"This is definitely where the bomb went off." Greg commented, studying the crater left by the blast. "How much radiation do you think we're dealing with right now?"
Chris cocked his head, extending his world out. "A lot." He moved closer to Thomas, getting him inside. "Yeah, if we weren't who we are, we would definitely be getting cancer at some point."
"Are we going to be radioactive?" Andrew asked nervously.
Chris shook his head. "That isn't how it works. Radiation doesn't make you radioactive, it just makes you sick."
Andrew frowned. "Then… Why is this entire area radioactive?"
"The bomb makes things radioactive. The radiation doesn't." Chris replied. "I don't know how."
Andrew narrowed his eyes at him. "I'm looking it up." He muttered. "Huh… apparently only neutron radiation makes other things radioactive, and it's pretty much only created by bombs and reactors. So if you're being exposed to it, you usually have bigger problems. Wow, that's a good line."
"And so the narcissism begins." Greg chuckled.
Andrew rolled his eyes. "It wasn't my line. It's what the article said."
"Alright, so, if this is where the bomb went off…" Thomas interjected, getting them back on track. "Where are the people who did it?"
"I suppose that's my cue." Greg chuckled, turning into a swarm of fairies and spreading out to look for signs of people.
"Or we could head for the one hill with a good view of the crater." Chris muttered, shaking his head.
"What do you think the chances are they actually stuck around?" Andrew asked, frowning slightly. "Teleportation isn't exactly a rare ability. I mean, I could make portals at level ten."
"Sure, but could you portal in a big ass bomb and adequately shielded facilities to actually observe the blast?" Thomas asked skeptically.
Andrew paused. "I could probably do the bomb, but definitely not the facilities… though maybe someone had an ability they could use to shield everyone?"
"I'm with Andrew on this one." A fairy Greg, who had stayed back to communicate anything he found, commented. "Apparently this World isn't too big on scientists, so I'm not sure how in-depth their experimental procedures are. I would not be surprised if all they relied on was some dude throwing up a shield." He paused, his expression twisting. "Fuck, this could have just been a single crafter jumping out into the boonies to test some random invention for all we know!"
Thomas frowned. "That is… very concerning."
"Kinda makes sense though…" Chris cocked his head. "When all you need to make something happen is one dude with the right mix of skills, a lot of checks and balances are skipped."
Thomas nodded. "That's what's concerning! Part of what keeps society sane is that we need to work together to accomplish any truly significant goal, and when that's no longer the case… things get fucky. I mean, could you imagine what life would be like if any random schmuck could get to the point of making nukes in their basement?!?"
"Well, any source of radioactive material would have to be highly controlled." Greg commented. "No matter your skills, you still need materials to actually do something with them. Unless there's some ability out there that lets you alter your materials into whatever you want…"
"You mean like three out of the four of us?" Thomas snorted.
"We don't count." Greg shook his head. "Our abilities are outside the normal parameters for the World, and not something any random schmuck is going to get."
"Magic is a thing here." Andrew pointed out. "And alchemy. Isn't transforming materials like alchemy one oh one?"
"It's what they're known for, but I'm pretty sure that's more like their ultimate goal, rather than a basic ability." Greg frowned. "Probably something that's only available at high levels, which would hardly be accessible by anyone."
"I'm not sure that's something we can assume." Chris cocked his head. "Traits are based more on rank than level. Assuming you're skilled enough, any trait could be within reach, even at a low level. Case in point, Andrew getting portals at level ten."
"But again, how many people would be that skilled at such a low level?" Greg retorted. "All I'm saying is that as long as resources are properly controlled, the chance of random people making nukes in their basement is going to be a lot lower, to the point that it'd hardly be something anyone would have to actually be worried about. Especially since anyone in that position would be less interested in mindless destruction, simply because having that level of skill would incentivize them to take advantage of society, rather than attempt to destroy it. They might threaten people with a nuke, but they wouldn't want to actually use it."
Thomas paused. "Okay, yeah, I could see that." He nodded and shrugged. "Found anything yet?"
