacting with her Mask?

"Hmm…the Mask says you are indeed Rhapsody…Well, I'll be damned, how did you manage to remain in one piece?" The Minion said shaking its head, was it that…hard? She didn't think so, the hardest part had been when Ale ended up speaking with Alexanders as far as she was concerned, and that had been after the Theater Guy left. "Also, aren't you supposed to be shorter?"

"I'm a Shapeshifter," Alexandra answered with a shrug, "As for anything else, I wanted to ask [Eleanore] or [Billy] about that. It didn't seem that hard to move around, maybe the theater's guy power is flawed?"

Alexandra really wanted to know how that went, was something that only affected [Humans]. No, both the theater guy and Aqua were fine, as well as Alexanders. But she doubted he was fully [Human] to begin with…He didn't behave like one, at the very least…

Actually, the Theater guy also didn't behave like one…

"I see…well, stop wasting time here. The big lady wants to see you." The Minion said as his Mask's eyes relaxed, how was he doing that? A solid surface without expressions shouldn't show emotions!

That is not how solids work!

Was he using Nanites? Manipulating the surface? What was he even doing?!?!?!

"Right…" Alexandra answered for now and instead decided to shelve that for later perusal, she would also need to ask about getting a personal device to access the internal network… "Say…where is [Billy]? I also need to ask him about getting some device to access the internal network."

"...Why Billy?" The Minion asked as his Mask mimicked the face of someone confused; how did Alexandra know that was what it looked like? The hell if she knew. "I mean, you could ask the big lady about that or just get a notepad in the quartermaster's office or the supply depot like the normal people if you just want to browse A-friends and A-chirp."

A-chirp?

What the hell is an A-chirp?

"I see…" Alexandra answered for now, there were many things that confused her.

"If you only want to browse casually just pick the normal one from the quartermaster, they will discount some money from your wages but they have internet access across the city. If you need some serious power, then you will need the big lady's permission, though." The Minion said nodding its head, "To be honest even as a Lieutenant it took me like half a month to convince the big lady to grant me this stupid notepad…And that was only because I accepted to take these jobs to make sure the minions were who they said they were!"

Alexandra nodded again and again, so this one did have a way to identify if someone was who they said they were?

Would it work like [Eleanore] 's truth detection?

"Well, move on. The big lady will have my skin if you dilly-dally more here, but trust me, you want to convince Billy first if you want something with serious Power; if not, then just settle for the basic one." The Minion said while running away towards another door, there it waited as a new door opened and another Minion walked in.

They repeated the same actions they had done with her again, and Alexandra shook her head. Oh, so that was why people shook their head, they didn't understand something or why it was like that, and shook their head to distract themselves about it.

But…then why did they shake their head at her? She was reasonable…No, wait, it wasn't at her…It was at Alexa, yeah. That checks out.

"RUDE! I am not unreasonable!"

"Well, let's go see [Eleanore] then." Alexandra said smiling at herself, she now understood more about her than before, so that counted as a win.

As she walked through the base, she noticed some… odd things; for one, the ambiance was weird, not downcast, but also not happy. Some minions stood against walls while holding their faces with both hands, a few on the floor with the Mask at the side and drinking [Beer].

Some hitting their fists against the wall while their shoulders went up and down, when she passed by the cafeteria she found some minions sitting at one table also drinking [Beer] while laughing and telling stories about other Minions.

Where are they happy? Or sad?

She couldn't understand them, for now, she decided to not dwell too much on it, lest this be one way the [Humans] reacted to a mission that ended in success against all the odds. Eventually she ended up arriving at [Eleanore] 's Office, and after knocking on the door a few times she finally got the "Come in." Order, so opening the door Alexandra found herself with-

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Answer in as few words as possible and do not attempt to lie, divert or omit anything. What is your name, your reason for being here, and who are you. Do not use information that comes from anyone else but what you know to be the truth." [Eleanore] flaring her [Core Power] and letting it bear down like an anvil atop Alexandra.

Now…how to answer this.

"Also state if you use any way or form to get out of this situation." Dang it.

"My Code Name is Rhapsody, my name is Alexandra Saintsworths." Alexandra started by the easiest part, she knew this to be truth, it was on her blue screen from [Core], and that one had all her data. "I was told that you wanted to see me, but I also had other reasons to be here; one of them was to report on the mission I went on before, and the other was getting confirmation on some things about my past."

