Chapter 4
A Reunion Of Sorts
Arla’s breath caught for a moment, as all she could do was stand on the entry platform and stare at the mass of soldiers who were all gathering around Marcon.
Before she even realized the trap, she began taking first one step forward, and then a second step. Her eyes clearly betraying her recognition of the suspect. A suspect she knew wasn’t dead.
Then her mind began breaking down the hundreds and thousands of different stimuli that were all inundating her brain.
First, she knew Marcon was not dead, despite having her own sympathetic bonds break, informing her that one of her someone who she previously Awakened with her powers had died. She refused to believe that Marcon died, at least not by the minimal destruction caused.
Second, she could not feel a connection to this Marcon, while she did feel a connection to one of her sympathetic bonds, it soon became clear that the bond she felt was not for the person currently posing as Marcon.
The connection she was referring to, was the deep spiritual tether that bound her soul with one she Awakened was undeniable, untestable, but also very exact when she was in close proximity to the aforementioned Awakened.
This was why, after a few steps towards Marcon, or the person that just looked like Marcon, she had to stop in her tracks, as that was not Marcon. At least her sympathetic bonds told her that she had no prior spiritual connection to that individual.
That was why, after a solid five paces forward, Arla found herself making a half left turn and looking forward found a rather tall thin, slender man, in a well-tailored blue spacesuit that looked both functional and fashionable. There was more to this encounter, for Arla could feel the spiritual connection to this man, a connection that spoke of both prior meetings and more.
Before Arla could take into account what was happening, that very man stepped forward. Now that she had a better look, it was clear that the man before her was elder, not so old as to be infirm, but old enough to have children, likely man from many different women, all happy and healthy living in his mansion, if his mannerisms and posture were anything to go off of.
Yes, it was clear from a glance that this was a person who could have afforded her services. Marcon of course would do the vetting, but Arla made sure to at least look at the patients, to see if she could remember which one betrayed them.
That was why, after a moment, she finally remembered this gentleman, The Trillion Parsec cluster, but why was he out here?
Also, there was a young woman by his side. She was pretty, tall and also slender. A secretary perhaps? Maybe a personal attendant? Given her lack of muscle growth and odd reaction speed, particularly with the way she didn’t keep up with the well-dressed former client, it was clear she was not a bodyguard who purposefully looked weak.
However, before Arla was able to take in more information with her eyes, the rapidly approaching man stopped two paces away and began speaking.
“Why hello Ms. Proma, a pleasure to meet you again.”
Shivers.
Hearing the man’s comments, Arla was automatically on guard, for she never used her real last name on anything. In fact, as far as she was concerned, no one would know about her last name as she just got this one.
“You seem to have me at a disadvantage, Mr. ?” Arla began, settling in instantly for a cultured woman out for a deep exploration of space, before heading into Uni. Her mind coming up with her cover that was both believable enough and not too much of a stretch.
“Oh, where are my manners. I meet a legendary beauty such as yourself, and I forget the basics. You must forgive me for I have an advanced grade of Precognitive Acuity, a function that you might be familiar with,” The man stated. His words innocuous, but the hidden meaning right there and clear as day.
Instantly, Arla felt her hackles rise as she prepared for an exit strategy.
The man had seemingly challenged her own ability to Awaken others, and not just that, but improve those same functions in others. While that is not what a common passerby would have heard, anyone recording, and everything was being recorded in these places would note the comment and be able to dissect the hidden meaning if given enough time and effort.
“Oh, well you are forgiven, but I really must beg your pardon. Would you but read this card and let me know what you think?” The man said, holding up a digital greeting card.
Digital greeting cards were just as one would expect, they could be formed to have a logo and flourishing design, along with the name and contact information for the person on the card. Yet, as Arla grabbed the card, she saw the design flicker for a moment, before a message scrolled across the page that seemed to run as quickly as her eyes could recognize the information.
Fortunately for Arla, her eyes could read rather quickly, making it so the message on the card was not able to be read by others. That and the high gloss casing made it so anyone not staring straight on at the card could read the information. All of this pointed to power, opsec, and a lot of money to be used for such onetime use cards.
Greetings.
I know you don’t remember me, which is why I will introduce myself here.
I am Mr. Tempora, a person who was greatly helped by you and your guardian.
By now you have likely realized that the trap around you was staged in order to lure you out.
What you might not be aware of is that your liner to your next destination has also been compromised.
