Like he did with all his meetings, Adam arrived excessively early at the base of the Eiffel Tower, awaiting his current appointment with his hands fidgeting nervously in his lap. To say he was horribly anxious about it was a gross understatement. Sure, he had been somewhat wary of the man before he had lashed out, but there was a stark difference between knowing that a person is powerful and seeing that they are powerful.

Adam was certain that if he wanted to, Brock Carter would be able to slaughter him effortlessly and leave the place no worse for wear. Even if the guards tried to intervene, they’d just be more numbers to the kill count. Either way, he was first and foremost a man of business, and his confidence was never faked, only shaken.

So, he waited, as had been agreed upon. The fact that he had no idea what the man even wanted made it all the more nerve-racking as time slowly ticked by.

He felt him before he saw him.

The aura, overwhelmingly oppressive and all-encompassing. Of course, he knew it was still short of the range and power of those that surrounded him and even Adam himself, yet the diplomat felt otherwise. There was a certain property to the powerful man’s aura, as if the oppression wasn’t just mental but entirely physical. He felt his muscles strain as the source of it approached.

Clearly, he was making sure that Adam knew he hadn’t forgotten about what had happened.

Even if he wanted to, Adam was certain that resisting the man’s aura would be futile. There was an unmistakable depth to it, like an ocean. And deep within, hiding at the very darkest parts of it all, was something, and it was looking right at him. Both he and his ethereal heart shuddered in terror.

Soon though, Brock Carter finally appeared, and he struck quite the opposing figure. The man was of average height, around the 5’7” to 5’8” range or so. His muscles were lean and rippling as he moved with purpose, his sapphire eyes almost radiant as they met Adam’s own. Paired with his leather jacket and combat boots, he truly struck a fearful sight. The sight of a true warrior.

Facing opposite him, Adam couldn’t help but feel wholly insuperior.

Behind him, he heard his guards grunt and reach for the weapons, but he put them at ease with a wave of his hand and his easy confidence. While he certainly wasn’t confident in fighting this man, he was confident in his words, and he knew that they could reach a peaceful solution to what he had come to talk about today. If he let him, that was.

“Mr Carter. A pleasure to meet you once again.” Adam fired his opening salvo, one of amicability, and he was ecstatic to see that the man responded in kind, although he did seem rather bitter about it.

“I guess I can say the same.”

Satisfied with that response, Adam nodded respectfully at him and gestured toward the elevator as they began moving toward it. The diplomat felt rather awkward during the ten-minute-long trip up, especially since his guest appeared more than happy to refrain from speaking. All Adam could do was respect that, as he had definitely been in the wrong in their previous meeting.

He felt extremely dissatisfied with the leadership of Maxwell at the moment, and although he wouldn’t voice it since the man had many avid followers who would defend him and his ideologies, he couldn’t help but feel that way. Initially, he had thought siding with the man was the best for the restoration of the new world, but now, he was beginning to see that restoration wasn’t really the goal.

It was control. And power.

Fortunately, the one thing he could be satisfied about was the next decision Maxwell had made regarding bargaining chips for goodwill against the man beside him. Adam hadn’t expected it, honestly, as his boss had been utterly livid after Brock had attacked him. In fact, he had been so confused as to why he hadn’t gained the man’s support that Adam had to restrain himself from punching the man in the nose.

Maxwell Washington was nothing short of a sociopath, maybe even a psychopath, but the head of Genesis at least knew goodwill was what led to friendly relations in any situation. Adam didn’t care what it led to, at the end of the day. He just wanted some way to apologise to Brock for what had happened.

Regardless, he felt he was all but guaranteed that this would make it even. The man had said he hadn’t cared in their first meeting, but Adam knew family wasn’t so simple as to just prioritise the safety of its members.

The elevator finally reach the top and they stepped out. He heard Brock snort in amusement as the table had been replaced with an exact replica, but otherwise chose not to comment. Together, they settled down opposite each other and Adam instinctually leaned forward on steepled fingers. Quickly, he retracted the action and instead placed his hands in his lap.

Finger steepling was an old habit he had picked up from Maxwell. One he no longer wanted.

“So,” Adam began, licking his dry lips, “you called me for a meeting?”

Across from him, Brock appeared to deliberate on what he was about to say, “I-”

In the end, the diplomat couldn’t help himself and interrupted. Immediately, he chastised himself, but continued anyway, “I’m sorry for cutting you off, but first there’s something I’d like to show you.”

The leather worn warrior leaned back in his chair, but otherwise looked curious at his interruption, rather than annoyed. Adam let a bit of the tenseness ease from his shoulders and pulled a spatial splinter out of his jacket pocket.

It was a strange item, one they had managed to loot from inside the chest of a violet-attuned Tyrant. Fortunately, it was far weaker than the Tyrant of the Sky in the Compendium, having only been at level 66. It had taken a considerable amount of manpower and lives, but they’d managed to kill it a week or so back after having discovered its den nearby.

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With the beast gone, the largest threat in the area of their city had been taken care of.

Though, the lower level of the monster didn’t diminish how immensely useful the splinter was. Hell, the magical item was even recognised by the System and given its own description panel. Apparently however, as it was deemed a ‘bondable’ item, the description would only show for the original owner. In this case, it was Maxwell.

On another note, a significant amount of Genesis’ resources were stored in the splinter, something which gave Adam tempting ideas he had no wish to entertain. The space shimmered behind him as he perused it with his aura and a large map flickered into existence, held up by a wheelable stand.

