Chapter 48: The Cherub of Austin.

I looked at the dancing shadow. Taking care to watch its, eyes, as they moved about. They were two spots where the rest of a shadow should have been, but weren’t.

Wait, no. That didn’t make any sense either. The ember, whatever it was, gave off light. Yet that light was casting a shadow instead of repelling it. As if there was some unseen being between the ember and the floor.

A shiver crept up my spine at that thought and I went back into my fog to look for any errant lifeforms I might have missed.

Ethereal soup gathered and shot out from behind my eyes. Drinking in the people now coming from the basement kilometres away. But not showing me what was in front of my eyes.

‘An illusion?’

I bent down to pick up a small stone and threw it at the empty air. It flew straight, until it wandered over to where the ember was. Then it slowed and hovered in place. Almost as if it was being held and inspected.

Only then, did I feel a mind.

‘Hero? Angel?’ It asked, in what could only be described as the voice of a toddler learning their first words.

“Uh, what?”

‘Hero. Hero! Angel. Climb. Save. Control.’

The voice was, soothing. Calming in a way that was difficult to describe. It felt very, familiar.

“Ah.” I said, slamming my fist into my open palm as I realized where I’d seen it.

“You were there. When I was going up the stairs. You were cheering for me.”

‘Cheer. Cheer. Effort. Hero. Save.’

“Yes, yes. Of course. How rude of me to forget.” I looked around to see if there were any other beings like this around.

“I, uh. Recall there being more of you.”

‘Many. Alone. Separate. Together. Born. Melted.’

“Right. Okay. I got it. Some kind of melded consciousness.”

Which was very strange indeed, because motes of energy weren’t supposed to have their own consciousness. I thought back to the building and the notifications, my eyes finally landing to the odd one out.

“I guess I made you then. [Unstable Reality] is it? How very strange.”

So that’s what it did.

“How odd. You’d think the ability would be named differently if it could be used to summon things. I personally wouldn’t have guessed anything of the sort from the name.”

Indeed, I didn’t know what to think from the name. Telepath abilities dealt with thoughts, emotions and raw Psy, from what I’d seen so far. Conjuring beings made of energy definately seemed like Projector territory.

Then again, I’d believed Shifters were the only ones capable of healing until now, when that wasn’t the case. Maybe this is similar to that?

“Do you have a name?” I asked it. Making sure my tone was as polite as possible.

‘Name?’

“Yes, a name. Like, a word or words that describe you.”

‘Hungry.’ It answered at once. ‘So hungry. Not like fire. Not like hero. Place. Empty.’

Fascinating.

Was it fire it fed off of? Or was it the ability’s effects? Or, was it feeding off the tide pouring out of me back there?

If that was the case, then my new friend was in for a bit of a dry spell. Overcharging myself to that degree had come with serious consequences. Not that I wouldn’t do it again, I absolutely would. But I would rather resume my experiments when I had a Shifter or two on hand to heal me if anything went horribly wrong for whatever reason.

My eyes wandered back to the mote. Taking in its faint incandesce.

‘Hmn. It’s not really too useful right now. But if it could grow stronger, it might be an appropriate substitute for welding tools. I could use it to repurpose a lot of the steel lying around into makeshift weapons and armor for the survivors. Depending on how precise it was, I might even be able to fashion something akin to barbed wire. Barbed wire with a degree of sentience and abilities. Now that would be a game changer for anyone left in this town.’

I reached out to my own strings. Not overloading the hums, but rather, isolating [Unstable Reality].

Psy flowed out. In different patterns than before. Back then, I’d used and levelled the ability by brute forcing similar effects. Now, I felt like I had far more control over the exposure.

It was, like using a sandblaster to wipe a structure clean of impurities.

The shop, which had been mostly quiet up until that point, came alive with the buzzing of a thousand faint whispers talking over each other. Like conspirators discussing some great secret just out of earshot.

Level Gained: +500 Maximum Psy. +12 Ability Points.

Ability Evolving: [Unstable Reality] 3 has grown to [Unstable Reality] 4

Ability Evolving: [Manifest Intruder] 1 has grown to [Manifest Intruder] 3

Oh, I get it.

[Unstable Reality] made it easier for these being to come into existence. [Manifest Intruder] was the one that forcefully brought them into the world.

I noted the three remaining ability points left over and hurriedly bought three new abilities from the pool. Choosing [Heart Attack] in order to combine it with [Mental Bolt], as well as [Drown] and [Indigestion]. Figuring they’d be doing similar things, only with different organs.