While you might be good, you will eventually be found, given that the ship will never disembark until everyone is held for a minimum of two weeks.
And we all know what happens to hair after two weeks, don’t we?
That is why I offer you an alternative.
Come with me, perform the same procedure to my daughter, the meek looking female behind me, and join me on a direct route to the Military Academy in Maralla, where my daughter is also slated to attend.
Now before this begins, I do have an advanced case of Precognition, thanks to you.
I also have a second power related to Time Manipulation, also thanks to you.
Why do I say this? Simple, now you have leverage over me as well.
As you know, you state this to any of those military soldiers and I will be taken in.
With you of course following right behind me.
Thus we have assurances that we do not want to turn each other in.
Now, why my daughter?
Simple, she has become convinced that being a Military Officer is what she wants to do.
I have seen some of her other career choices and they do not turn out that well for her, so I have agreed to help her out.
That is why we are enlisting your aid.
My daughter needs power, a lot more than she has currently, and you will need a friend.
Now is the time to think about the proposal and give yourself a second to come up with questions you might have.
To help you out, the first answer to the question you cannot ask is: yes, she was a plant that made you almost immediately.
This card will now go back to its default setting, as this file and all lingering traces of it will be erased.
With that the card began to blink rapidly, before flashing once and erupting back to a traditional eCard that had Mr. Tempora’s name, his phone number and a platform he could be found on.
Seeing the card, Arla felt impressed. For a con job this was one of the best.
Then thinking about the question Arla would have asked, she found myself looking around. First she looked left, then right towards the gathering of guards. As she looked over, she saw a fairly confused looking female spook, the same one from the train.
Seeing the spook and her clearly flustered appearance, Arla realized the question she would have asked.
“Okay, if you do have precognition, did that officer make me?”
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Judging by the confused body posture, and way she was now staring at the two of them, Arla had to agree. The girl had made her, she had even begun a con of her own to try to lure Arla into getting close, likely to provide some form of biometric verification that could then be used against her. Since she was likely just working for the Guilds, her methods of collection would have to be voluntary, versus compulsory like the actual law enforcement officers of this sector could demand.
Taking one last glance at the woman who looked more confused than anything, Arla could only nod to herself, before pausing first to stare at the strange man. A man who all but radiated light, even his hair though aged still shown with flecks of golden brilliance.
Looking at him, Arla still had options.
While her initial plans had been altered. Despite everything, ditching the first known ride and booking another would not be tough, she decided instead to listen to her gut.
That was why staring at the man for a moment, Arla decided to nod to herself, before realizing that her gut was not warning her.
Thinking back, her body was trying to warn her about Marcon earlier, or at least the figure parading as Marcon. The fact that she had no spiritual connection to that man showed that it was not her Marcon, but could have been someone with a shifter ability, or other method of masking their presence.
Then pausing for a moment, Arla looked left, past Mr. Tempora’s right shoulder and stared at the somewhat mousey woman. A woman who despite being tall, attractive, and having most of the genetic markers people would die for, she looked almost insecure in her own skin.
Seeing her in that state, Arla realized that the man was right, his daughter likely needed a lot of assistance if she was to be not just accepted into the Military, but if she was also going to survive such an experience.
“Okay, I will do it,” Arla finally said, after locking gazes with the strange girl, before she turned her eyes away and stared at the floor.
Arla felt no danger with this option, though she did note that the future would change a lot after this moment.
“I will warn you, that after our trip, you might view the world a bit differently,” Mr. Tempora stated.
Again, there was no threat, just a warning.
“This is in relation to your other…” Arla began, but soon trailed off.
“Yes, to that which you helped with,” the man stated.
Arla was concerned for a moment, if he had a high level of Precognition for his first power, then what did he get for his second power? Also was it so powerful as to completely change the destiny of this man and his family? For he seemed to be extremely well off. There are certain things that you can’t hide without money, and he exuded none of those traits.
Hearing the words, Arla just nodded. She expected change, and her body told her that while some of the changes she would face might be bad, they would all ultimately lead to a positive conclusion. Or so she hoped.
“Fair enough,” Arla responded and like that, the three left. Following Mr. Tempora, Arla soon found herself walking side-by-side with the daughter.
As she fell in step beside the daughter, Arla gave a quick glance back towards the gathering troops and where the not real version of Marcon still stood. Looking back there were so many things that were off about this Marcon, the way he didn't clinch his jaw shut, causing his veins to bulge just right on his left side of his face. The way he didn't even attempt to smile, even while in the middle of the forces.
