Jerimiah, the hairless Captain of Subsidiaries who sent Ellis into the [Isle of Ancient Dragons], didn't have a great two months.
He got orders, and he went through with it. A master plan created all by himself... but it had a few holes... but everything worked out!
But things progressed too fast. Members of the hazard branch log themselves the instant they leave a fracture. In addition, since Ellis left a fracture with airborne toxins, there is a log about him being decontaminated.
Jerimiah scrubbed them from the servers using a tip his old captain taught him. Before he could think of the next step, he noticed an inquiry.
He only spots it because he's already in the servers. Jerimiah squints as he reads a picture-perfect request on the condition of an employee at that branch...
'How the hell are they so quick with it? It hasn't been a day yet!'
Using his system access, Jerimiah tries to hide the request but pauses. Acting like it never existed is too much. It might reveal more than I think.
Instead, he internally marks the form himself, so when someone in administration or HR sees it, they think someone already did the investigation needed. Jerimiah exhales. It wasn't a sigh of relief, quite the opposite.
That won't fix anything. It will only buy Jerimiah a day.
He looks at the garbage bag in the corner of his office. Jerimiah planned to go through everything and hand items out to his men, but since he knew someone thought something was wrong, these items needed to go.
He grabs the bag and hesitates. 'Some of these things are really good... I'll hide them somewhere and sell them when the dust settles.'
Inside the black plastic bag was everything Ellis wore. A belt with a few baggies filled with goodies. A bloodstained Gi that smells of pine needles and gore. A mechanical arm filled with blood with rings sitting on the metal fingers. Etcetera.
Jerimiah has a bad feeling about what's to happen. He trusts his team to keep quiet about the crime they took part in but to make sure they aren't here when the shit hits the fan, they enter into a fracture. That's their job, after all.
~~~
When the request to itemize the investigation about the whereabouts and condition of Ellis Vincere reached the hazard branch with a [Lawspeaker]'s authority on it, the people who handled these things were agape with shock.
Their investigation showed that there was no investigation! They have the physical copy of the request, and it's empty. Whoever claimed that Ellis was 'okay' did everything electronically... as soon as it was uploaded.
The employee Val handed the form was investigated, interrogated, and then put on unpaid leave. The FIB loves to stay out of hazard branch-themed drama, but when the eventual internal notice of this fuckup spread through the bureau, they had to step in.
Most didn't like the idea of someone like Ellis working as the black sheep of their agency. Ellis going missing in a fracture is one thing. They can point and say, "We knew he was going to get himself killed." The media and the public can only say that Ellis was foolish for purposely taking such a dangerous job.
Some even had pre-prepared statements in case such a situation happened. Saying things like, "Ellis Vincere was too hungry for growth and jumped out of his league into a grave."
But this is infinitely different. The fact that such an error happened will cause issues. Yes, the branch isn't legally the FIB, but the public doesn't know that. It will be harder to pin legal ramifications, but that's a non-issue.
The younger members are worried about public perception, especially since Ellis is a public figure. But the veteran members of the FIB know what's going on. It's nearly impossible for such an error to occur accidentally.
So it wasn't an accident.
All they can do is not make statements.
~~~
It didn't take long until there was an entire campaign with carefully selected allegations against the FIB. Not just the hazard branch but the FIB. Free Chains and the other court members didn't waste any time.
It took a few days, but it was eventually revealed that the hazard branches' internal system was tampered with by an FIB access code. Legally, they are distinct bodies, but since the hazard branch mirrors the FIB's system, Free Chain found a legal loophole.
This coverup wouldn't have happened if the branch were actually distanced from the FIB. Either they admit their fault, and things go Free Chain's way, or they double down and reveal the legal parkour a government agency undertakes for their benefit.
They will never do that. That is a scandal, arguably higher than the missing Ellis situation. They don't need two things going wrong at the same time.
They are a government agency, and dissatisfaction with them will be perceived as discontent with the government.
Even if that's not true, that's not how the president sees it. It was a good thing it wasn't election season, or else this scandal would be suppressed or seen as a smokescreen for an even bigger issue. The president hasn't made an official statement. Yet.
"What is there to hide?"
"Where is Vincere?"
"If he's dead or stuck somewhere, why was it covered up?"
"Why the silence?"
"If it was a misunderstanding, say so!"
"Prayers for the family at the time."
At first, the [Court of Allegiance] crew thought it might have been retaliation from the researchers within the FIB since Ellis filed complaints with most of them before disappearing... but that led nowhere.
Answers were the things people wanted the most. Was this an assassination attempt on a representative of humanity? If so, wouldn't this become a political issue? Or is there something secret going on in the FIB?
No one from the FIB is willing to make a statement.
The people behind Jerimiah can only hope Ellis perishes. If he dies, people will eventually stop caring. The public caring for two months is the cumulative effort of a group trying to keep the flames alive.
And what more can the court do? It's not like they can go in guns blazing and hope for the best. If Ellis is trapped in a fracture somewhere in the FIB, it would be impossible to find him. In the worst-case scenario, they force the president's hand to make a statement. One way or another.
Stolen story; please report.
~~~
The reinforced door is nothing but a gloopy mess once Prometheus is done with it. His level has grown during my time away... and I think I had a hand in it. Even though the fracture separated me from the outside world in more ways than one, the experience I gained was still split among myself and my beasts.
