“I’ve always thought the best way to fight the unknown is kicking it in the guts before it knows what hit him. An unprepared foe is half a foe, after all. Of course, it’s a difficult thing to do when you’re facing a Meta, or anyone with fewer bones than you. Experience and power tend to screw up the surprise factor, when they are not on your side…

Sometimes, however, you might find yourself with plenty of both.”

-Spyglass & Tobacco, on an interview about non-combat oriented Meta-Abilities

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Jean Gallutneck never considered himself a mental person. Of course, most mental persons thought the same, but he was quite certain he didn’t have any immediate urges to talk to trees, behead someone with his fingernails, or some other extremely odd and disturbing behavior.

As hilarious as that might be.

No, he might have been extremely odd, but he wasn’t crazy. Of course, having recently awoken a power that was the very definition of insanity wasn’t helping him much. Now, there was a copy of his personality piggybacking on his soul, and he was so screwed to have it on sometimes he wondered if that was how everyone else perceived him.

Not that he cared.

Awww, you’re calling me annoying? You’re sweet.

The worst part was that the thing- he didn’t shut up at all. Not even when he tried to think about serious stuff.

Oh hey, you’re serious about being serious? Okay, okay. Jeesh, I thought you were kidding. You’re never really serious. Fine, I’ll help.

I’m never completely serious my dear ethereal friend. But yeah, this matter worries me some.

The brutes had gone down easily. By now, they were wandering somewhere around the sewers, looking for a way out. They wouldn’t get lost there: there were maintenance stairs nearly everywhere. It would take a new level of stupid to miss a ladder, in a sewer.

It’s a giant fucking thing made of steel. With, you know, other, less giant but equally steel things to hold on to? It’s not that hard to find, I guess.

… We should check on them later shouldn’t we?

Yeah.

But that wasn’t what he was thinking about, not right now.

I have powers. Cool powers.

Life had been… boring-ish, for him. Kind of like seeing it through a glass. Of course, he had friends. He had… a certain resemblance of family. Not guys you would go ask for support, though. Or borrowing a pinch of salt. Or a grain. Miser dudes, all of them.

But they were still somewhat family.

But it was monotonous! One would think after the world was nearly destroyed by several incidents of mass-extinction scale, things would have turned a little bit more animated, but noooo! Superheroes fixed it and all back to normal.

Don’t get me wrong. I really, really like my skin. I would rather sticking with it. Or at least losing it after I’ve kicked the bucket.

Yah, I don’t think you’d enjoy being skinned. But hey, look at the bright side! You’re so skinny people would probably think there’s no skin to rip off anyway.

Whatever.

Over the course of the years, his suspicions had been confirmed. This was a world for Metas now. Metas got to live, fight, and enjoy. They had the money, fame and power to have fun, if well they were actually grounded to the responsibility it took.

Everyone else was there to fill in. He didn’t mind being a background mob, but he wanted to at least watch the fun from somewhere close enough!

What would you consider close enough anyway?

I think, the minimum distance not to be vaporized by laser rays or splattered against a wall with an improvised bullet-train club would suffice, thank you.

So you’re fine with death by a thousand invisible cuts?

…No.

He had dedicated much of his life to study heroes, as a part of his fixation with metas. And villains, of course. They were all the same thing: previously normal people that had somehow accumulated enough ‘meta-factor’, gained System powers and a pat in the back by the Root, and were given tasks that would give them more awesome powers upon completion. The only difference was Heroes had to do good stuff and Villains had to do bad stuff.

The System was a link to the Root, in the form of an interface. But then rose the question. What exactly is the Root?

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Ahem: Root – Part of vegetal life commonly buried underground, whose main function is the absorption of nutrients from the soil, as well as an anchor for the rest of the plant.

Is the name just coincidence? Or does it mean the Root Is part of something bigger?

How could you know? You barely know a thing about your own System. It’s not like the guy is very talkative. Or that it can communicate at all. Is it even a guy? I think it’s a girl. Girls tend to do that. Ignore you when you like them.

You’ve been ghosted by a mute girl. That’s a new level of pitiful bro. I feel sorry.

Could you focus less in smearing shit in my face and more in trying to unravel the arcane secrets of the universe please?

Gununu- Fine.

Let’s theorize for a bit then. Suppose the Root’s name isn’t random, but thought with the original meaning of the word in mind. That means its prime function is gathering resoruces and acting as an anchor for the rest, no?

That’s what I thought, yeah. But what’s the rest then? And what does it gather?

Maybe the Root is in fact God’s feet.

That’s… weird. Extremely weird. Please don’t say something like that ever again.

I mean, not in the traditional sense of the word, but rather- do you remember what the System told you the first time? ‘You are now one of the chosen.’

I’ve read enough of a system apocalypse to know what you’re trying to say, but let’s not take our chances. Fiction is just fiction. What we do know is that there’s something called Meta Factor, and people that exceeds a certain threshold of it gains a System and powers.