There was also the fact that the woman, the spook was staring at Arla in surprise as she left, a note of clear confusion on her face as she wondered if Arla was not her mark after all. At least, that was what Arla had gathered from the brief exchange of glances.
Yes, it seemed that at least regarding the one trap, Mr. Tempora had been correct. Now, she had to find out what his goal was, and whether it was worthwhile helping him, again apparently.
Pausing for a moment, Arla wondered if she was in fact prepared for what might happen next. Taking a deep calming breath, she focused on what skills she had amassed through her efforts.
Name: Arla Proma Role: Support Class
Primary Power Soul Power [Permanent Support]: Ignite (S) Can ignite one true potential power, up to Ignite ranking, of anyone. Secondary Power (Officially Recognized Power) Soul Power [Support Temporary/Crafting Permanent]: Spirit Infusion (S): Infuse the power of spirit energy into items.
Experience Breakdown:
Remaining Experience: 15,097 / 1,791,097 Trunk(s): 9 Branch(es): 14 Skills:
* Focused Vision -> Energy Sight -> Enhanced Cerusian Sight (Max)
* Deep Breathing -> Meditation -> Moving Rejuvenation (Max)
* Athletics - > Gymnastics -> Parkour (Max)
1. -> Gymnastics -> Safe Falling (Max)
2. -> Weightlifting -> Compact Muscles (Max)
3. -> Endurance Training -> High Endurance Resistance (Max)
* Unarmed Combat -> Striking -> General Strikes (Max)
1. -> Striking -> Kickboxing (Max)
2. -> Inner Power -> Power Strikes (Max)
* Acting -> Feigning Emotions -> Projecting (Max)
1. -> Role Playing -> Deep Imersion (Max)
* Observation -> Scanning -> Active Comprehension (Max)
* Academics -> General Knowledge -> Universal Education(Max)
1. -> Mathematics -> Engineering (Max)
2. -> Memorization -> Enhanced Memorization (Max)
3. -> Linguistics -> Languages (Max)
1. -> Cerusian Runes (Max)
2. Dialects (Max)
3. Meta Linguistics (Max)
4. Love Languages (Max)
* Calming Breaths -> Stealth -> Silent Movement (Max)
* Armed Combat -> Firearms -> Sniping (Max)
1. -> Firing On The Move (Max)
Through her and Marcon’s efforts, she had amassed a wealth of knowledge and experience. Using the system for experience was odd. You could go and learn anything, even having skills that were not officially recognized by the system.
In fact, the System only served to do two things. First, the system measured your competency as compared to the national average of all users. It was hinted at that part of the process, particularly for the larger sets of experience used went towards forcing universal truths onto the minds of people. A form of universal consciousness that was almost impossible to fully appreciate.
The Second thing the System did was permanently lock in all gained information. This meant that while Arla had learned her Cerusian runes while younger, she could have forgotten some of the knowledge to either atrophy or mis-remembering key concepts, until the system aided her in her knowledge and retention. Thus, once she purchased the Linguistic adaptation for Cerusian Runes, her mind permanently locked that information into place. The system even decided to either force more universal concepts in her mind, or her maxing out of the skill caused her to retain more information than what she had originally remembered being tested on.
This meant that she had the vital information of Cerusian Runes forced on her mind, so that she likely knew more now than those who originally tested her.
With this new understanding, she could also feel why learning through the system was so wrong. For originally Arla had her own innate understandings and developments to build upon. These understandings were a building block in her mind that she could go back to and force her way out to the individual lesson she took. Sort of a self-created scaffolding in her mind. By contrast, the System made such actions archaic and unnecessary.
By learning each new Skill and branching form of intelligence off that primary skill, Arla understood why she could never go back to being a tribe member. For being a tribe member meant being free of such forced constraints.
Still, by now she had accepted her lot in life, and knew that the more skills and offshoots she had, the more desirable she would be to the Federation. Which meant that all of Marcon’s sacrifices would not have been in vain.
This was why Arla followed the strangely magnetic man, and his apparently under achieving daughter.
Arla hadn’t given up on her business, though she had hoped to lay low with her Awakening power for a bit. That said, this was not the first time she had used her power to book favorable passage out of a disadvantageous location, and unfortunately it seemed that it likely wouldn’t be the last.