Name / Nickname
Prometheus / Endling
Species
Fire Glutton B (Unique)
Level
300 (MAX)
Evolution Requirements
Not Met
~
Health Points
3530 / 3530
Mana Points
1560 / 1560
Armor Points
0
Might
536 (204 > 429 + 25%)
Agility
338 (100 > 250 + 25% +25)
Vigor
706 (204 > 429 + 25% + 170)
Mind
312 (100 > 250 + 25%)
Spirit
312 (100 > 250 + 25%)
Perception
91 (5 > 65 + 25% + 10)
He must've kept to the training regimen I gave him since he finally unlocked the perception stat.
Alarms started blaring as the door melted away. I walk into the hallway and look around. I don't recognize this place, so which way should I go? Left or right?
I flip a coin in my head and go left.
I can't summon another tame beast for another 50 minutes. And since my mansion is empty, it isn't like I can draw them from my [Bestial Storage].
I was lucky this time. Well, luck is subjective. The sounds of boots hitting the floor echoed off the metal walls. An entire team wearing ballistic armor pointed their machine guns at me and opened fire without hesitation.
Huh. I guess the FIB shoots first and asks questions later. I wonder if that's their actual policy for things coming out of a fracture or if I'm getting special treatment.
Bullets crumple against my body. Prometheus wasn't spared from the gunfire, so I sent him to the mansion using my [Beastial Storage] skill as a temporary measure.
Yes, I can [Martyr], but taking double damage for doing so sucks.
"Hey. Can you guys not?"
"Switch to elemental-shot!"
The bullets begin to explode on contact, freeze their impact sites, and spark with electricity.
"Half tasers!"
Half the group temporarily switches to high-power tasers, shooting them at me during the onslaught of bullets. Metal wires spring out from their weapons and try to stick into my flesh.
Most of them bounce off, but a few manage to catch skin. I grabbed a pair of wires flying towards my face. Electricity courses through my body... It tickles.
Do I kill these people?
I mean... I am technically talking damage, but my resistances negate roughly 98-99% of their damage. I'm out regenerating the squad's damage output.
I use [Royal Decree] to stop them. I have a group control skill, so I might as well use it. Unfortunately, the skill is only Rank-B, and although I can affect more than one person, it isn't infallible.
My control gets weaker the more targets I affect, meaning that a little less than half of the dozen men are under my command. I essentially force them to stop any action.
I hear one of them mumble something and pull out a magnum. Someone who seems more important than the rest pulls the trigger, and the recoil blows them back and breaks every bone in their hand. The bullet reaches me nearly instantly and hits me dead center.
A hole the size of my fist is physically removed from my body. It broke through my sternum and penetrated all the way through. It damaged my lungs and hearts and removed sections of my spine.
If it wasn't for the copious amount of blood, you would've been able to see straight through me.
-15,001
[Resistance: Piercing 999 > 1000 (1500)]
I heal my organs and spine and let the rest regenerate.
Everything that happened with these people happened in seconds. I didn't immediately retaliate because they weren't a threat. If everything was a misunderstanding, we could've talked it out.
But not anymore.
I dash forward suddenly and rapidly, uncaring for their bullets. Those with quick reactions reach for their melee weapons, but I'm already near their squad.
Using my 1k might, I grabbed the closest gun and crumbled the barrel in my grip. I headbutted the man and scrambled his brain in his helmet.
He naturally let go of his firearm, so I swung it at the next closest guy. I meant to break his neck, but the butt of the gun basically removed a chunk of his jugular instead. He died holding his neck, choking on his own blood.
I'm getting distracted. I reinstate my control over half of the squad as a 'swordsman' slashes at my eyes. I lean into the attack, having him hit the side of my hard skull rather than my supple eyes.
*CLANG*
It's like he hit metal. The sword bounces off me without leaving a scratch. Before I can take this guy out, his teammate shifts behind me and attempts to pin my joints.
Usually, martial arts aimed at joints and holds are a great tool to suppress someone stronger but less skilled than you. Stats make things... different as people transcend into superhumans.
To rectify this, better techniques supported by the system elevate these martial arts the same way my martial arts boost my health and unarmed attacks.
...But that still doesn't matter.
My arm is pinned behind me, and I'm about to be forced into a kneeling position, but this fighting style has a weakness. What if I don't have joints? Muscles? Bones?
I use [Battered Bones] to break the bones in my arm into multiple segments, and like a serpent, I slip my arm free. I smack the top of their helmet with my arm, and it moves more like a whip than a hammer.
After the impact, my arm *snapped* into place with some healing. My grappler is unconscious, and the swordsman looks like he's about to puke.
I pick up the grappler and use my [Fling] skill. It's the upgraded throwing skill, and the new feature of [takes less effort to throw things] is quite neat.
Throwing something requires more movement than one might initially think. Before the skill, if I were to throw the ball at full force, I would basically use all the muscles in my body for one thing or another. I can get the same force with just an arm.
Imagine your favorite pitcher throwing the ball with both feet planted in the ground.
The grappler is launched into the ceiling, and I can hear a cacophony of bones break on impact. His body hits the ground with a wet thud as blood stains the ceiling and pools on the ground. The swordsman activates a skill, turning his sword blue.
I grab his wrist as he swings at me and fling his entire body towards the man with a magnum, who seems to finally recover. Both are knocked farther into the tunnel. They don’t get up.
Only the people under the effects of [Royal Decree] are left. What to do...