Name:

Solomon Carter

Psy:

23, 221 / 109, 395

Type:

Telepath III Level 123

Abilities:

[Solomon’s Inescapable Domination X] 18 / [Solomon’s Overwhelming Delusion V] 12 / [Solomon’s Inexorable Suppression V] 12 / [Solomon’s Calamitous Insight VII] 19 / [Delirium III] 6 / [Sense Thoughts] 14 / [Message] 5 / [Mental Bolt] 4 / [Hide] 3 / [Faint Presence] 2 / [Mental Map] 10 / [Team Tactics] 5 / [Electronic Interface] 4 / [Floral Interface] 1 / [Fungal Interface] 1 / [Sleep] 1 / [Team Spirit] 1 / [Team Resilience] 1 / [Team Momentum] 1 / [Team Doctrine] 1 / [Imposing Presence] 1 / [Alluring Presence] 1 / [Mask] 1 / [Hidden Danger] 1 / [Muffle] 1 / [Flash] 1 / [Persistent Message] 1 / [Mark Target] 1 / [Sobriety] 1 / [Hum of Attack] 3 / [Hum of Striding] 3 / [Hum of Defence] 3 / [Hum of Harmony] 2 / [Hum of Discord] 1 / [Hum of Cleansing] 2 / [Hum of Mist] 1 / [Painful Gaze] 1 / [Cleansing Gaze] 1 / [Entrancing Gaze] 1 / [Degrading Gaze] 1 / [Stable Reality] 1 / [Unstable Reality] 4 / [Manifest Intruder] 3 / [Seal Intruder] 1 / [Banish Intruder] 1 / [Psionic Jinx] 1 / [Heart Attack] 1 / [Drown] 1 / [Indigestion] 1

Ability Points:

0

When I turned my attention back to the ember, I found that it had grown to the size of a football. No longer casting shadows underneath itself, but rather, enveloping the flames in flowing veils of gentle light.

Resembling nothing so much as wings on a floating, burning eye.

“Well, you’ve gotten big.” I said with no small amount of incredulity.

I was expecting a continuation of our previous conversation at that point. Maybe some negotiating on my part. A little bit of Psy here and there in exchange for it acting as a glorified welding torch.

‘Forgive me. Father.’ It cried instead. Shedding tears of liquid fire that plopped down to the floor. Setting the wooden boards aflame with a rising flourish.

“Whoa there. Get it under control.” I told it, retreating a few paces so that I was outside the entryway.

The being cried harder. Flames licking the ceiling above it as well as the floor. Causing the metal shelves to melt and deform from the onslaught while the very air around it hissed. The whispering becoming more and more prevalent as all the secret keepers shrieked out their words.

In all honesty; it barely bothered me.

It just, wasn’t that bad compared to the visions or the meeting with the thing at the mansion. Or the possible future of other me.

No. I would take a lot more than this to unsettle me now.

‘I’m so sorry, Father. I wasn’t good enough. I could have hurt them. I didn’t try to save them. I didn’t know you’d be hurt. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.’

Those, thoughts? Yes, those thoughts were disorganized. Almost, burning, within the fog.

As if they were the building blocks that made up the whole of its being instead of cells or molecules or atoms. Pure ideas pooling together and gathering atop each other until they somehow started affecting the world around them.

They were howling with grief. Showing me its own memories of me and contrasting them with my own memories of it. The contrast only made it more distraught as it absorbed my own thought patterns and morals the more it fed on my Psy.

To make matters worse, it pulled other memories as well. Scenes of families clustered together in attics or in basements as bombs fell all around them. Sounds of impacting shells tearing concrete streets asunder. Lights flashing behind shambling corpses and neighbours tore each other to pieces. Shrugging off pleas for mercy and gunshots with no effort whatsoever.

There were men, women and children in those visions. The same ones that had once lived in these houses and called this place their home. Their grief and resentment remained. Invisible to me, but permeating the atmosphere this conflagration used to sustain itself.

Thankfully, I was no stranger to any of these ideas.

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I reached out with [Domination]. Grabbing hold of its mind, or what passed for it at least.

I found the feedback to be, somewhat familiar. Like the ice golems I’d fought back when I was trying to make my way to a non-existent surface inside the Labyrinth.

My fishhooks grabbed hold and steadied it. Regulating its nascent emotions.

