Chapter 98: Secret Base of Evil

“Fuck.”

No words could express how shitty her current situation was—at least, Nara wasn’t creative enough to think them up right this moment. Her mindset was edging towards hysterical rather than insultingly expressive.

Researchers and inventors were being kidnapped by The Advent, and she had somehow ended up on their grab-and-bag list. Her own invention had been secret, and she was still averse to calling it an invention at all. It was a technique, at best, and the people who knew about this ‘technique’ were limited. It may be a clue as to what had happened, and why. Nara went through them, one by one.

The four at Innovation’s Retreat? If they were part of The Advent, she would have been abducted long ago. Now she knew that their retreat was on the highly dangerous fantasy Australia, all they had to do was pop a suppression collar on her there and she’d be trapped.

Her team? Also unlikely, and Nara didn’t want to entertain the possibility.

Who else?

The gods? She couldn’t do anything about that. Would gods work with foreign invaders trying to suborn the world? Maybe? Nara didn’t know much about the gods. If they had told someone, anyone could have slipped it. With the goddess of Knowledge around, nothing was a secret.

So much for Big Brother. Turns out it was Big Sister all along.

Anyone else?

She racked her brain, thinking through events one by one, overturning her memories with a fine-tooth comb as best she could. She didn’t have her Guide’s notes to remind her. What was the order of people who had found out? She started once more.

First, Redell. Presumably, his god was next. Apparently, they lived rent-free in the minds of their priests, but once again it was a topic she didn’t understand well. Then, everyone else in the retreat. Then, there was the incident with the gods at the Arlang compound. She was portaled back to the retreat after that, and Aliyah, John, and Eufemia followed her through. Sen and Encio were filled in later when she returned to Sanshi.

What then?

She had to get her aura re-recorded at the Adventure Society, where she told Oswald the bare minimum.

“Oh…shit.”

Was it Oswald? Was he an agent of The Advent?

No, she may be jumping to conclusions. If The Advent had a higher level of magic and technology than Erras, there was another possibility: listening devices. The Adventure Society office she spoke with Oswald in was protected from eavesdropping with magic, but what if The Advent had planted a non-magic recording device inside, then collected them later? To begin with, did anti-eavesdropping magic even block radio waves and electronic signals?

Additionally, someone else at the Arlang compound may have seen a said something. Not even knowing what she had made but just mentioning she had been ‘gifted’ by the gods may have encouraged the Advent to grab her ‘just in case’.

Her current train of thought was pointless and fruitless. Whoever leaked her information accidentally or intentionally to The Advent, it didn’t help her situation now. What was important now was whether Aliyah was here too. She was together with Aliyah in the bath. Aliyah was a mid-level Magic Society member with a decent number of projects and highly rated publications under her name. Her research was eclectic, spanning anything from fundamentals of magic to highly advanced astral magic theory, to artifice. She was less of an artificer than Amara, but most Magic Society researchers knew the basics, and Aliyah was no exception. The application of magic to objects is one of the earliest and most common uses of external magic. The weight reducing modules laborers stuck to heavy objects to float them was a product of artifice.

Nara’s Party Guide wasn’t working, so she could only leave the room to find Aliyah.

At the far end of the room, the room narrowed into a small corridor that led to another door with a touch panel. It wasn’t transparent but completely solid, differentiated from the wall by material. She was only mildly surprised when the door slid open after a touch to the sensor pad.

The interior of the building was surprisingly nice. Her room opened onto an open-air courtyard with a pond, trees, and gazebo feature. The far side was the same open-air hallway, which circled the large garden three fourths of the way around. The right side led to a more covered interior building. If this section was residential, the adjacent section should be communal.

She looked up towards the sky. It was day now; the sun was not visible yet through the roof. It was likely still morning, before noon.

If she could trust the sky. It was possible it was the same hyper realistic magical projection. There was no way for Nara to climb up to verify. The roof was too high above the trees for her to reach, and she did try.

“I’ve tried that too, it’s not use.” A voice said from beneath her. “I can jump higher than you, and I didn’t see any other way to breach the ceiling either.”

She looked down at the man who had spoken to her. He was on the tall side, with handsome features and a solid build she recognized of an essence user. He had the local’s usual appearance: black hair, black eyes, and skin on the tan side. He had short stubble, and short cut hair that gave him a rather military appearance for a researcher.

Nara clamored down from the tree, brushing herself off to remove stray bits of bark and dirt.

“You are?”

“I’m Jiro Asanda, no relation to the Dasan,” he preemptively added. It must have been a common follow-up question.

“Nara Edea.”

“Edea, like the inventor-adventurer?”

“She’s my mentor.” Nara might have to start adding her own pre-emptive answer.

“They even took you?” Jiro let out a weary sigh. “I can’t believe they’re willing to spite a gold ranker. Does she know you’re missing?”

