Jack headed for the rooms housing people immediately. Determined that find out if his thoughts and suspicions were indeed correct. He had to know. When he got to the first hallway the he knew held people he grumbled to himself. It wasn’t really a surprise but almost every person being held in the facility had their window covered. Between the darkness of the lights being off and the closed blinds it meant that Jack usually couldn’t simply peer in and determine who was being held in each room. Instead, as quietly as he could Jack opened the doors and peaked in. If he still couldn’t make out who was being held, he would prop the door open and sneak inside.
Jack didn’t even consider how foolish it was do such work without any planning until about the tenth time or so that he needed to sneak inside of a room. Unlike the rooms that he had peered in or gone into before, the occupant in this room was awake.
When the door opened into the room, the person inside looked up from the book they were reading and over at the door. A deep velvety voice called out in a confused tone, “Hello? Who’s there? Has something happened?”
There was a brief pause as Jack found himself frozen in the doorway unsure of what to do. The voice continued after a moment no longer sounding confused but more intrigued. “Hmm. This can’t be right. Why is this showing that I’m seeing a cat? That’s clearly not a cat. I can’t fully make out what it is but it doesn’t look like a cat at least. It’s much too big for one. Is it some kind of undiscovered mutant perhaps or someone who has learned to trick the observation skill? Oh, how fun.”
Jack saw the figure on the bed begin to rise there was a sudden feeling of imminent danger. That feeling if he didn’t get out of there right then that he wouldn’t be doing anything every again. Heeding that premonition, Jack whirled around and ran down the hallway as fast as his legs could carry him. As he rounded the corner hoping to hear the click of the door closing, he instead heard the soft padding of feet on tile.
“My, my. It’s my lucky night tonight. A fresh and interesting hunt providing itself to me and not a guard in sight. I do wonder just how much this will allow me to advance. It’s been far too long since I last felt the thrill.” The voice spoke in a dark purring tone. There was a brief silence as both the footsteps and the voice stopped before the voice spoke again. “You know, I do like having such fun for myself, but… I think the night will be much more interesting if I let out all the others. No reason to say no to a quest that will bring such entertainment.”
Jack mentally debated with himself for a moment. Should he turn around and distract whoever it was he had freed? Or should he continue fleeing? Whoever that was, was dangerous. He could feel it in his bones. If they caught him, he would be dead, or worse. On the other hand, if he left them to their own devices who knew what would happen. If one of the people being held here was this dangerous, then how bad would it be if the others were also let out?
Jack cursed in his head. He couldn’t seem to help himself. Just like always he got himself stuck in a no-win situation. He rubbed his forehead trying to decide on what the best thing to do would be. That delay cost him his choice. In the time that he sat there trying to determine the optimal decision the figure in the hallway had opened one of the doors singing. “Rise and shine! It’s time to get up and get ourselves a bit of exercise!”
Hearing that Jack knew he if he was going to do something he had to do it now. Any more faffing about and there wouldn’t even be a choice. Scrambling to think of what he could possibly do to distract that frightening figure before they let others out, Jacks brain caught on something. The very last words that the Great System had spoken to him. It had said he was a heretic to be hunted by those it controlled. Perhaps if he showed himself with his mana as it truly was it would draw their attention.
Taking a deep breath Jack dropped the shell he was keeping up around his mana signature and stepped back around the corner shouting. “Hey Jack! I see your worthless ass. Come get me you piece of garbage. You and your fucking piece of shit system are worthless blights on the world!”
Looking down the hallway that he had just bolted from there were two figures. They were standing in front of two separate doorways, clearly just about to open them up to free others when Jack’s voice echoed down the hall. The reaction was instantaneous as they turned toward Jack. Their shadowed expressions furious. Voices overlapping as they both responded “What did you just say? / What did you call me?”
“You heard me shit for brains. I broke your fucking system and you can bet your dumb asses I can and will do the same to you!” Jack shouted down the hall trying to be as loud as possible, hoping to possibly catch a guard’s attention.
Both of the figures began to step toward Jack, he waited a for them to be halfway to him before he took off casting a small spike of energy at both of them as he did. He was fairly sure that it wouldn’t do anything more then annoy them, but then that was the entire idea.
“Ouch! Fucker! Get back here.” Roars of outrage followed Jack as he fled down the hall. Jack took a quick glance to see that he had indeed managed to get both of their attention and picked up his speed trying to figure out just where he should go. He had spent about a week exploring the complex by this point and at least had a vague idea of where some things that could help him would be. The layout and lack of diversity in the hallways made it very easy to get lost while trying to get anywhere. The hallways all looked nearly identical other than the changing room numbers on the sides.
Jack took a right into a curved hallway. He needed something he could use against his pursuers as, even if they had little to no mana left, it was obvious that they were both higher tier mana users with all the benefits that came from it. As he ran helter-skelter down the hallway Jack absently wondered if once he got out of here if he should switch over to a safer carrier. Like mutant taming or adventuring.
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Shaking himself out of his thoughts Jack made sure to shout back at the two hunting him. “Looks like I was right! You two and your pathetic system really are Jacks! Can’t even catch a pathetic heretic like me!”
