"So…" Andrew began as they moved to the next location in what could confidentiality be called a rampage at this point. "Is anyone else starting to get worried about Chris?"
Victoria frowned. "Maybe… I can't tell if this is him taking out his frustrations on acceptable targets, or if he's just in 'get shit done' mode."
"Could be both." Greg offered.
Andrew paused, remembering the almost manic state Chris had fallen into when dealing with the bureaucracy getting in the way of their business. "Okay… but then what is he getting done?"
"The Maze?" Victoria offered hesitantly.
"Shouldn't we be moving up then?" Andrew replied.
"I need to strengthen my subordinates first." Andrew jumped, yelping slightly as Chris suddenly appeared next to him. "And how many times do I have to tell you guys I'm fine." He added, frowning at Andrew.
"I'm not saying you aren't, but, when you go on a bloody rampage right after confronting someone you admit pisses you off, it looks pretty damn suspicious, okay!?!" Andrew retorted.
Chris paused, before shrugging and nodding in agreement. "That's fair."
Andrew blinked. "It- is?"
"Of course. I can recognize potentially maladaptive behavior." Chris replied, considering everything he'd been doing for a moment. "Hm, I can't say I'm not dealing with some lingering irritation, but my focus has been pushing deeper into the Maze. Both I and my subordinates need to be stronger, and the only way to gain that strength is through battle, so I fight."
"And you aren't just throwing yourself into a project to avoid dealing with something else?" Victoria asked.
Chris raised an eyebrow at her. "I'd be doing a poor job of it, if so, considering that I have multiple bodies available to deal with whatever comes up."
"Yes, but are you dealing with everything you need to, or are you just focusing on the Maze?" Victoria insisted. "Multiple bodies or not, I get lost in projects all the time."
Chris frowned, mentally taking a step back and taking stock of everything he could be doing at the moment. The one that irritated him the most at the moment was getting a teleportation beacon for Earth, since he had no idea how to actually do that without stealing one. He paused. Maybe Jo had a copy of one? She'd have to, wouldn't she? He should have thought of that earlier. Other than that, there was the reveal of the Doppelgangers, which should be happening soon, depending on how their preparations were going. Though with four cultivators on their side, he wasn't sure what else they really had to prepare. No one in the City could resist them now. Then there was conquering the Maze, obviously. Also, creating an actual AI and then turning Gaia into a human. And now setting up a deal to allow the Defense Force and Vanguard to use his world to train as well. Which included talking to Belinda. There was also a wedding to plan for… though that was more on Beth. Not that Chris wouldn't help, he just had very few opinions on how a wedding should go. And of course, keeping an eye out for whatever the Elf King was sending their way.
"No, I don't think I'm ignoring anything." Chris shook his head. "Though I do need to talk to Jo about something I just realized she can probably help me with."
Victoria gave him a look, before sighing and shaking her head. "If you say so. Just- you know, if you need to talk, we're here."
"I'm aware, and I appreciate the sentiment." Chris nodded. "But I am fine."
*
"Hey, Jo, do you know how to make a teleportation beacon?" Chris asked, popping in next to her and Dichonius as they had dinner.
"Chris, you can't just pop in on us just because we're living in your world!" Dichonius protested. "What if we had been busy?!?"
"Then I would have known?" Chris cocked his head. "You're in my world, I know whether you're busy or not."
Dichonius froze. "Right…" The exact scope of Chris's abilities escaped him sometimes. Particularly since he didn't particularly want to be aware that his son was watching him twenty-four seven.
"What do you want with a teleportation beacon?" Jo asked, changing the topic. None of them would be happy getting into a conversation about privacy and the lack thereof when it came to Chris's world.
"I need one for Earth." Chris explained. "Well, I need several, and the terminal, but I just need the blueprints from you."
"And why does Earth need the teleportation beacon?" Jo reiterated with a frown.
"To deal with the Abductors." Chris replied.
Jo just stared at him for a moment. "Chris, you can't think that's enough information."