"Truth…" [Eleanore] said, relaxing as her eyes stopped shining in azure light and the weird phantom creature behind her disappeared. Why had the image of a three-headed dog even materialized for?

Or where had it come from? Was this a way to showcase the might of a [Core Power]? Alexanders had mentioned something about [Core Age] after all.

Or was it [Core Maturity]? Either way, there were more metrics to distinguish the might of [Core Users], and Alexandra needed to find more on that.

"Thank god…I couldn't deal with losing you too; it is bad enough that we are losing plenty of minions from this already…But they knew the risks, but you…you are barely….I don't even know how old you really are…" [Eleanore] said sitting back into her chair and sinking on herself, placing one hand into her eyes as she stared at the ceiling, "... shouldn't have let you go. Actually, I should fire you, but fucking Vulcanus will not let that go; whatever he wants from you is more important. Too important he says…enough that he is willing to send a literal child…"

"I'm not a child right now," Alexandra said raising her hand, "At this moment in time I'm an adult by all [Human Metrics]."

And that was important.

"...Sure you are, you may have the body of one, and parts of the mind of one. But you know nothing, Alexandra." [Eleanore] glared through one of her eyes, "But it is my fault too I guess, I have let go of too many things too… Let's get this over with, also drop the form. I need to speak with Alexa."

….

"No," Alexandra answered, that made [Eleanore] turn to stare at her confused.

"No? What are you talking about?" [Eleanore] said confused, as if she hadn't expected that answer.

"No, we need to talk about some things first, things that Alexa may not be interested in asking or even will think to ask," Alexandra said, turning behind her to make sure the door was closed. "Like what is happening right now at the base."

[Eleanore] looked as if she had eaten something not tasty, as if she hadn't wanted to speak about it.

"...Nothing is happening, nothing out of the ordinary, people are used to it. So, really, it's just normal as usual." [Eleanore] said slowly, "Was that all you wanted to ask?"

"I don't know what is deemed normal nor am I used to it. Explain." Alexandra said narrowing her eyes, "Why are people acting like that, I saw some people crying, others partying, and a few seemed to be very angry against walls. There is also the weird Minion who welcomed me into the base."

And that had been one thing that she didn't quite understand even now, what was the deal with that one?

"...Do you know what type of Core the Scrambler has?" [Eleanore] suddenly asked.

"A [Mind Core]?" Answered Alexandra. She had guessed that, at the very least, since these seemed to have a great stigma upon them and the fact that people feared them, he must have done something terrible with that [Power].

"That is what everyone thinks," [Eleanore] nodded her head at that and laughed, "But no, or not only that I guess."

She guessed?

Could it be?

"You asked him? You asked the robe guy what is [Core] was?" Alexandra couldn't help but be wary, if she was asked that…what was she supposed to do?

"I don't ask that often, and it has its toll on me too, the Core is too important to who we are, only reason I managed to pull that off is because he was using his on me too, so there was a connection," [Eleanore] said with a sigh, "I regret not using that chance better…"

So she also had survived the encounter? At least that meant it wasn't as rare…

"Then what is his [Core]?" Alexandra asked if she said that it wasn't [Mind Core], then how was he twisting people's minds?

"His Core is Mind and Reality," [Eleanore] said.

Just that?

"At the very least, those two are primary cores, we suspect he developed either one Information Core or one Dream Core," [Eleanore] said as if the fact that she declared a [Human] having more than one [Core] was normal.

How did they even manage that? She could have done that since she had access to her Nanite Swarm, but how could a [Human] manage that?

"Yes, Core Users can end up developing a secondary Core if they manage to amass enough Mana. Usually, people develop adjacent Powers or fix some issue with their Main Core. But [The Scrambler] didn't quite do that." [Eleanore] sighed; she didn't seem happy about that, "He is…mad. We don't know if it is schizophrenia or if he is perceiving something else, but he is taking people's minds and replacing it with other things. People who… aren't quite normal."

Yeah, she had heard that before.

"So? How aren't they normal? Aren't they [Human]?" Alexandra asked, if [Eleanore] said they weren't, well, then there wouldn't be any problem if she decided to go hunting right?

"They are Human, but they aren't from here. Our planet is called Terra Nova, simple right?" [Eleanore] said, so Alexandra nodded, she hadn't know that the planet had a name, but with the thing the [Humans] had with their damned labels it standed to reason that they would name their planet. "They claim to be from a planet called Terra Invicta, and while what they say is…mostly in tune with what we have, there are some differences here and there."