I felt its terror. Knew its source. This, living fire, wasn’t afraid of death. It had no concept of death. Or entropy for that matter.

It was hungry for Psy. For me.

It was, stained by me. My Psy had left an impression on it. Somehow. Being fed right now had only made it worse.

“Calm down.” I commanded.

The order only partially locked on. As if the thing had no concept of what the word meant. I adjusted my approach. Sending emotions, rather than instructions. Feeling a sense of tranquility within myself and allowing that notion to spread.

I recalled how I’d felt before forming my group. When I was wondering the tunnels alone and surrounded by uncaring monsters. I brought back those emotions and tempered them with those that came later. The conviction that came with the alcohol. The speech where I laid my heart bare. The savagery of our retribution and the relief that blossomed from all of us sharing our memories. Truly understanding each other as we strived for a common goal.

My core trembled with the jubilation of a job well done. The satisfaction that came from partying among a community I helped to build. The indescribable ecstasy that came from helping those people in the burning building and the sweet affirmation that followed.

I gathered all of that up into a bundle and pushed it on the burning eye.

Level Gained: +500 Maximum Psy. +12 Ability Points.

Ability Evolving: [Manifest Intruder] 3 has grown to [Manifest Intruder] 5

Ability Evolving: [Seal Intruder] 1 has grown to [Seal Intruder] 2

The levels had left me with a point to spare, but I willed my mind away from that fact.

Keeping my attention locked on the still burning and still growing eye. It drank a little bit more of me before silencing its cries. Turning left and right as if seeing the store for the first time.

Then, with a small exertion, it drew the flames into itself. Negating any further combustion as it swallowed the heat outside of it.

My eyes watered a little from behind Buddy’s transparent membrane.

I closed them shut and brought a hand up to shield my vision from the bright light, even as my fog was consumed by….

By….

Happiness? Yeah. That might have been the best description. It was a sense of fulfilled contentment that surged from within the orb and surged up the fishhooks I’d embedded within it.

As if it was one with me, instead of a tool.

When I opened my eyes, a new screen waited for me.

Sealed Intruder

(Intruder) (Uncommon)

(Psy: 200 / 200)

An Intruder from beyond the veil of prime material reality. Sealed by Solomon Carter in the ruins of Austin, Texas.

Colored by his desires, hopes and emotions. As well as the lingering shared consciousness of those who once inhabited the location.

This Intruder is not powerful enough to have its own Compulsions.

This Intruder has access to all Tier I abilities possessed by Solomon Carter while it remains bonded and within the range of [Sense Thoughts] or derivatives.

This Intruder has access to [Sense Heat] 3 / [Absorb Heat] 3 and [Conversion to Psy] 3 and can use them at will with no Psy cost. This Intruder has access to [Melting] 2 and [Attune to Gas] 2 and can use them as long as Psy is provided.

This Intruder will be ejected from prime material reality if it runs out of Psy.

‘So that’s what Intruders are. Cool. Should make for another neat card up my sleeve. Not to mention how useful it’ll be when I’m putting together a half-decent arsenal for the survivors I found.’

I chuckled a little. Thinking back to Jacob’s experiments. Those would be going a lot faster, now that I could control these kinds of creatures.

Perhaps I could even make new ones that controlled metals directly. It was a definite possibility, since the Intruders back at the Labyrinth had been made of ice. Conjuring ones made of bedrock or iron wasn’t too fantastical when compared to those ones.

Although…

‘Its another thing Telepath are capable of that I never knew about. (Gnome). This bloke could have been so (Gnome)ing useful back when I’d first arrived at the maze. I could have used it to burn traps ahead of time or thrown it around to increase my hunting speed. (Gnome), it… he, might have even been able to take on Randall while he was still weak. Those flames would have cremated me in a second, but it doesn’t look like they would have bothered him. Not to mention what they could have done to monsters back home.’

The more I thought about it, the more likely a conspiracy became. I simply could not conceive of a way in which my government wasn’t aware of these, Intruders. It didn’t matter how rare Telepaths were. Someone would have developed this ability by now and that’s all it would have taken for the United Militaries to become aware. There’s no way they could have remained ignorant. Not with all that surveillance they use.

‘It is an issue that will have to be addressed. I’ll see to it that people know. That’ll have to wait however. There are still people here that need my help.’

“Right then.” I said in between gasps. My hands grabbing on to the doorframe in order to keep myself from falling over.

