I've run this sector's Land Monitoring Unit for years. I've never encountered anything like it.

"Sir, reporting. It's confirmed; full loss."

I put my face in my hands.

"Uuuuuuuugh."

This is going to be a massive stain on my record. Worse, there's nothing to be done! I can't act like the inscription malfunctioned just before the incident. Because, the inscriptions were coincidentally run through a self-check just minutes prior. 100% health. Not even a single percent missing. I can't so much as point at that and speculate.

Though... Where is that bastard?

"Validation Team, what's taking you so long?!"

"Apologies, sir. Just a mome— ah! A hundred percent health!"

No! Godsdamnit! Who the hell cursed me with this bullshit? I'll be lucky if my head doesn't go flying!

What about Mana Team?

"Mana Team, preliminary results?"

"Sir, we're running the test for the fifth time. One moment."

I appreciate your dedication. I do, however...

"Haah? Just give a summary of the first four."

"Yes, sir. There was no spell detected. Solely Mana. We're using the Aitos algorithm, which has been recertified. The old algorithm isn't showing results which match observation, however, which is why we're running it again."

What in the...?

"A hundred percent population loss, at a hundred percent inscription health, yet there's no spell detected? What about meteorological? Interplanetary? I want answers from those two teams. Now."

"No, sir."

"None detected."

He didn't say sir. You know what? I'm done.

I'm done! I'm just done. How can this happen? It's not merely 100% loss, it's going to become 101% loss! Tomorrow! When they execute ME!

I put my mind into the main inscription slab. A plot of land shows up within. Just, land. Yes, these are the right coordinates. Yes, I'm certain. My teams have checked and double-checked that, too.

I look at the land grid again. The map switches to a close-up shot as I Will it. I start combing the ground for clues.

image [https://timjames.net/data/acd/images/036.png]

Something, something we missed.

image [https://timjames.net/data/acd/images/036b.png]

Anything at all.

image [https://timjames.net/data/acd/images/036c.png]

Then, I catch the outline of a shape that should've been obvious. But it's obvious why it wasn't obvious.

image [https://timjames.net/data/acd/images/036d.png]

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

This... This can't be? I mentally select the plot directly to the southeast.

image [https://timjames.net/data/acd/images/036e.png]

My head instantly jerks up.

"Recon Team! Check plots CA-seven-seven and CB-seven-eight in tandem, and check carefully. Do you see any abnormalities?"

Almost immediately, a reply.

"I don't know how we overlooked that, sir. Perhaps because it's on the diagonal boundary."

He points at his own inscription slab.

"However, sir. Is this even possible?"

A fair question; I'm doubting it myself.

"It has to be possible since it's the only valid explanation. Compile the data and render a new three dimensional inscription of the relevant points of interest. Add a full workup of the data as well. Once you've done both, I want to see that inscription slab IMMEDIATELY. In fact, anyone here with the skills to work on this is temporarily reassigned to Recon Team until that slab's been fully processed. Go! NOW!"

The orderly room turns into chaos; its quietude broken by the buzzing of chairs moving, desks bumping, and people talking. Several dozen people are crowding in different huddles, each of which shift and sway.

*skrch*

*tak*

{"Put this..."}

*yrrt*

*keet*

{"No, put this..."}

{"Yes, is that..."}

*tik*

{"Confirmed."}

*klat*

*shee*

{"Are you..."}

{"Yeah, it's..."}

*rrt*

The loss rate won't become 101%.

Still, I must ask myself. The town's measured losses were 0%, then they were 100%. How does a whole town vanish in less than an hour? Without so much as a spell, no less? What, exactly, are we up against? The second coming of the Dragon God?

I feel chills down my spine; I just thought something I shouldn't've. It felt as though I was provoking The Beast.

No! Our savior killed The Beast. Then why do I feel so panicked?

"Sir, it's ready."

Really? That was fast. I need to consider reorganizing them into flexible teams. I already run this place like it's a military post, so why not aim even higher?

Yes. I can aim for a promotion now, rather than merely avoiding execution. I found this PERSONALLY. Whew, what a save!

A technician hands me an inscription slab; I inject my Mana. A three dimensional image pops into my mind, but this time it's solely my focus area. Some data comes up on the side, but I dismiss it. Not right now. I need to see this thing.

...

This is... The biggest godsdamned dragon footprint I've ever seen. For a moment, I worry it's a misdirection. I Will the data to pop back up, and it does. Nope, based on the depth and soil compaction rate, this must be correct. Unless someone randomly bought a whole team of gravity mages out there, except, hrm. No spell detected. Let's see.

"Mana Team, any new results?"

"No, sir. The old algorithm is still showing almost no Mana disturbances at all, with a nonsensical spell cast identifier. The new one shows no spell cast, but a massive Mana disturbance. If we go by the data's raw error rate, the new algorithm has far higher accuracy and a smaller margin."

Makes sense: that's Aitos for you. The man might be the best inscriptionist in the world for all we know. We don't know, because the mule refuses to leave Haitos. The old algorithm? Not authored by him. Naturally, it doesn't work.

"Discard the old algorithm; it was already known to have many flaws. Those flaws dramatically slowed our search by dividing our attention. If we had more eyes assisting Recon Team, this near-flub of catastrophic proportions wouldn't've happened."

"Yes, sir!"

What would've been our fate if fresh but uneducated eyes managed to see what I saw?

Mass purge? I tremble.

I want to blame the Mana Team, but I can't. They did the best work here. Rechecking five times for accuracy while everyone else was still trying to get data is admirable.

They were merely working with a flawed method— a method which I'd authorized.

Of course, if they weren't so exceptional, I'd absolutely throw them under the carriage. Such is the nature of politics. I can pin the blame on an algorithm once, and only once. And I did that three weeks ago. If I did it twice, especially twice in a row? Someone who doesn't understand my job will become suspicious. Which makes it natural to provide a sacrifice.

I'll need to brainstorm a good excuse in case something like this happens again. I'd rather not lose a good team due to the stupidity of the ruling class. Still, if it were my neck or theirs?

It's the goat's neck which gets cut. Not the shepherd's. That's why they're called sacrificial goats, right?

I guide my herd in a new direction.

"Alright, everybody! Task shift! LISTEN UP!"

Everyone in the room stops moving and looks to me for direction. Aha! Yes, I live for this.

"Start searching the surrounding area. Begin a fan search until locating the next footprint. Additionally, overlap that pattern with a tri-box; we'll do both concurrently. We're NOT missing it this time. Once we've got a lock, track its footprints and find where this thing went. If we can identify a flight zone, switch to path prediction in tandem with the tri-star and quad-box search patterns, all concurrently, for a five hundred grid radius."

I turn my chair, facing one group in particular.

"Monitoring Team, you have permission to call in emergency resources at your discretion. DO NOT pester me with escalation requests. Do what needs doing and get your work done. We need you at the top of your game until the rest of the teams are done with their tasks."

I turn back toward the center of the room.

"Alright. BEGIN!"