[Eleanore] stood and walked to the bookshelf, from there she brought a folder and gave it to Alexandra. It depicted some buildings, what looked like a weird vehicle that looked closer to a weird T than anything else, by what it was written at the side it seemed to be called [Spaceship]?

"They seem to be around 200 to 500 years ahead of us in technology, and are just learning about Core Powers… The Saintsworths are at the head of their government, too, so there is that." [Eleanore] shrugged, "Some things are eternal, I guess, and the bullshit of the Saintsworths is one."

Alexandra found that interesting, was the scrambler making up a new persona, universe and the whole setting up from scratch, then seeding it in the [Humans]?

"So he is making that whole universe and seeding it into the minds of his victims?" So Alexandra asked.

"We hope so," [Eleanore] answered, they hoped so? "We sincerely hope so, as far as we know all the data from the victims match to the most stupid useless detail, the only discourage we find within them is the fact that some seem to actually think that Alexanders has been alive for 200 years, and their description of him is that of either his father or grandfather."

What? There were [Humans] that could live that long?

"...no Human can live that long, unless there is a Core Power involved, and as far as we can see in the setting [The Scrambler] is seeding into the minds of people there aren't Core Powers as developed as we have." [Eleanore] said with a sigh, "So we just don't know, all the major powers do share what they find out from victims of him, just so we have a better understanding of his motives."

"But he died, so it is all a moot point now, right?" Alexandra said, "I saw The Delivery Guy killing him."

Alexanders had left a hole on his body, a hole big enough that she could probably crawl through it…in this form.

"Oh right, that one. You sent us a warning about him, right? What's the deal with him?" [Eleanore] said, not addressing the fact that the scrambling guy was dead.

"Is he not dead?" Alexandra said, bringing that point once again.

"...more than likely, no, he isn't dead. I saw the footage and that wasn't him, we suspect that he has a way to spread his influence or is directly supplanting the mind of their victims with his psyche. So what the Delivery Guy killed was a puppet in the best-case scenario and another victim in the worst, I hope he didn't want to work as a Hero because that does not look good." [Eleanore] said with a shrug, "So, you haven't said what was the problem with this Delivery Guy."

Now…how to say this.

"I…found some information about my past, things that may explain…my family background." Alexandra said slowly, she needed to mind her words very carefully right now, since she was speaking to [Eleanore].

"You did?!?!?" [Eleanore] quickly jumped at that," Who are your parents?!? Why did they abandon you?!? What happened?!?!?!"

First of all, rude.

Isn't it rude to tell someone to their face that their parents abandoned them?

"The Delivery Guy, what do you know about him?" Alexandra started by that.

"Him? He is a new face, his body armor is on the higher end of Tinker Tech available. He seems to be on the weirder end; we suspect he is either a Tinkerer with a weird niche towards guns or a rich Core User with a miscellaneous type." [Eleanore] brought another folder with a photo of Alexanders wearing the full body armor and posing to the cameras, "He also has a big ego and seems to be a fame seeker, [The Theater Master] vouches for him and has marked him as a [Protagonist], one of the highest praises he has given to anyone. As far as we know, there was only one person at that level."

There was?

"Who?" Alexandra asked, if there was someone as dangerous as Alexanders she needed to be on the look.

"Alexanders Saintsworths, the CEO of the Saintsworths Conglomerate, is cataloged by [The Theater Master] as a possible [BBG] or an [Antagonist]." [Eleanore] said, bringing another folder, "At the very least, he is set up on the lowest setting as [Deuteragonist]."

Well, that could get…awkward.

Should she…say what his identity was?

"Well…The Delivery Guy ambushed me after the theater guy left, and he removed his Mask when speaking to me." Alexandra said with a sigh, "Or well, he did that to Ale I guess, but same thing."

"Was he hostile? If so, we can remove him from the list of possible clients." [Eleanore] said narrowing her eyes.

"No, he removed his face mask and came out as my brother. He gave me this as proof." Alexandra said raising her right hand and letting the weird eagle engraving to shine, "It seems that I am really a Saintsworths after all."

Yeah, nailed it.

"YOU ARE A WHAT?!?!?!" Now, follow the next part.

"So, as my brother explained…I need a device to access the personal server, so…can I get a personal device?" Alexandra said with a shy smile, "I haven't been able to peruse the data here quite yet as much as I would like to."

She had been too busy ogling at Sam to check on it after all.