"Nah, but I'm pretty sure I haven't gone far enough yet… anyone within a few miles would probably be vaporized, right?" Greg asked.
"I'm looking it up again." Andrew shook his head. "Looks like it depends on how powerful the bomb was…" He looked at the crater, frowning slightly. "How many kilotons would you say this looks like?"
"How the hell should we know?" Greg scoffed.
"Probably depends on how high up it was when it detonated." Thomas muttered.
Andrew's expression twisted, looking around. "See, this is the problem with the Wastes. I can't tell how much is damage, and how much is just how the wastes are."
"I mean, does it really matter?" Greg shrugged. "Even if we figured out the blast radius, there's no guarantee they knew the blast radius, so there's a non-zero chance they were still inside it, so I still have to search it."
"Alright, I'm heading to the hill." Chris shook his head. "We can at least see if we can see anything from up there."
"And if I find something in the opposite direction?" Greg asked.
"I'm literally a portal away from this spot." Chris shrugged. "Changes nothing."
*
"Okay, you got lucky." Greg grumbled halfway to the hill.
"Find something on the hill?" Andrew asked.
"Not exactly. The hill is the thing. It looks like a fort got buried or something." Greg explained.
"By the blast?" Andrew frowned.
Greg shrugged. "Maybe? Or they buried it for protection or something. It's covered on both sides, though… I don't think the blast could have done that."
"An underground bunker, huh?" Thomas cocked his head. "Is it occupied?"
"Doesn't look like it." Greg shook his head. "But I'm still searching, so we'll see. I did find the entrance though."
Greg flitted through the dark corridors, exploring the complex. "Looks militaryish…" He muttered to himself. "Though you could say that about any underground complex, I guess. That, or a villain's lair… or a secret research facility. Which is probably more likely, honestly, considering what they were working on. Not that it couldn't be both a research facility and a military base… and why not add a villain's lair on top?" He paused. "I should probably stop talking to myself… or at least get another me here to provide some back and forth." He chuckled.
Several more Greg's arrived as he explored, all his selves converging on the base, slowly mapping it out. He found several living areas, a large room full of equipment that Greg assumed was used to build the bomb, two cafeterias for some reason, and finally… a woman screamed as a cloud of smoke oozed through the wall before turning into a small, grinning humanoid. "Hello there! And who might you be?" Greg asked. He glanced around the room and paused. "That's a lot of sick people." He glanced at the woman. "Are you naturally green or are you sick too?"
"St-stay away from them, fairy!" The woman jumped to her feet, moving between him and the dozen or so people lying on stretchers in what appeared to be an infirmary. "No one here is interested in any of your bargains!"
Greg blinked. "Fairies are a thing? Wait… yeah, actually, that tracks. But I'm not- well, I am a fairy, clearly, but not whatever you're talking about. I don't do bargains."
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"You… don't?" The woman blinked, before frowning. "I'm not falling for any of your schemes! Get away!"
"Okay, but… I can actually help them." Greg commented.
The woman snorted. "Of course you can! And I'm sure all they'll have to do is spend the rest of their lives doing your dirty work!"
"No, that's more Chris's thing, and even then he can heal without doing that." Greg shook his head. "Technically, I could kill them and steal their bodies, but I don't see why I would… huh, unless I'd keep their levels in the process… hmmm." Greg cocked his head, considering the idea for a moment, before noticing the woman staring at him in horror and he let out a cough. "But I wouldn't do that, obviously! I just want to help." Greg flashed her another grin. The woman let out another shriek, tossing a scalpel at him. "Yeah, I didn't think that would work." He sighed. His other selves converged on the room and Greg turned back into an Elf. "I don't suppose this helps either?"
"Demon!" The woman screeched.
"Yeah, that's what I thought." Greg began to chuckle, before abruptly cutting off with another cough as her eyes widened in horror again. "Don't laugh when trying to show people you're good." He muttered to himself as more scalpels flew at him. Stupid evil laugh! "Okay, could you just calm down a little?" He asked, ignoring the scalpels that were bouncing off him. The woman's throwing arm wasn't all that good. "Look, I'm not going to do anything you don't want me to do okay? Let's just talk this out."