A small smile broke out on his lips as Brock’s eyes widened marginally in surprise and interest flared within his gaze. They had long speculated the ring tied around the man’s neck to be of a spatial nature similar to their splinter, although even Maxwell didn’t dare to try to steal it. That was a recipe for suicide, and even he knew it.

“Consider it an apology for what recently transpired,” Adam pulled a red marker from a pocket in his pants and traced a remarkably straight line directly from Paris to Tokyo, “I believe you said you had no concerns about it, but your sister, Jane, is located near the outskirts of Tokyo.”

He resisted a smile from breaking out on his face as he saw Brock’s eyes bulge and the intense interest he now had in the conversation. If there was one thing he knew well, it was people, that much he knew for certain.

“My sister… is in Tokyo?”

Adam nodded, but frowned immediately after, “Well, yes. The information is a few days old, but we doubt that she has left the country as she has been in the general vicinity since the time the Tutorial concluded.”

“The issue, however, is the distance,” the diplomat abruptly tore off the map and revealed a newly printed one underneath. It was a little shabby since they hadn’t been able to acquire the right software to create it properly, but it was readable and of decent quality. Ahead of him, Brock’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Adam could understand why. The map detailed the scan their hacked satellites had obtained on the state of the land, and it was quite… well, surreal. Portions of Canada had merged with Greenland, who like Australia and other various islands, were previously disconnected from the main continent.

America in its entirety was now directly connected to Europe and was in fact separated by a thin body of water, akin to a wide stream or river. Southern America and Africa had merged themselves together while the latter continent had squished up into Europe, rendering the border of Spain, Italy and Turkey into rugged mountain ranges. Japan, the place which was perhaps the most important of them all in the current moment, was now joined to South Korea on one end and Russia on the other.

There were also areas clearly populated by mismatched stretches of sizeable land, as though they were just patched into there. It was due to that immense amount of added landmass that the continent suffered that they speculated the planet had undergone some considerable changes in size.

“This is what our satellites have captured regarding the state of the planet,” Adam gestured at the map in its entirety, “In addition, we predict the overall size of the planet to have more than doubled, maybe even tripled – the calculations are still in progress.”

He brushed a single strand of drooping hair from his eyes, “Initial estimates put a drive time from here to Tokyo at a bit over two weeks, if you move non-stop.”

Adam went quiet as he retraced the line from Paris to where Jane was located and wrote the guessed distance beside it. Brock stewed on it for a moment before sighing, “Yeah, that’s definitely a bit of an issue...”

Primarily, Adam thought foodstuffs and supplies would be the most glaring situation for such a distance, especially since very few towns still existed out there, especially in the early parts of the trip. Skin Walkers weren’t just a problem in France, and they had stripped the populations of many towns to the realm of non-existence.

There was also the matter of the central body of water that forced him to either go into Russia, which was the quickest way, or to detour into Turkey, which would delay them by a few more days. Swiftly, Adam moved and shaded in the part of Russia closest to their current position. To go there would be a very bad idea, even for the powerful man before him.

“Also,” Adam quickly interjected, “I highly recommend you avoid Russia, as we have had some… extreme energy readings from there recently. We aren’t too sure what it could be, but it is certainly something exceedingly dangerous.”

Brock nodded slowly to his words, but he could see in his eyes that the man was one hundred per cent going to ignore his warning. Adam did his best, and that was all he could say. Silently, he plonked back down into his chair and gave the man some time to think.

Shortly afterwards, Brock looked at Adam directly, something resembling respect in his eyes, and gestured to the map, “…I assume that’s mine now, so you mind marking down every known Skin Walker nest on the way to Tokyo? Nothing too out of the way though.”

It took the man in the suit a few seconds to understand what was being asked of him, but he quickly nodded and placed crosses along the direction of the east. They had tracked down many of the dens, and perhaps fortunately, very few held living humans the last time they had checked. The surrounding areas had been stripped clean, leaving them no one else to take.

For good measure, Adam circled a few of the crossed nests to signify a recently recorded human presence.

He explained as such to Brock and the man seemed impressed at his response to the request. Adam just hoped he could help curb the population of the horrid creatures by marking them on the map. In the end, Brock had taken the map and appeared immensely satisfied by the meeting. Adam sat alone in the viewing deck as his guest left and he heaved out a sigh.

Diplomacy was tough stuff.

**

In the dark shadows of a room, a single man sat hunched at his computer, reading over a recently formed report that had been sent to him by a team of covert operatives. It regarded a certain individual that he had recently encountered. Maxwell Washington smirked, the action illuminated by the dim light of the screen. It had taken a while, but finally, they had formed something of a profile on Brock Carter.

Knife wielder. Dual Augments; one fire-based and one wind-based. Stats appear to be heavily invested in Agility and he possesses an unknown method to hide his true aura strength. His body has been shown to be prone to damage, a sign of a lower Constitution.

Maxwell read further along and added things where he felt them necessary.

Possesses unique aura properties that allow physical contact with material items…

…

Is selfless to a degree… does not respond well to the mistreatment of those close to him… a hostage scenario should be effective in eliciting a desired action to outplay. Aftermath is uncertain.

He wrote that, but he knew death was the most likely result. Trying to combat power with anything but power was a foolish endeavour. Especially Brock Carter. He was one of the four known individuals in the world to possess two Augments in their registry, and from his experts’ predictions, probably held the highest Stat total out of any human on the planet.

Judging from how his aura had increased by roughly ten levels after he had returned from the Skin Walker den, Maxwell assumed Brock’s ability to hide his aura only lowered it by a fixed and unchangeable amount. He briefly added that theory to the report and steepled his fingers. He sighed aloud to the empty office.

It’s… difficult being the man that the world needs.