Racing down one of the corridors Jack glanced to his left and realized he was passing some of the storage rooms. His explorations hadn’t shown anything in the ones in this area that would be too useful in his current circumstances. Mostly food and other perishables. Useless to him right now. What was he going to do? Stuff food down their throats until they exploded? He would have better luck trying to club them over the head with the climate control artifacts that kept the rooms cold.
That was it! Not hitting them over the head with the artifact, that was a stupid idea. But the artifact itself. Jack had been forgetting his biggest advantage that he had in this place. He could absorb mana from artifacts. Unlike everyone else who had a limit on how much they could use magic, as long as Jack could get his hands on artifacts he could cast for as long as needed. Glancing over his shoulder Jack shuddered. He would need it. The two people had closed most of the gap and were almost caught up to him at this point. Clenching his teeth and pushing himself through the pain he cast a small spell that would make the floor behind him slick. Smiling when he heard a crash and cursing come from behind.
Jack’s slight feeling of relief was shattered a moment later as a smooth dark voice called out from not far away. “Get back here you little shit. You think you can get away? Ha! I’m looking forward to getting my reward from your corpse.” The spell had only tripped up one of them.
Feeling a sudden sense of foreboding Jack threw himself sideways, bouncing hard off a wall. He felt fingers brush his right arm as the man that he had first released just barely missed grabbing him. Jack could now clearly see his features for the first time. He was an older human, tall with pale skin, dark brown hair peppered with grey and bright amber almost yellow eyes. He looked to be in his sixties, though guessing someone’s age could be difficult if he had any agierian heritage or was a powerful mana user.
There was something about the bones in his face that threw Jack off a bit. He wasn’t sure if it was recognition or if there was just something slightly wrong about them. It didn’t matter either way at the moment. What was important was figuring out a way to slow him down so that Jack could get ahold of an artifact from somewhere. Turning sharply Jack kicked out trying to trip the man only to grimace in pain as their legs connected and Jack’s bounced off seeming to have no effect on his pursuer. Not pausing Jack crouched and punched upwards into the man’s crotch channeling as much mana as he dared to spare into his arm to enhance the punch. He had learned long ago that the best way to win a fight when you were weaker than everyone else was to fight dirtier than your opponent. There was no such thing as a tactic too underhanded when you were fighting for your life.
There was a loud smack as the man let out a pained groan. Being a high tiered mana user made the body stronger, especially if they were a body enhancer, but that didn’t mean they were no longer the same person as they were before. The weak points on their body were still the same. Maybe harder to damage, but still present. Jack rolled around the man and immediately took off back the way they had come heading straight toward the other pursuer.
The old man, groaning in pain, reached out and grabbed a corner of Jack’s hospital gown as Jack tried to move past, causing him to stumble and almost fall. Jack quickly pulled his arms from the gown and dived forward divesting himself of his scant clothing. Who cared about modesty and embarrassment when dealing with such circumstances. He would have time enough for that later, but only if he could get through this. Rolling awkwardly Jack saw the second person leaping forward to crush his head with a stomp.
Jack pushed himself to roll faster and farther. The foot slammed into the ground where he had just been creating a dent in the floor. This person had obviously been a body enhancer before ending up in this place. They were a young-looking woman, younger than Jack at least with caramel skin and dyed blonde hair and well-defined musculature. Jack had managed to dodge her attack on his head but the follow up kick caught him right in the ribs. Scrambling to get out from between her legs Jack grabbed one and bit hard into her calf, drawing blood and tearing away a chunk. As she instinctively pulled back shouting in pain, Jack shoved himself up and leapt down the hallway. Spitting out the flesh in his mouth as he went.
Jack’s harsh breaths hurt, no doubt that kick had broken at least one rib. Even so he forced himself to run forward as quickly as he could. It was clear from that brief exchange that his feeling before was correct. Any head on fight with those two was a losing proposition. There was a niggling feeling in the back of his head that he had been lucky with which one had managed to hit him. There was no evidence for it, but Jack was certain that the man was the more dangerous of the two.
With his plan to find an artifact in mind Jack fled back the way they had come. He knew for a fact that they had passed at least one empty patient/inmate room on the way to where they were now. It was going to be difficult. He had hoped to slow them down with minor injuries and he had. Sadly, he had gotten his one of own as well when he did. He was lucky that theirs should slow their movement some whereas his would just give him breathing problems. But the differences in physique between them meant that even with the wounds his hunters would not be lagging far behind.
Jack had only managed to lead them back about half the distance needed when things changed. It started with a crunching and screeching sound coming from behind Jack. When he glanced over his shoulder, he saw that the woman had ripped a doorknob off and was shaping it in her hands. Even more worrying however was the fact that the man was nowhere to be seen.
Jack’s worries about where the man went immediately were put onto the back burner as the knob, shaped into a rough spike, was flung at him. He threw himself out of the way hitting a wall again causing his ribs to spike in pain. The pain was ignored however as there, next to his chest, was the knob stuck deep into the wall. If that had hit him it would have killed him instantly. He gave the knob a brief tug to see if he could use it as a distraction himself, but it wouldn’t budge. There was another crunching sound and Jack let got and threw himself onward desperately. It seemed his only chance at all was to get to that room.