The woman paused, eyeing him suspiciously. "You just want to trick me into one of your bargains!"
"I honestly don't give two shits about you one way or the other." Greg rolled his eyes. "But as you can see, your scalpels aren't exactly doing anything, so you could at least hold off on that, right?"
The woman flushed, regretting her complete lack of offensive skills for the first time in her life. "Fine! Just- kill me and get it over with!" She spread her arms. "Just- please, leave these people alone! They've suffered enough!"
"Okay, first off, I'm not interested in killing you." Greg retorted. "Secondly, all I want to do is help them. Which I've said. Which you don't believe. Leaving us here." He paused. "Wait, could you even stop me?" He frowned.
The woman froze, going pale. "No, please, I'll- I'll do anything! Whatever you want! As long as you leave them alone! Please!"
"Okay, I'm just going to ignore you now." Greg rolled his eyes, turning to smoke and heading to the first person, digging into their body. They weren't exactly Energy light, so it took some work to push his smoke inside.
"No!" The woman cried, rushing towards them and placing her hands on the man, shoving Energy into him and forcing Greg out.
"Hey!" Greg protested as he reformed. "Don't do that!"
The woman froze. All she'd done was send some Energy in to see what the demon was doing… "I- I won't let you touch them!" She declared more confidently than she felt.
Greg groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Woman, you are killing me." He paused. "And arguably these people."
"Death is preferable to getting caught in the schemes of some monster!" She snapped.
"But I'm not a monster!" Greg protested.
"That's what a monster would say!" She retorted.
"I know! That's what's making it very hard to convince you I'm not one!" Greg agreed vehemently.
"That's because you're clearly a monster!" The woman declared.
"I don't think there's anything clear about that! The distinction between noble and monstrous is random at best!" Greg retorted. If the fucking cheesegrater could be noble, anything could.
"No it isn't! If you prey on people, you're monstrous! That's how it works!" The woman claimed.
"And what makes you think I prey on people?" Greg raised an eyebrow at her.
"You're a fairy!" She retorted, before pausing. He wasn't a fairy at the moment though… "Or- or a demon! Or a shapeshifter! Or- or something!"
"Okay, so you have no idea what I am, and are basing your judgements based on superficial details. That sounds pretty racist to me." Greg pointed out.
"You- you can't be racist against a monster!" The woman protested.
"What, are they not people? Individuals who can make their own decisions, who don't deserve to be judged based on the actions of others?" Greg replied. "So what if ninety-nine percent of all monsters use and abuse people? That doesn't mean there isn't a single one who doesn't."
The woman blinked at Greg at a complete loss for words. What was even happening right now?!? She shook her head. It didn't matter. All she knew was that she had to keep her patients safe! But… What if this man was telling the truth? What if he was just trying to help, and by stopping him, she was letting her patients die for no reason. She chewed on her lip for a moment. "Can- can you prove all you want to do is help them?"
"If I could do that, would we still be having this conversation?" Greg sighed. "I'd have shown you proof, and we'd already be done." He paused. "Chris might be able to prove something though… he should be here soon." Chris could probably take care of this himself anyway. Particularly if he could heal people with his extended world thing.
The woman frowned. Chris? That name sounded familiar… wait. "The one who enslaves people!?!"
"No, no, he doesn't enslave people." Greg shook his head. "He just gets a certain amount of influence over them, which he barely uses."
"I'm not letting someone like that anywhere near my patients!" The woman snapped.
"Lady, if push comes to shove, I don't think you have much choice." Greg retorted. "Between me and Chris, one of us is going to heal these people, cause you can't stop both of us. But again, I promise you, that's not a bad thing! We're literally just trying to help, and we aren't trying to get anything out of it."
"I wouldn't mind getting a few subordinates out of it, but I wouldn't say that's my goal." Chris agreed as he entered the infirmary, the woman whirling around to face him, wide-eyed.