Then again, Arla was never one to turn away a free lifetime supplier of experience, which in turn helped her to boost her standing within society.
“Right this way,” Mr. Tempora stated excitedly, his energy clearly getting the better of him.
With that, Arla found herself within a well-established parlor. There was a hostess, surrounded by dozens of people who all looked as if they had no concern to be anywhere.
That was their tell, they all tried too hard to not look at her and those who entered. Letting Arla know that this was a trap. Well not a trap, but an establishment under the full control and authority of this Precognitive man.
There were subtle tells.
The way the hardened warriors didn’t so much as bat an eye towards the door, despite clearly having been trained to do so.
Arla herself was impressed, as she had a hard time not following her instinct to look at those who come into an establishment herself. Which was why she spotted the personal restraint required for such a feat immediately.
Only two types of people don’t look at the people entering a room. Those that don’t know any better, and those that do. These were all people clearly in the latter part of that assessment.
“Good afternoon, I take it this is the guest you spoke so highly of?” The cheery hostess greeted.
Again, no one looked, a sign that they were all able to monitor the room in other ways.
“Good afternoon, indeed she is, please do not let anyone disturb us, while making sure to prepare our liner. I do not think this will take too much time.” Mr. Tempora stated.
“Will she be joining us?” The hostess asked, a bit unsure.
“But of course, she should already be on the docket. Look for Ms. Proma, cadet candidate for the Military Academy in Maralla.”
“Same as our Lazula?” The hostess asked excitedly as she turned to face the girl who had up until this point been standing right beside Arla.
The girl, Lazula, just had the wherewithal to look somewhat sheepish at the sudden attention, but otherwise stayed quiet.
“Indeed, they will become the best of friends.” Mr. Tempora exclaimed excitedly, as if this was a story that had already been written and the details would be made manifest for everyone.
“Very well then. Right this way,” the hostess began, but was quickly stopped by an quick hand.
“No need, this will be but a minute. Besides, I need you to prepare for takeoff.” Mr. Tempora noted, then before anyone could protest otherwise, Mr. Tempora led Arla back to an industrial safety pod. These were the type of escape pods trillionaires used to survive catastrophic attacks. They had temperature control, gravity control, air purification, and minor guidance operations. Additionally, they had the ability to fall from orbit into anything less than a fully condensed plus sized gas giant planet and have you able to survive long enough for rescuers to come and find you.
Just being led into something this luxurious caused a number of warning bells to go off in Arla’s mind.
“Relax, I am already aware of what would happen should I try to kill or permanently injure you either directly or indirectly.” Mr. Tempora began.
Arla was about to ask, “what?” Until not one but two of her previously hidden traits for her first power became known.
Soul Power [Permanent Support]: Ignite (S) Can ignite one true potential power, up to Ignite ranking, of anyone.
With that, she was now down to just one last hidden piece of knowledge that would allow her to fully comprehend what her power meant. Once that happened, she would have a chance of being able to increase her overall competency in her Ability as well. Also, some of the percentages that she had should increase, but there was no true knowing exactly when or what that last one was.
Arla flinched at the sight of the chance to lose her power. Though it made sense to her, as she could honestly feel the connection she made to everyone she Awoke, meaning the loss of power being related to that aspect also made sense.
“Oh, I see you, had not guessed that. Well don’t worry, you were close,” the slender man consoled.
Though it was clearly an act, one last spotlight on the statement that he knew the future and that he was here to hit Arla with her own deal.
“Now then, would you like to hear what I first have in store as payment for Awakening my daughter?” Mr. Fortuna asked.
Arla felt her eyes grow tight, as she thought she already heard the payment, but realized there was one part that was still missing.
“I would,” Arla confessed.
Smiling brightly, Mr. Fortuna reached into his pocket and then pulled out a large golden gem. Seeing the gem, Arla understood this to be the peak of magical expertise. The gem was no ordinary gem, for it was made and created from a master practitioner of Light Energy.
“Good, it seems you already know what this is, now are you willing to take this?” He asked.
Just peering into the stone, a strange golden energy pulsed out and seemed to stare directly into Arla’s soul. Almost as if on reflex, she felt herself drawn to the glowing stone, one that was in Mr. Fortuna’s outstretched hand.
“Go on, touch it, it’s not going to bite,” he said with a smile, though it would do a lot more than bite, of that Arla was certain.
Still, she couldn’t help herself as she found her own hand reaching up to touch the invaluable gem, a note of want in her eyes.