“How long has it been? I’m not sure.”

“For you? Around 10 hours. You were taken in here along with your runic friend. You took your time waking up.”

“Aliyah.” Her heart sank, although she wasn’t surprised. “How many people are here?”

“There’s 26 of us researchers here now. There used to be more.”

“Used to be? How ominous.”

“Some of us leave. You’ll see what I mean soon,” he said mysteriously. Nara was a little envious that he was so adept at ‘mysterious and helpful guide’. “Follow me.”

Nara nodded, walking beside the older man. They passed through the long sandstone architecture. It had a pleasant feeling—for a secret base of an evil invading faction, they nailed the vibes of a middle eastern resort. The hallway was lined with planted ferns, and the roof was even tiled with colorful geometric mosaic patterns. She had wanted the facility to be bare and white so she could hate them for their interior decoration but found herself angry over her internal appreciation of their aesthetic sense.

Jiro began to explain the layout of the facility. He had been here for a few days already; Aliyah, Nara, and a few others were the most recent arrivals.

“There’s three residential wings, North,” he pointed, “East, and West wings. The center area is communal recreation, the arch, the dining hall, and the library. Towards the south is the activity hall. There’s an open field for you fighters to practice and the normals to exercise, no weapons though, along with a wall none of us can get past. There’s also the auditorium.”

“Auditorium?”

“They hold these ‘sessions’ where they explain the benefits of joining The Advent. They show some recordings and images. How anyone is convinced by that bolo shit is beyond me.”

“They’re showing propaganda?” Nara asked incredulously.

He grimaced. “Even if it was truth, I cannot trust them for their methods.”

Yes, abduction was extremely objectionable. Especially from the point of view of an abductee.

“If they do that, then what is their peace really built on.”

“That is my conclusion. You could say I’m the leader of the ‘stay’ group, those who won’t go no matter what.”

“The leader of the ‘stay group?” Nara repeated, tired. “There’s even factions for this?”

“Not much a faction, really. There’s Yulia Chime, who thinks we should all go through the arch and leave.”

Nara’s inquisitive ‘go on’ expression caused him to belatedly explain.

“There’s this gods-damn arch they’ve erected in the middle of the communal area! A portal arch.” He clarified. “They claim it leads to their world. To go through it is to join their little club. Be welcomed into their harmony.”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Whoop woo, we’re all friends now,” Nara said, dripping sarcasm like ice cream on a hot day.

He laughed derisively. “I don’t believe it for a moment either. Yulia thinks we should all go join these bastards.”

“She can just go through then.”

Jiro kneaded his forehead with his hand, “She also thinks that anyone who stays for too long gets killed. She doesn’t think we should join to all be friends and make merry, but because there’s no other option. It’s that or death.”

As if death was any less guaranteed going through the portal. She’d rather die on the lands of her new home. What a depressing thought.

“You know her well then?”

“Yeah,” he said with a softer tone. “We work together at the Magic Society.”

“What’s the longest stay so far then?” Nara said, changing the topic.

“Chen Hiam, he’s been here for a month.”

“So, we have a month, optimistically. How long have you been here?

”Two weeks.”

Their conversation paused when they reached the entrance to the communal area. It had a partial roof, with glassless skylights to let natural light pour into the area. To her left was a massive living room area with plush rugs, floor cushions, and low couches. A wall resembled a TV screen, and researchers were watching what Nara assumed was another new and exciting flavor of propaganda. Some sat on couches or rugs reading books or using some of their low tables to play table games.

Solidly in the center, was an arch. The arch. It was like a portal arch but made of the same sandstone-like material the rest of the facility was made of. It emanated a soft glow, the surface of the magic membrane resembling rippling waves of shallow water, perpetually active.

She looked away from the arch, spotting a familiar face she was both relieved and sad to see.

“Nara!” Aliyah said, starting into a skip run.

She pulled Nara into a hug, Nara gladly squeezing back.

“I had hoped I wouldn’t see you here,” Aliyah said.

“Funny, I had the same thought. Does that make us friends?”

Aliyah chuckled, patted Nara’s back comfortingly, and then released her.

“Why don’t you get a bite to eat first while we discuss things?”

The three walked over to the right side of the large room, a small eating area, like a restaurant. They sat down in comfortable seats, and a holographic menu appeared.

“They have chefs on hand? In their evil, futuristic, and annoyingly well decorated prison facility?”

“I have no idea,” Aliyah said. “I haven’t seen anyone cook the food or deliver it. It’s delivered on these practical autonomous carts. I’d love to take one apart.” Her fingers folded on her lap twitched in anticipation.

“Feel free. A few of us have managed it already. They even provide us with the tools to do so.”

“They let you do that?”

“It’s a demonstration of their ‘superior technology’,” Jiro scoffed. “Another method to convince us to go through the arch.”

