“Britannia Shipping Stock rose today by fifty-five points after the unveiling of a new model of landship said to be rated for A-Class Monsters and below. The Imperium has already ordered the full inventory with an additional five on back order and is scheduled to deploy the first combat ready model on its first ever long road voyage.”- Korriban World News.

Chapter 4: ThE [ANGEL] and {Jillian}

Corporate Alliance Territory

Eden City// Cordell Industries Central Territory.

“Jack!” A petite girl in a wheelchair cried out, rolling up and ambushing Jack’s waist before he could fully step inside the damp home. “I was so worried!”

“Have you been waiting here for me the whole time?” Jack smiled, ruffling the girl’s neon green hair as she nuzzled against him.

“Mayyyyybe. Hey, did you get taller?”

Jack knelt down, bringing himself to Jill’s eye level where he began checking the small box around her neck.

“Who knows, I’m still growing and so are you,” Jack smiled, content that the box still read green. “One day you’ll be as tall as me, maybe even taller eh?”

You think so?" Jill beamed, causing Jack’s heart to warm as he stared at her bandaged legs.

The little girl suffered from Black Rot: an incurable degenerative disease she contracted during the Demon breach that had killed their parents.

The disease was aptly named, due in part to the coloration of the victim's skin turning black and the resulting rot that ensued. The patient would develop sores, before slowly losing the use of their limbs as the corruption spread from their toes to the rest of their body, turning the infected into solid stone. Jill was luckily in the first stage, where only her legs were infected. Unfortunately, due to the magical nature of the disease, her legs couldn't be amputated and replaced with cybernetics, as removing infected limbs would just cause the infection to jump, moving to a higher portion of the victim.

Although Jill had lost the use of her legs, the box kept the rest of the symptoms at bay allowing the girl to live a relatively normal life.

As long as the box was charged.

"You've been taking your pills? Changing your bandages properly?"

"Mhm!" The girl replied, bobbing her head enthusiastically as Jack checked the binding of the girl's bandages.

"That's good, let's get you back to bed and your box charged," Jack said, spinning the girl around and wheeling her through the narrow hallway.

"Hey! But you just got back!" Jill protested. "Let's watch a movie! Or play some games first! Your birthday is tomorrow, we should celebrate before you do your testing!"

Jill put her arms out, latching onto the cracked door frame and stopping Jack from pushing her into her bedroom.

"C'mon bro! Pleawse!" Somehow despite being sick, the girl possessed herculean strength in her arms that prevented Jack from moving her an inch.

"Let me get settled in first, then I’ll play some games with you!”

At his words Jill spun her head to look at him with a pout.

“Promise?”

“Pinky,” Jack offered, holding out his finger. Jill ceased her struggle, locking her pinky with Jack’s before folding her arms and allowing her brother to cart her back to her pod.

Jill's room was painted green with rows upon rows of books, Holotapes, and action figures adorning the walls. There was even a large TV screen connected to a gaming system that fed directly to a VR set in the pod, allowing Jill to comfortably watch shows or allow Jack to watch what she was playing.

“Alright up you go,” Jack said, lifting his sister from the wheelchair and into the tube, but as he did so he paused. The machine bore a striking resemblance to the same one from the dream. Remembering the fate of the girl, he hesitated placing his sister in it.

“Uhm... Are you ok?” Jill said, her brown eyes snapping Jack from his thoughts.

“Oh. Yea sorry haha, in you go.” Jack feigned a smile, placing his sister into the machine and plugging up her box where it began quietly buzzing as it charged. Jack turned to leave but found his sleeve caught by a slender hand.

“Hey…” Jill murmured with a look of concern on her face.

“What's up?”

“You’ll be back right? You aren't gonna leave me again right?”

Ah. Jack felt his heart rate go up. That's what this was about. She was worried, Jill had no one besides him and Mike and didn't have any friends due to her condition that prevented her from being out and about for too long.

“Yea, don’t worry. I’ll always come back kiddo. I promise nothing bad is going to happen to me,” Jack said, mimicking Mike and giving his best-assuring smile before exiting the room.

“Cute sister." Sahaqiel said, appearing before Jack as he closed the door.

"Holy hell!" Jack yelled, jumping back in fright as the woman suddenly appeared in front of him. "You've gotta stop doing that!"

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Doing what? I was just telling you what a cute sister you have."

"You know exactly what you're doing!" Jack hissed, his heart rate escalating as he headed off to his room next over. Luckily, Jill's room was pretty sound proofed, as she had a bad habit of playing music or watching loud videos up till three AM.

Opening his door, Jack entered the familiar plain room. Outside of his futon, PC, and pile of folded clothes next to a window there was nothing remarkable about his barren living quarters.

"Where's all your stuff?" Sahaqiel asked, plopping herself down on Jack's futon. Jack had to look away as the woman's breasts bounced up and down.

"You're looking at it." Jack made a grand gesture, waving toward what little he had.

"Wow, and I thought Metatron was boring. At least he has stuff."

"Who?"

"Just some old fogey that only writes."

Ignoring the woman rolling around on his bed, Jack turned on the baby monitor beside his desk before he checked his inbox where he was surprised to find several messages waiting for him.

"Fugggg." Jack moaned, rubbing his temples.

