“So.” Gunderson began, his tone suddenly more severe now. “What have you really been up to this past week?”

Hmm, what should I bring up with him first? Should I brag about the progress I made with my skills and the study and practice I’d been doing at night? I also still had a metric ton of questions that I needed to ask him about. The list of questions I had about magic, monsters, and everything that was related to it seemed never-ending and ever-growing. There was also that dream I had, the one that I’m pretty certain had to do with Mira. I wonder what he’d make of it if I asked him.

But, despite all of those things, the topic that was weighing on my mind most was…

“So I’ve been struggling.” I admitted, my voice still loud enough for him to hear over the car’s engine and wind blowing past us. “Keeping this…secret from everyone important to me has been harder than expected. My parents, my friends, and even my brother have all been affected at least indirectly by this stuff, but all I can do for them right now is lie to their faces. It’s awful.”

"It is hard, carrying that burden.” Gunderson admitted. “Everyone in the IDPA has to deal with that as well, to some extent. But we remind ourselves that keeping that secret is ultimately about saving lives. Honestly, you have the advantage over us. Eventually, you'll be in a position to choose who you want to let in on the truth or not, with minimal cost. We non-supernatural don’t really have that privilege.”

“You’ve said that I can spend experience points to let people I care about know.” I replied back, my voice growing in strength as the emotions I was feeling grew as well. “But, you also then said I should wait, that I didn’t really know or appreciate what revealing the truth to them would mean. It’s been hard, Gunderson.”

“I know.” He said in a softer voice this time. “I’m sorry for telling you to hold off for now, but I meant what I said. Revealing what's really going on to them might make you feel better, but it won’t make them or you any safer. Not really.”

“How?” I demanded. “You need to explain that. You can’t just say it won’t make them safer without saying why?”

“Look, I’ll explain it in detail to you for as long as it takes, but even doing so will only just prompt more questions that you’ll inevitably want and need to ask about.” Gunderson calmly and patiently explained.

“What else is new? Just…just tell me why I should wait and why I need to keep lying to the people I most care about?” I asked with desperation in my voice.

“There are a few big reasons, but the main one is that the Akashic Record purpose or goal seems to ultimately revolve around protecting the well-being of mundanes.” Gunderson said.

“Wait, but last time we talked, you said that its first priority is killing monsters and that it didn’t really care about innocent lives being sacrificed in the process.” I retorted.

“Exactly, sacrificed. The Akashic Record is willing to sacrifice the few to protect the many, but why kill the monsters at all? If it didn’t care about people's lives, why perpetuate and enforce the veil? Why empower a small number of mundanes with great power so that they can do those things?” Gunderson said in an impassioned rant.

“To protect people.” I concluded.

“No, to protect mundanes.” Gunderson corrected, giving me a sharp look after he said it. Obviously, he was expecting me to understand the distinction and the implications for that.

If I revealed the truth to my friends and family, they’d no longer have Akashic Record to protect them. But hold on…

“Wait, but what about the mundanes that monsters do kill. I saw it happen at the party last week, Jessica and David. What did the Akashic Record do to protect them?” I demanded.

“First of all, the Akashic Record is not perfect. It is not an omnipotent god able to make all our problems go away in a flash. Secondly, there were more than just those two at that party, weren’t there? And all those others were protected by the Akashic Record, because of you.” Gunderson said while pointing at an index finger toward me.

“I see…” I said quietly. So I really did let those two down then, huh. It was my responsibility, even back then, to protect them, and I failed. Trying to put the depression and guilt out of my mind I switched back to my main point of concern.

“So, if I reveal the truth to my friends and family, they’ll no longer be protected?” I both asked and summarized for Gunderson, checking that I understood the point he was trying to get across.

“Not directly, but at the same time, that doesn’t mean a monster is going to immediately jump out of their closet and eat them.” Gunderson morbidly described. “That said, if there did happen to be a monster hanging out in their closet for some reason, the Akashic Record wouldn’t take any direct actions about it being there. At least as far as any paranaturals are concerned.”

“Telling them the truth would automatically make them into paranaturals, then?” I asked, feeling less and less sure about whether I should tell them now or not.

“Yep, the definition for a paranatural is pretty broad, but if you want to be more specific, telling your family the truth would make them into what we call the unveiled.”

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“You said that the lack of protection from the Akashic Record was the big reason. What are the others?” I asked, the sad, depressed tone clear in my voice.

“Well, it also makes it less risky for them to be harmed or messed with by other paranatural beings.” Gunderson said, the black pit of depression growing even more prominent in my heart. “Other paranaturals won’t automatically know about them or seek them out to attack them or anything, but if they do know about them, they’ll consider them fair game.”

“I see, I don’t like the sound of that.” I said despondently.