“Should we even eat the food? What if it’s poisoned or drugged?”

“You have an alternative?” Jiro drily said.

“Yeah actually, I don’t need to eat. It’s hard to explain so I’ll just say it’s outworlder reasons.”

“Outworlder? Your friend didn’t mention it.”

“Well, it’s not exactly something I just tell everyone. I’ve been told it attracts unsavory interest. Futile effort on my part, apparently.”

“It may pose an interesting control experiment. If you don’t eat while we do.”

“Yeah,” Nara agreed, “See if there’s any changes over the next few weeks. I can do that.”

“I disagree,” Aliyah said, “If they are drugging us, why even use food?” She gestured to the building, “They can apply it through the air, or while we sleep. Eat, Nara, it will be better for your mind.”

“Two very valid arguments.” She was a gourmand, so her conclusion was perhaps a smidge too quick. “I’ll eat then.”

If they had robot carts, touch panels, and magic holographic screens, then an aerosolized drug or a needle were also options. If they wanted them drugged, they couldn’t prevent it.

“So,” Jiro said, restarting the conversation after a pause, “What have you done?”

“What have I done?” Nara said defensively. “Nothing really. I just got here 6 months ago?”

“I meant, what have you researched or invented?”

“Oh, that. It’s sort of restricted.”

“You created restricted magic in 6 months?” He said with rising incredulity.

“It’s nothing bad really. I was working with a priest of the healer to make it. They’ve got some restricted adjacent topic there.”

“You can’t tell me more?”

“Does it matter?”

Their conversation abruptly stopped when someone new walked up to the table. Judging by Jiro’s tight expression, she wasn’t a researcher.

“I am Sister Lina Dressel, harmonious morning to all of you.”

“What are you here for, Adventist?” Jiro spat. His fists tightened above the table. It looked as if he wanted to swing.

She gave a soft, genuinely sweet smile. Lina Dressel was stunningly beautiful, as all celestines were; an apt choice for a brand—or cult—ambassador. She had soft purple hair, the color of springtime thistle, with the iconic celestine metallic sheen. Her eyes, of course, matched. She held herself with the demure politeness of a modest young lady, graceful, but not asking for attention. Nara could find no deceit in her expression, only genuine kindness, which creeped her out more.

“May I?” She said gesturing to the open seat.

“Will you leave if I say no?” Jiro said.

She sat, gently smoothing out her clothing and fixing her posture with elegance and grace, “You’ve asked why I am here, harmonant Jiro.”

“Drop the harmonant,” he snapped.

“Very well,” she said, graciously acquiescing. “I am here for harmonant Nara.”

“Uh, just Nara here too. Why’re you here for me? Some kind of newcomer orientation?”

“Yes. All the new harmonants will receive an orientation in the audience hall shortly. We cannot force you to go, but we hope you will attend. Any questions you have I will answer for you.”

“You will? For me?”

“Yes.”

“Why? What do you know?”

“Nara, I believe Jiro here was curious why The Advent has taken an interest in you.”

“Clearly, a very close interest,” he remarked, equally curious.

“There are several reasons. The first, your outworlder origins. It’s attractive to the residents of this world as well, for various reasons. The second, is your invention—a method to communicate and consensually modify the soul. Soul magic, or soul engineering—we call it either way.”

Jiro stared at Nara, “Soul magic? No surprise you didn’t tell me.”

“Look, I was literally just helping a friend out and accidentally invented it, like Penicillin. And it’s not really an invention, it’s the first technique in a very new field.”

“What’s Penicillin?”

“The third reason is that Nara possesses the knowledge of the entire Celestial Book library within her mind.”

It was unpleasant to hear, but she supposed more people knew about her mind library than the soul magic. If they knew about the soul magic, Lawrence tagging around just to transcribe books wasn’t nearly so hard to discover.

“The entirely to the Celestial Book library?” Jiro said, his breathless wonder overriding his irritation with Lina’s presence. “I’ve only heard a bit about it. Rumors and hearsay; a massive library of knowledge accumulated by a cult of a Great Astral Being. I’ve never been interested in it myself. Far too dangerous for a researcher like me, and my research is more…grounded,” he said the last sentence with the tone of a pun, that only he seemed to understand, “Any sane researcher can’t work through that amount of material in a lifetime. I just focus on the discoveries around me.”

Aliyah nodded, “The Celestial Book trial is only interesting to adventurers. Most researchers are curious about it, but have no interest in challenging the trial. It’s a strange intersection between magic and combat that rather leaves both underutilized.”

“And you have that all in your mind?”

“My soul, I guess. An outworlder power.”

“So they’re giving you special attention? I don’t envy you,” Jiro muttered.