Chris sighed. "Yeah, fine. Apparently there's a group with spatial abilities teleporting over to Earth and abducting humans for some reason, and since they're teleporters, the authorities can't catch them. With the beacons, the idea is that the increased response time will give them a chance to actually get one of them and maybe figure out what's actually going on."
"Someone else has found Earth?" Jo asked, surprised. "And they're kidnapping humans?"
"Apparently." Chris shrugged. "All I know is that they can teleport, which, now that I'm thinking about it, doesn't necessarily mean they're using abilities… could be aliens or something with teleportation technology like ours."
Jo frowned. "That- would be interesting. Is there any particular demographic being targeted?"
"Young women, apparently." Chris replied. "At least, the ones they've actually found evidence for have all been young women."
"Well, if you want to create a breeding population, that would be your primary target." Dichonius commented. "To maximize your population growth, shooting for something like one to ten male to female is probably your best bet. Just about doubles your population growth while keeping the genetic diversity high. Anything higher than that and your gains are minimal."
"Are you suggesting someone out there is farming humans?" Jo asked, raising an eyebrow.
"It seems like the most logical conclusion, doesn't it?" Dichonius replied.
"Better than my serial killer idea." Chris agreed.
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
"But why?!?" Jo retorted incredulously. "Who would teleport to a different world, just to grab humans?!?"
"They're weak?" Chris offered tentatively. "Assuming it is someone from Azza, and that they need people for something, then trying to get them from the surface would be risky. Everyone is strong, with abilities they can use to fight back. Humans, on the other hand, are relatively weak even with abilities, and the only places you can find them are in the City, which they may not even know about, and on Earth. And even if they aren't from Azza, the fact that they have abilities, or advanced technology, suggests they're in a similar position wherever they're from as well, which makes Earth the ideal hunting ground."
Jo's expression twisted. "I suppose it is. But who needs people that badly?"
Chris frowned. "Well… we found a World where half the population needs to prey on the other half in order to survive. If something similar is going on here… well, they'd love to find a defenseless, weak population to prey on."
"So you think there's something out there that needs to prey on people to survive?" Dichonius asked, cocking his head.
"It wouldn't be the first time we've seen it." Chris sighed. "But ultimately, does it matter why it's happening? All that matters is that it's a problem, and it needs to be stopped."
Jo sighed. "Right. Well, I have schematics for the teleportation network. It's one of the first things we sent back after we arrived, after all. The pinnacle of human technology."
"Outstanding." Chris sighed. "That's been bothering me for weeks now."
*
"Oh, by the way, what do you know about Belinda Montero?" Chris asked after Jo made him the machines necessary for the teleportation beacons.
"Belinda?" Jo blinked. "She's- driven would probably be the best way to put it. Why do you ask?"
"Well, I had a meeting with the Monteros today, and the whole 'you abandoned me' thing came up. She seemed particularly shocked by it, horrified even, so I was considering talking to her." Chris explained.
"The Monteros…" Jo growled slightly. She'd originally chosen that Family as it was the one she had the most dealings with due to her Coreforging, which would have provided many opportunities for her to interact with Chris if they'd actually taken him in! Dichonius had talked her out of gutting Marco like the pig he is, but she'd still made sure to hinder his career every chance she got, which was part of the reason Belinda was the head of the Vanguard instead of him. "Why are you dealing with them?"
"Because they want me, apparently." Chris shrugged. "And if I just told them to go fuck themselves, they'd cause problems when the Doppelgangers reveal themselves."
Jo's expression twisted. That was fair. "Just remember that they aren't your family. You don't owe them anything!"
Chris rolled his eyes. "I'm aware. However, I have never denied anyone a chance to make amends. Most of them aren't worth it, but Belinda might be, so I want to know more about her."
Jo hesitated, before letting out a sigh. "I honestly can't say much about her, personally. We have a working relationship, but we've never been friends, and when I was Isabel, we were… estranged. She was focused on furthering her career, while I was essentially exiled from the Family for marrying Dichonius. Then, after you were born… Marco did everything he could to make sure no one would find out that the Montero line had given birth to something so lacking." Jo growled bitterly, the idea of someone looking down on her son in any way still getting under her skin. "I don't think I spoke to Belinda more than a handful of times over all the years I was Isabel."