“Well, like I said, paranatural is a very, very broad category, and it includes many different types of people with drastically different sets of belief systems and agendas.” Gunderson enthusiastically explained. “Let’s take a random blood cult that devoutly worships the Arch Demoness Vol'rithan, The Blood Drinker, for example.”

“For example.” I mockingly repeated.

“Right, now said cultists might be willing to risk grabbing some random off the street to use in their foul ritual offerings, but if they did so, they’d likely risk triggering a reaction from the Akashic Record.” Gunderson started to explain before causing me to interrupt with a question.

“Hold on, I thought the Akashic Record only acted to prevent monster attacks?” I pointed out.

“Not only, but it's much less aggressive about stopping paranaturals.” Gunderson replied. “It would take actions to stop a paranatural serial killer or a cultist kidnapping people to sacrifice, but it wouldn't step in to stop say, a paranatural acting in self-defense or to try to stop a war between two factions that included a mix of mundanes and paranaturals.”

“I see, I think.” I told him.

“Good, but back to my example.” Gunderson said before pausing for a moment to gather his thoughts. “So, a cultist might be willing to risk taking a mundane to use in their ritual, but it would be a far safer option if they happened to know about a vulnerable paranatural that was available to them.”

“I think I’m starting to get the picture. Telling them the truth will put a target on their back, and I’m still too weak to really protect them right now.” I told him sadly, having decided that he was right that I did need to wait. If it meant putting them in more danger now, waiting until I was strong enough to protect them in the future was the safer option.

“What you said is true, and I agree that telling them now would be more dangerous. At the same time, though, there are millions of paranaturals out there living their lives in and around Earth right now.” Gunderson quickly revealed.

“Wait, millions?” I said in disbelief.

“At least, like I said, paranatural is a very broad category, and the world you know is probably much bigger than you even still realize.” He excitedly explained.

“Frick.” I exclaimed.

“So, does that answer your question of why, then?” Gunderson calmly asked.

“Mostly, I guess.” I said sadly. I’d already resolved not to say anything to them yet, but I still had to ask for more details. “So, are there any other notable reasons why I shouldn't tell them yet, just so I’m aware.”

“Well, the other big one is temptation.” He said simply.

“Temptation? You're just making it all sound worse and worse now.” I protested anxiously.

“Sorry, not on purpose, but you did say you wanted to know why?” He reminded me. “So, temptation, imagine you’re an ordinary girl, and one day your best friend tells you that magic, monsters, and almost all the make-believe stories she’s ever heard of are real. What happens? What does she do with that information?”

“I don’t know? It depends on the girl.” I replied icily.

“True, very true. Then imagine that this once ordinary girl who learned all of the things she’s read about and imagined was now possible, really really loved magic.” Gunderson said animatedly. “By the way, have you been reading the book we gave you?”

“Uh, yeah, every night.” I told him truthfully. “I even got a quest to do a report on it.”

“Really?” He said, surprised. “Well, we’ll talk about that in a second, but like you may have read in the book, most normal humans can’t naturally use mana. So what is this eager and curious young woman to do? She desperately wants to have magic of her own. She’s also willing to do almost anything to get it.”

“I think I see where this is going.” I told him.

“Good, it's a pretty obvious example, but I hope it helps make the point clear.” Gunderson coldly said. “The temptations for a newly created unveiled are numerous, and there are many native and non-native forces that will seek to take advantage of that, if they get the chance.”

“That sounds like something you’re saying from experience.” I told him.

“I am. I’ve seen it way too many times now, way too many.” Gunderson said, the pain evident in his voice. “A desperate youth wanting power of his own, an insecure lover wanting the strength to protect their partner, or a father mad with grief at losing a loved one, willing to pay any price to bring them back.”

“I think I get it, Gunderson. I get it.” I said sadly.

“I’m glad to hear it. You’ll for sure tell them eventually, but for now.” He said, pausing for just a moment. “Wait.”

“Okay.” Was all I said in response.

“With all that said, I did want to hear more about your week before we got to where I was heading, but here we are already anyway.” Gunderson loudly declared as the car began to pull up to a street curb somewhere in downtown Redding.

“Where are we?” I asked, actually taking a look around at my surrounding for the first time in a while.

“We’re outside a little curio shop for folks like us.” Gunderson said with a wink. “It’s an out of the way spot. It's an, you’ll only find it if you know about it, kind of place.”

“Alright, so why are we here then?” I cautiously asked.

“Well, I was hoping to explain it in more detail before we got here, but the short version is, I’d like to take you along while I work on an important investigation I’ve been pursuing.” Gunderson patiently said while looking towards me to gauge my reaction. “You can say no, of course, but it would be a good learning experience for you, and the extra help would be appreciated. Plus, we also still have a lot to talk about, I imagine.”

New Quest!

Side Quest: Pulling Threads

Agent Gunderson has offered you the chance to follow alongside and assist with one of his investigations. Uncover the culprit's identity and deliver justice to their victims.

Success: 250 Exp.