“You couldn’t save any of the people who died here. That wasn’t your fault. There was simply no way you could have manifested without me or another Telepath.

The flames billow slightly. Releasing faint blasts of heated air akin to an open furnace.

It knew I was telling the truth.

“But that doesn’t mean you can’t help anyone now. I’m going off to save people. I’m doing so, because I want to do it. Because it’s the right thing to do. What a hero is supposed to do. Because I’m a good person.”

I extended an open hand to the creature.

“You could be a good person too. Come with me and help me so I can help them.”

Its luminescent wings folded in on themselves and he shot towards me at once. Wrapping itself around my left arm like a gaseous rope. I didn’t feel any pain, despite my arm looking like it had been set ablaze.

“Buddy, is he hurting you?”

‘No. I feel fine.’

“Good. Let’s get a move on.”

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The rest of the ride went by without any incidents. Three more super mutants entered my fog at different intervals. Leaping over and through the remains of buildings as if they weren’t even there.

I could have dominated them easily enough, but I wanted to take the opportunity to improve upon some of my new abilities.

[Heart Attack] was fairly straightforward. Feeling more like an extension of [Mental Bolt] than another brand-new ability. Like my trusty sniping power, it worked by gathering a ball of Psy around me and throwing it at a target within my fog. It could also be stuffed with extra juice as needed. A fact that did a number on the hulking brutes.

Indeed, the first one I hit collapsed like a fish out of water. Flopping its oversized arms around ineffectually whilst freaking the (Gnome) out. That was when I realized these things retained some form of higher cognition that their lesser lacked. A fact it no doubt regretted, as I followed up with supercharged versions of [Indigestion] and [Drown].

I had expected the former to be a less-than-lethal option I could rely on. Perhaps an answer to Randall or Anezka when the time came to subdue them before having a little chat. Unfortunately, it turned out that the name was a bit misleading. Perhaps, [Explosive Blood-Drenched Diarrhea] would have been a more apt description. Worse, the effect dragged on and on and on. Eliciting accursed shrieks from the behemoths I hit.

I was fairly certain they were begging for death by the time I finished them off.

The latter power was, downright merciful by comparison. It merely caused some unnatural biological reaction that filled the target’s lungs with fluids. Killing its victims, rather than making them wish they were dead.

I glanced over at my status as I neared the survivors’ camp.

Level Gained: +500 Maximum Psy. +12 Ability Points.

Ability Evolving: [Heart Attack] 1 has grown to [Heart Attack] 2

Ability Evolving: [Indigestion] 1 has grown to [Indigestion] 2

Ability Evolving: [Drown] 1 has grown to [Drown] 2

Ability Evolving: [Mental Bolt] 4 has grown to [Mental Bolt] 5

I had one point left over from before the new level and the total cost of the natural increases came to 11. That left me with two points to play with and I decided to go for [Psionic Hex] and [Psionic Curse]. Figuring that they’d be fairly easy to train up, just like these others. More natural increases meant more total Psy from faster levelling and more options in a battle. Not to mention it would give me more knowledge to share with my friends, now that a lot of them were also Telepaths.

I arrived to find a welcoming crowd. Filled with smiles, tears and merriment. All of them acting like this was the turning point for their lives. The moment they could finally turn around and take their world back.

Well, all except one.

“I’m telling you! He’s fucking crazy!” Jude howled.

Waving his arms around like a maniac as he did so.

“He’s got an army of enslaved monsters and he goes around scalping and crucifying people!”

“Hey!” I protested. “Don’t lie to them! I only go around scalping gnomes. Not people. Also, my friends talked me out of the crucifixions after the trial. We ended up hanging them. I think. It all gets a little blurry.”

My words… didn’t have the desired effect. Those smiles started waning faster than I could have possibly imagined. A few even started moving their hands to their backs, reaching for hidden pistols tucked into their belts.

‘Right. That isn’t going to work. Okay. Stay calm Sully. You’re a good person. Project those good vibes outward. Make them feel like they can trust you.’

I marshalled my will. Controlling every aspect of my demeanor and hoping against hope that my expression came off as affable.

“Good people of Austin. I am not your enemy.” I began. Keeping my tone even and friendly.

Hands stopped reaching for weapons and I got a distinctive feeling of smoothened wrinkles in their inner workings.