"Interesting." Chris muttered. "I suppose that explains why she was so shocked to hear about me. Marco probably managed to hide my existence entirely."
"Bastard." Jo spat angrily.
"Yes, he sucks, but that's a well established fact by this point." Chris smiled slightly.
"True." Jo sighed. "I should have done more research. Made sure I was leaving you to a family that would actually care. I didn't think anyone would be heartless enough to abandon a child like that."
Chris shrugged. "It worked out. The orphanage was good, people cared about me, I made friends, all that good stuff. Honestly, I should probably be glad I didn't end up with the Monteros. The amount of crap I would have had to deal with for not having an ability… better to grow up in a place that didn't expect anything from me other than being me."
Jo's expression twisted. Above all, she wished Chris could have grown up with her. The fact that she had to leave him to be raised by others, no matter how it turned out, was like a dagger twisting in her heart. "I- I'm just glad you're here, safe and sound." She sighed.
"Pretty sure that one was a given." Chris chuckled lightly. "It isn't like I could die."
Jo shook her head. "Death isn't the worst thing that can happen to someone. It can even be a release at times. The scars that can come with life, wounds that twist you into someone you never wanted to be… that's what I'm thankful you're free of."
Chris blinked. "Ah… yeah, me too." He nodded, remembering some of the children who had arrived at the orphanage… broken. Kids who hadn't been abandoned, whose parents hadn't died, but who had done things that made it clear they didn't deserve to be parents. Those children always got extra attention, and they needed it. Chris shook his head. The things some people could do to children… Chris froze as Jo was suddenly hugging him. "Uh…"
"I'm sorry, I just-" Jo cut off, squeezing him even tighter. "I hate everything that led to how you grew up, but I love everything you've become. I'm just- I'm sorry I wasn't there for it." She whispered, tears dripping down her cheeks.
Chris hesitantly patted her back. "It's- okay?" He let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, I'm not great at this stuff, but… I admit it's been nice having you in my life. You've been very supportive, and helpful, despite my… eccentricities. It's clear how much you care about me, and I thank you for that."
Jo snorted, laughing and crying at the same time. "You're an utterly ridiculous boy, but I love you." She sniffed, giving him one last squeeze before letting go, stepping back and wiping her eyes.
Chris nodded. "Yeah, I get that a lot."
*
It took most of the day, but eventually they hit all the locations Chris's subordinates had scouted for him. "Alright, that's it guys." Chris announced, opening a portal. "Time to go home."
"Wait, what?" Greg asked. "I thought we were rampaging."
"We were. And now we're done." Chris shrugged. "These were all the locations my subordinates had scouted which were blocking them from exploring deeper into the Maze. Now they can keep exploring and find the way to the eleventh level."
Greg blinked. "That- that isn't a rampage! That's just a post-procrastination productivity rush!"
Chris shrugged again. "Whatever you want to call it, we're done here. Let's go home."
"Damn it, Chris, I was worried about you." Greg complained, shaking his head as he stomped through the portal.
"Just because he had a plan doesn't mean he wasn't working through something!" Victoria yelled after him, before turning to Chris. "Whatever your process, I hope you feel better." She added, giving him a pat on the shoulder, before heading through the portal herself.
"Do you feel better?" Andrew asked.
Chris cocked his head. "Maybe? It's hard to tell. Not all that in touch with my emotions, you know?"
Andrew frowned at him, before letting out a sigh. "Yeah, that checks out." He paused before heading through the portal himself, splitting off a large amount of his aura and leaving it behind as he walked through. Something about Chris taking care of business made him want to take care of his business, which meant taking some time to see what his aura could do. And the Maze was full of things he could practice on, almost guilt free. Maybe. Andrew shook his head. Who was he kidding, he was going to feel like a monster no matter what, but he needed to take care of this. If he kept ignoring his ability because it made him feel like a monster, he'd never find a way to not be a monster. It was time to see what aura could do.