A small hover card smoothly crossed the eating area over to their table, altering them with a soft ping. Nara lifted her plate and her drink and set it down in front of herself. Then, grabbed a set of utensils and a cloth napkin from the cart as well. When she finished, the cart floated away.

Jiro glared at Lina.

“You won’t leave her alone?”

“If Nara askes for some space, I am willing to leave.”

“Then—”

“I’ll stop you there Jiro. If you’re thinking that if she leaves, we can discuss secret plans I’d give up on that. They probably have devices or magic in place that lets the hear what we discuss from a distance. Whether or not Lina is around is probably pointless.”

Jiro glanced around the room. His perception ability was blocked, but his own specialty and research was in magic construction and building arrays. For a secretive base like this, detection and concealment magic were basic and guaranteed. Eavesdropping magic was harder to implement on a large scale, but he had already seen more advanced magic from the Advent. Assuming they had the same limits as their own world was a pitfall.

“You have a point. This place is a guaranteed vault of array magic protections.”

You’d said you’d answer any question?” Nara said, turning the conversation back to the Adventist.

“While I will answer, I may not give the answer.”

“Well, let’s start off with some easy one, break the ice as they say. What’s your rank?”

“I am bronze rank, as you call it on this world.”

“How many Adventists are here, and their ranks?”

“There are 11 Adventists at this facility. 5 are iron rank, 3 are bronze rank, 2 are silver rank, and 1 is gold rank.”

“You bastards keep a gold ranker here for a bunch of iron and bronze rankers?” Jiro sneered, “Where’s your sense of pride? Fairness?”

Lina smiled. “There is no method the Adventist is not willing to employ in order to provide a more harmonious future for all beings across the cosmos. Moral and ethical stipulations are counterproductive if they interfere with our final, compassionate goal.”

The ends justified the means. The Advent was utilitarian, willing to use any method should the final score win a net positive. Then, the lengths they would go depended on how they weighed the value of their mission. Was it above the annihilation of a people?

Jiro didn’t expect fairness from his kidnapper. He couldn’t help the anger that rose from a gold ranker keeping them under their thumb. For a gold ranker to pick on a silver ranker was shameful in Erras, let alone a bunch of normal, iron, and bronze rankers.

“See? She’s more useful to keep around. We’re already getting somewhere,” Nara tried to diffuse the tension. “How do we keep this suppression collar off?”

“The suppression collar uses and aura lock. The two auras that will unlock the collars is older sister Hellis Fallen the operations leader who is silver rank, and her elder sister Raina Bow, gold rank.”

“I didn’t really expect you to answer that.”

“I could not release you even if you managed to overpower me and threaten my life,” Lina said with a soft, understanding smile. “Best eliminate misunderstandings before they foment.”

Jiro leaned forward, his previously confrontational attitude sagging along with his shoulders.

“Is this all to say it’s pointless? There’s a gold ranker here. There’s nothing we can do.”

“Are you going to leave through the arch then?”

He shook his head despondently. He had already spent two weeks in confinement, which wore on him mentally. He was normally a steady person, and now he ping-ponged from angry to despairing.

“I can’t leave my family behind. My little daughter and my wife …If I can never see them again, what is the difference between leaving through that arch and dying? At least…” he said, expression crumbling, “I’m not a traitor with the second option.”

“Jiro,” Lina said, her face and tone empathetic, “Should your world join The Advent, we can all work towards a better future together. We understand the importance of family and love. We can even bring your family to your new home, to be together with you. There is no need to preemptively mourn your separation.”

Jiro stared at her like a rabid wolf moments away from ripping out a soft fleshy throat. He got up from the table and left, too tired and too angry to argue with her.

“You have a schedule or something?” Nara said after Jiro had left, sparing him a concerned glance.

“I have one here,” Lina said. She handed Nara a pamphlet. “Please, take a look.”

“’The Advent and Harmony: Improving the Standard of Life’. What’s this, a TED talk?”

“You’re just in time, Nara,” Lina said. “I think you will find the presentation interesting.”

“Not convincing?”

Her smile was a knowing sort. “We’re aware that what we ask of every person here is momentous and of personal sacrifice. We aim to build trust to be worthy of a such dedication. I believe after dedicated and thorough dialogue; you will realize the great benefits of harmony. Not only to you, but to an entire world.”

“Want to take a gander at what our kidnappers are peddling and develop Stockholm syndrome?” Nara said as she turned to Aliyah.

“What’s Stockholm syndrome?”

“Where you fall in love with your kidnapper.”

“Your world has a word for that? Does it happen often?”

“Not ‘often’,” Nara denied. “But we do have some wild fiction. A sock fit for every member, you know?”

“A vulgar joke in this hour? I’m surprised.”

“You guys use socks for that purpose too?”

“And others,” Aliyah said as she waggled her eyebrows. She held out her hand, an invitation to the world’s least appealing movie theater screening.

“Shall we?”