"Stay back!" She yelled.
"No." Chris replied, walking over to the first gurney and opening a portal beneath it.
"No!" The woman cried, leaping at him and shoving him into the wall with a loud crunch. She froze in horror as he collapsed, dead, before the body disappeared and reappeared, fully healed.
"Ow." Chris frowned at her.
"How- you- what- but- no-" She stammered. He'd died! She'd gotten experience! Not a lot, but she'd gotten it! And- she froze as the experience she'd gained was suddenly torn from her!
"Don't take my stuff." Chris warned seriously, before moving to the next gurney as the woman stood there, stunned, unable to process what had just happened.
"Sorry about him." Thomas apologized to the woman, who jumped in shock, not having even seen him come in. "He's not exactly a people person."
"Are any of us really people people?" Andrew asked.
"Hey, I do just fine with people!" Greg protested. "You know, when I want to. Though part of that may be the fact that they literally can't get rid of me… gives me time to work them over, you know?"
"He did get a date with Gloria, and a second is pending…" Thomas agreed.
"It's all about persistence." Greg chuckled.
The woman collapsed into her chair, giving up. There were four of them, and she couldn't even touch one of them, while the other didn't seem to even care if he died. Not that she was built to hurt anyone anyway. She was a healer. A doctor. All she wanted to do was make sure her patients passed as peacefully as possible, maybe discover a cure, though that was looking more and more unlikely, and now… she'd failed. All she could do was hope that against all odds, the man hadn't been lying, and they were just trying to help.
"So… I'm Thomas." Thomas introduced himself, holding out his hand.
The woman stared at it numbly for a moment. "Gretchen." She mumbled, taking his hand and shaking it.
"Nice to meet you, Gretchen." Thomas smiled. "What brings you to the Northern Wastes?" Gretchen just blinked at him. Was- was he trying to make small talk?!?
"Are you really going to flirt with her right now?" Greg asked incredulously.
Thomas flushed. "I'm not flirting! She looks stressed and I'm just trying to calm her down!"
"I'm actually on his side." Andrew agreed. "Just because he's talking to her doesn't mean he's flirting with her. And after the shit you pulled with Gloria, are you really one to talk?"
"Hey, I-" Greg began, before pausing. "Actually, that's a good point. You do you, man. Flirt to your heart's content."
"I'm not- damn it, Greg!" Thomas groaned.
"What- what do you people want with me?" Gretchen gulped.
"Nothing?" Thomas replied, frowning slightly. "I mean, we'd kinda like to know what you were doing out here, but it's pretty obvious you were testing a nuke. It's really just a question of why you were testing a nuke."
"I'd also kinda like someone to apologize to Muppet for killing his family, but I'm pretty sure it's not your fault." Greg added.
"You do realize that if the nuke hadn't done it, there's a non-zero chance we would have ended up killing his family, right?" Andrew pointed out.
"That's besides the point." Greg waved dismissively. "Either way, we can talk about all that back at the fort. I'm pretty sure this is something we should talk about with Gloria anyway."
"I'm done if you guys are." Chris commented.
"Portal to the fort?" Greg asked.
"What, you don't want to walk back?" Thomas raised an eyebrow. "Give the World a chance to do something?"
"Nah, I think we're good." Greg shrugged. "We got nukes. What more do you want?"
Thomas snorted, shaking his head. "Whatever. Let's just go."
Chris opened a portal to the fort and the other three went through. "Coming?" He asked Gretchen, who looked like she hadn't comprehended a single thing that had happened in the past five minutes, which to be fair, she hadn't.
Gretchen blinked at him, then at the portal where she could see a few Dwarves milling about in Legion uniforms. That- that was a good sign, right? The other option was to stay here, alone, isolated, with dwindling supplies, surrounded by whatever had caused her patients to fall ill in the first place. She gulped as she practically leapt through the portal.
"Come on, let's go see Gloria." Greg waved, heading off with a slight bounce in his step.