Mmm, Jean?

Then there are Quests. What are Quests, and why does the system give you quests? Is it a way to keep you controlled? Like ‘if stay in your room I’ll give you lots of candies?’ Or, is it a way to increase Meta Factor? But what would be the point for any?

Jean…?

A power capable enough to maintain a worldwide network so intrincate as the Root and all its subsequent Systems should be more than capable of helping an old lady to walk the street or robbing a bank, else shame on it. So it’s farming Meta-Factor then? But all the Quests I have gotten so far were things I had decided to do before… So, a reward for achieving personal or professional goals. In this case, we can say that Meta Factor increases with the completion of certain goals… Progress? Meta-Factor is progress… Don’t tell me…!

JEAN!!! SNAP OUT OF YOUR FUCKING BUBBLE!!! We’ve got visitors and they don’t look happy.

Shut up! I just found- wait, what?

Twelve o’ clock.

Gallutneck blinked. Directly in front of him, and through a pile of random mess the brutes had made out of who knows where, there was a man.

He was wearing a tux suit, topped with a fedora and a domino mask.

Does he really think he’s covering something?!

What do we know fam. People’s got weird tastes. I think you should be asking yourself how he snuck in your house without noticing instead. Or why is he here. You know, things that actually matter, n’ stuff?

“Well, I don’t recall ordering pizza.” He strode up from the couch and slowly towards the stranger. If he got lucky, he could get in range of his powers before the other had a chance to do anything. He’s probably a Meta too, unless burglars changed chose a new trend for their uniforms.

“You from Domiyes’s? I’ve seriously got to tip the staff! That’s one expensive uniform you’ve got there.”

“Hilarious as I find your sense of humor, I would advise you to stay where you are. Unless, of course, you would like to give your guts a change of air?”

The outsider’s voice was eerie as hell, and it had a metallic ring that made his skin crawl. His eyes… There was something off about his eyes. They were a tone of amethyst purple that looked out of place in a man.

Definitively a Meta. What the hell is one doing here?

How am I supposed to know?

Best chance you’ve got is trying to take him down from afar. You don’t really know what the guy’s capable of.

So the best option we’ve got now is…

Pulse!

Gallutneck brought both hands forward. A wave of green liquid-like energy burst ahead at incredible speed, aimed at the stranger’s head. It should have enough force to knock him out without blowing his head apart.

Probably.

Worst thing comes to be, it was self-defense.

Before hitting its target, however, the energy ball was cut down by something he couldn’t quite see. Before having time to be surprised about anything, that something was right behind him, holding a blade of darkness pressed against his throat.

“Move again and you’re done” a girl’s voice whispered on his ear.

Well, I discovered a new kink.

JEAN!! FOCUS!!

“You were warned. Then again, someone foolish enough to make a ruckus in my neighborhood couldn’t be expected to understand that much…” The stranger sighed.

He’s calling you stupid, stupid.

Ya don’t say! How did you notice?

“Hey, as much as I enjoy some healthy contact with women, don’t you think yours is a bit too eager? Besides, the, uh, ruckus in your neighborhood thing I have no idea what you mean…”

Partially true. Though this is probably about the mess those idiots made- AAAGH GODS WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?! AAAAGHHHH!!!

As soon as he said the words, Gallutneck fell to the ground, grumbling and scorched by pain.

His skin was melting. Bones splintering. Blood boiling. Muscles ripping. Nerves fusing. It was unbearable, maddening even. He should have passed out from pain, but pain itself kept him awake. He could feel his very soul trembling in agony. Even he could feel the pain, and that made it all worse. It was like suffering for two.

And then, as quick as it started, the pain faded away, and he couldn’t remember the sensation, behind the fact that he never wanted to feel it again.

A power that tortures without leaving mental scars. Scary as hell.

I want that shit too.

Not really the time for that, is it?!

“You know, I consider myself a patient person” the stranger said, pacing around the room, occasionally kicking a spoiled can of something here or there and casually inspecting every detail. “But my, ah, ability to tell truth apart from lies… it is very straightforward and can cause an uncomfortable amount of pain to those who lie to me. So, again, I would advise you to speak the truth.”

Prick’s done nothing but advising.

Really. I don’t think he’s said ‘do this’ or ‘don’t do that’ a single time.

“Now, you know why I’m here. I would like to know why you were there. And I should warn you, as much as I appreciate a pinch of humor, Shade there isn’t nearly carefree as I am. Say hi Shade.”

The blade made the slightest of cuts on his neck and a trickle of blood ran down his shirt.

Would you look at that, they ruined my second favorite shirt!

You mean besides the green Hawaiian T-shirt with pink leaves?

The same. Well, the girl’s got her doze of friendliness alright. Let’s pray she doesn’t get even stickier than this, okay?

Couldn’t agree more.

“Now” the stranger leaned back in one of Gallutneck’s chairs, carefully removing the random junk around.

“Start talking.”

[author] Enjoy![/author]