“I know my appearance is strange and I know that its difficult to trust someone that you’ve only just met. Especially after all that you’ve been through. No one would blame you for being wary.”

Their feelings of aggression slackened further. Letting go of them like loosened ropes.

“However! You should know that I came here to help with the best of intentions. I don’t expect or want anything in return. I’m here to give you powers. To give you weapons and armor with which to defend yourselves and others. I’m here to spread my dream. That humans can come together in the face of adversity and conquer whatever evils seek to destroy us.”

A few people started cheering.

I looked them over. Noting their ragged vestments and the way they clung to their bodies. Then I looked beyond them and saw the old library they had been hiding in. Its lower floors having been mapped out by [Mental Map]. It had probably been a remnant of the cold war era. A last resort in case the apocalypse came.

It had served its purpose, but not nearly well enough. These people needed more room to store supplies and to grow crops. More layers of defence to strike down errant zombies before they came anywhere near the place.

“What I am about to do will be unpleasant. Yet, it is the catalyst that will give you the means to defend yourselves. To build anew! Accept my gifts and get strong enough that you nevern need fear the walking dead again!”

The whole crowd was whooping now. Jumping up and down with barely contained fervor. Even Jude, who’d been so critical of me mere moments ago, couldn’t suppress his overwhelming joy.

‘Huh. That went, a lot better than I had expected. I mean. It felt way too easy. I wonder why they suddenly…’

Level Gained: +500 Maximum Psy. +12 Ability Points.

Ability Evolving: [Entrancing Gaze] 1 has grown to [Entrancing Gaze] 2

Ability Evolving: [Alluring Presence] 1 has grown to [Alluring Presence] 4

‘Ah. Yeah. That explains it.’

A shiver crawled up my spine. Memories surfacing again before I could repress them. Images of my parents. Of the crabs. Of the non-existent Tall Man.

I my right hand went to my left. Ignoring the whips of fire coiled around the limb.

I squeezed. Hard.

‘This isn’t like that.’ I told myself. ‘These two are passives and they obviously triggered by themselves. Besides, its not like I’m lying to them. I really do want to help and I really will help. Right here and now. This is just, a shortcut to them trusting me. Yeah. That’s it. Its not manipulation or domination. I’m a good person. I’m the one who will save them. Who will save this world.’

I used the extra point to get [Blind] and turned back to my charges.

“Okay folks. Now that that’s settled. I need to see any weapons that you have.”

A lot of guns were presented to me after that.

I mean, a lot of guns. Ranging from semi-automatic rifles to sawed-off shotguns. One old granny even had a mother(Gnome)ing bazooka. Which raised all sorts of questions I didn’t have the time or the patience for.

“Okay. Does anyone here have any drones? Anyone thought of using them to check out the perimeter?”

“We have a few, but they ran out of battery. They’re of no use to anyone.” Said the woman who had been speaking with me earlier.

A skinny, short creature. With a poorly cut mess of black hair on her head and small beady brown eyes that always gave off the impression of suspicion. Even when her mind was fully trusting.

“Don’t worry about that. Now, does anyone have cars or motorcycles that still have gas?”

“We have a bunch of bicycles we use to get around, but nothing past that. We had some horses at the beginning too, but they mutated and tried to eat us.”

“Shame. I like horses.”

‘I also would have loved to see what [Insight] could do with animals. Like, what if I took a bunch of trained police dogs and turned them into Enhancers?’

That experiment would have to wait for another time however. These people hadn’t had the luxury of feeding dogs or cats when they couldn’t properly feed themselves.

“No problem. Here’s what we’ll do. I need you all to gather as many cars, motorcycles and drones as possible and push them into one big pile. After that, put your bicycles and weapons on that pile too. After that, gather around the edges so that you’re still in my field of vision while making sure that I can also see the pile. This friend of mine…”

I pointed to the Intruder.

“Will start melting a few of the more scrapyard-worthy cars for me. I see you have a hammer there, sir. I’ll be borrowing that for just a moment. Thank you. Now then. I’ll work until I my Psy regenerates a bit more. Just to make sure you all get a healthy blast. If things go well, I’ll have a few additional makeshift spears and axes for you all to use. With some throwing knives added in for good measure.”

They all stared at me. Mouths slightly open.

“Will doing this give us powers?” Jude asked.

“No. My ability will give you powers. What you’re doing will ensure that you get superpowered weapons from the outset. That, and possibly self-driving cars and bikes to get around more easily.”