FA Chapter 27 Emergency
Bosingwa just sat there in a daze. It was as if all the energy, all his goals, and all that he was striving to be, had been pulled out from within him, leaving behind an empty cask.
Even his thoughts that had been in overdrive before Musana's gathering, were now inert. He wasn't actively trying to stop himself from thinking, no no no, he just didn't have any single thought.
The legendary man had turned out to have the origins of a criminal. That alone wouldn't have been enough to rock his world. Plenty of such stories existed in the real world and history itself. Instead, it was the fact that he had only been acting good because of some grand plan!
And now, he was done pretending!
As they always say, reality is different from illusion. Honestly, Bosingwa would have loved to stay within the illusion or dream.
Now, what was he supposed to pursue? Simply becoming strong wasn't gonna cut it. People had to have other things driving them along to achieve their goals. His, had been Musana.
Staring out into the night, where the various holograms tirelessly tried to capture his attention with their advertisements, plus the lights emitted from the buildings, Bosingwa wondered how he was going to continue on in this world.
His daze was interrupted when he felt two weights settling into the sofa on each side of him, no doubt Ice and Larssen.
"I wonder how I should comfort you..."
Larssen started, though the tone within those words contained neutrality. Ice opted to pat his back slowly, as if she were putting a child to sleep. There was no talking from her, just a silent gesture that she was here. And that was enough to almost make him give in and cry on her shoulder, but he didn't. Before his head could lean into her, he stopped himself. He couldn't devolve even further than this. If Ice had been a family member, maybe that would have been excusable.
"He was my idol. Since young, I had grown up listening to his tales, perusing his battle videos, listening to his speeches... Basically, every tidbit about him, I made it my business to find out."
"He isn't the sole reason I wanted to become a Forger, but he was a bigger part of it. I had thought that I didn't care about morals, or good and evil in people...but since I was hit this hard, it means that I have a shred of humanity within, right?"
Words simply spilled out of his mouth without rhyme or reason. The more he spoke, the lighter he felt. It was like the words were dragging off the burdens that had been holding him down.
"Bosingwa... I am seriously saying this. You have the potential to be great, greater than even Musana himself. I don't know if he possesses your fighting genius, but I bet you could eventually claw your way to his level with my expertise."
"Are you once again trying to convince me?"
"Nah, I was consoling you. Everything else is just your imagination."
That earned a bark from Bosingwa, one which eventually led to a peal of laughter.
"What is that burst of color?"
A question from Ice made both of their attentions shift towards the window, and there, through the glass, a burst of orange had lit up the night sky above the skyscrapers, as if something large had caught fire.
[EMERGENCY ALEART: TWO FORGERS HAVE STARTED FIGHTING! ALL CITIZENS MUST EVACUATE! And don't trust the bunkers! Leave the city!]
Stolen story; please report.
The last warning had changed from the AI to a human, someone with an inkling of what the destruction was like.
The room had turned red, everything that could act as a screen was playing the alert. At the start, Bosingwa's heart had almost leapt out of his chest at the sound, but now, he was scrambling to the door with the other two, with all three appearing next to it as if they had teleported.
"Do you think...?"
Ice's question was left unanswered but everyone knew in their hearts what she had been about to ask.
Bosingwa was sure that this was related to Musana. The man had spoken as if tonight was going to be some major turning point in his grand plan... Then this had happened? There was no way this was a coincidence.
"What do you think will happen if every crystal stage Forger decided to join the fray?"
Shivers coursed down Bosingwa's spine at the implications. Some people might be oblivious to the truth, but most knew that Forgers were capable of destruction close to nuclear warheads. If such a situation came to be, no one in this city would have even a sliver of a chance at survival!
With every step that Bosingwa took, the hallway distance towards his target shrunk by meters.
Bora lived upon this very floor, and the first course of action they were taking was to find her. She must have had more information than they could gather. There seemed to be a communication blackout at the sight of the event, preventing them from getting an idea of what the situation was like on the ground.
-----
A few seconds later, they were within Bora's room, and Bosingwa was somewhat distracted by the beauty and softness of the decor, temporarily shelving the reason why they had hastily gathered here.
The living room where they were situated was of purples and whites, with even the other things that weren't furniture and the walls, falling within the same theme. The long couch he was seated upon was of a lighter shade of purple.
After a few moments, he managed to regain himself, placing his palms atop his knees, facing Bora on the opposite couch.
"First off, I am releasing you from the death contract."
Before the entire sentence even left her mouth Bosingwa's neural link notified him of the termination. The expected relief didn't materialise as he was still waiting for what Bora was about to say next.
He would have asked, but Mrs. Namatovu had beaten them to the punch when they had just entered through the door.
"Musana has just created chaos, no! His attacker."
With a small sigh, a holographic image appeared in between Bosingwa and the group, eliciting gasps of horror, astonishment and surprise. Was this destruction really caused by two people fighting?
It was a still image, one where a skyscraper appeared to have had almost its top half incinerated to ash, judging by the red hot foundation beams that were in the middle of melting!
"So, this is the power of the crystal stage when they go all out." Larssen spoke with interest and excitement thick in his voice.
"A skyscraper can actually be destroyed that easily." Mrs. Namatovu's lips were parsed in a rare grave expression.
"Right now, this was all I could get. The information blockage is no joke! Though, it appears that there is a party actively trying to work around it. And I believe its Musana's cronies."
"How many people dead?" Bosingwa's question silenced everyone. If a skyscraper had met such a fate, then that meant humans had most definitely died in droves.
"A little bit over 3900."
"Is there anyone actively trying to rescue the normal civilians?" He pressed even with his face distorted. He had been in this city for over a decade. What if some of those dead thousands were people he used to work with? They hadn't been exactly close, but he wouldn't wish such a tragedy upon them.
"Many Forgers have taken on that task. What I really wanted to know is what do you want to do? Are you going to leave?" Bora's question caused a temporary silence to fall upon the room.
"What about you?" Mrs. Namatovu asked.
For some reason, as Bosingwa scanned the faces of everyone around, he discovered a startling fact. None of the others were particularly bothered with the loss of lives except him and Mrs. Namatovu!
A cold feeling enveloped him. These people weren't going to help him with what he had decided to do in his heart!
"My father is evacuating the family. He has already sent an order that we must gather at the landing pad on the roof..."
"...this might be the last time we get to see each other."
"I going to stay and save the ordinary people." The moment after those words left Bosingwa's mouth, he stood up and made for the door.
He didn't even look back. This was something he had just chosen for himself. So what if a stray attack from the battling behemoths killed him? At least he would die saving people.
They didn't deserve to be caught within the schemes of the Forgers. There was one thing Musana had said that Bosingwa totally agreed with. The citizens had to be given easy access to the awakening serum. It shouldn't just be hoarded by the rich.
""Wait for me!!!""
Two voices simultaneously spoke up, but Bosinhwa didn't turn back even as they scrambled to catch up. They had only chosen to follow him in order to further their goals. There was absolutely no genuine care for the citizens they were about to help him save.