"What is it?"

Jack let out a deep sigh as he rested his head on the window.

"Termination papers. Fired for an undisclosed reason." Jack couldn't believe his luck. He'd worked at the moving company for months, never missing a day, yet was fired for missing a couple of days.

"Well, that's good right? More time to help me find the smiling man."

"No!" Jack snapped in annoyance. "Without work I can't afford the damn mana canisters for Jill's treatment!"

Jack began running the numbers in his head.

He had a couple of weeks worth of money saved. And he could stock up on replacement canisters, but that would be if he literally starved himself and didn’t pay the electric bill for the month.

"Why don't you cure her then?" Sahaqiel asked, appearing behind Jack and resting her head on his shoulder.

Jack shrugged her off.

"Don't you think I would if I could?! Black Rot is incurable!" Jacked yelled in frustration, knocking the screen off his terminal in anger. He didn’t know what he was going to do. Work was scarce for a fifteen-year-old drop-out with no specialty training or backing. The future wasn’t looking too bright for Jack.

"No it isn't."

“What?” Jack asked, half annoyed and not paying attention as he looked out his window.

“The curse isn’t incurable.”

Every ounce of heat left his body as the realization of what Sahaqiel had said dawned on him.

"What?" Jack echoed again. Momentarily short-circuiting as he tried to process what the Angel said.

"I said It isn't incurable," Sahaqiel stated again.

Jack spun around, faster than the Angel could react, and grabbed the apparition by the shoulders, causing her to tense up at the unexpected touch.

"Oh? Right here? Right now? But we've only just met," Sahaqiel teased, placing a hand up to her mouth as she acted coyly.

"What? No! What do you mean it's not incurable?!"

"Well you didn't have to be so adamant about it. I mean that it isn't. What you call Black Rot isn't a disease, it's a curse. And like all curses, it can be broken." Sahaqiel batted her eyes flirtatiously at Jack as he stared long and hard at her. "If you keep staring at me like that, you'll make me gush."

Ignoring the way her breathing made her breasts heave, Jack tried to get the blushing woman to focus.

"Well, that's simple silly, just Awaken and gain a skill strong enough to purge it. I can tell you how, but first, you need to give me some assurance that you're looking for the Smiling Man." Sahaqiel said, running a finger across the teen's chest.

Jack smacked her slender arm away before sitting down at his terminal and plugging his monitor back in. Luckily the screen still worked.

"Yea, a deals a deal. Let's pull up the Info-Net and see what we can find," Remembering the details of the memories, Jack figured her escape must have turned heads. That someone must have reported about it. And he was right. Tuning onto the news there was a reporter standing in front of a familiar crater.

"And in other news, Cordell Plaza remains cordoned off to the public due to Thursday's Mana pipe rupture that devastated the downtown area. Cordell Engineering has issued a statement regarding the incident and is offering a substantial reward for information leading to the capture of this saboteur."

A three-D rendering of a certain blond woman suddenly displayed on the screen causing Jack to swallow.

"She is believed to be An Awakened of considerable strength and is extremely dangerous. The public is being warned to contact the Constables or Cordell SecForce with any information regarding the fugitive. Additionally, contracts will be posted at Guild halls by five PM tonight."

"Ah spit," Jack cursed out loud as the cameraman zoomed out.

Well, now he knew why he was fired. The garage he normally worked at was gone, along with most of Cordell Plaza.

"Hells bells, you blew up the entire downtown?!"

"What? I had to get out." The Angel shrugged. "Plus it's not like I killed anyone that didn't deserve it."

This was crazy. Jack was beginning to freak out from the amount of money posted at the bottom of the screen and the constant showcasing of Sahaqiel's face. With that amount of zeros he and Jill could live comfortably forever, there was no telling what others would do to get their hands on that reward.

Sooner or later the Guild mercs would be looking for him, along with SecForce and every other faction in the city. Jack’s hands were getting clammy as he realized that the first place they’d start their search was his apartment building.

"Oh calm down. It's not like they'd ever find my body."

Actually, that raised several questions Jack hadn't thought of until now.

"Speaking of bodies, what happened to yours? Why aren't people swarming the rooftop looking for you?"

"Well, there's no body for them to find silly. Unless they do a DNA test on you."

"What?" Jack turned to the Angel and narrowed his eyes.

"How'd you think your legs grew back? Or your wounds healed? Did you not once question why your limbs felt sluggish or why your steps feel heavier?"

Wait. No. Jack’s eyes widened in alarm as he looked down at his body. Looking at his left arm he noticed scars that weren't there prior and a slight barely noticeable difference in the skin tone. Tearing off his pants, Jack inspected his legs which were much more muscular than he remembered.

“I altered the density of the muscle tissue and pigmentation to try and match your body. It was a rushed job, but the best I could do given your state. You might even notice you’re a bit taller and stronger too.”

“You… used her body to…” Jack suddenly felt sick as he stumbled back onto his bed.

“It was a bit hard to body sculpt. Radueriel was always better than me at it.” Sahaqiel shook her head with a sigh, completely oblivious to Jack’s moment of crisis. “Sometimes I wish I paid more atten-”

Sahaqiel suddenly stopped talking, a look of alarm plastered on her face.

“Jack! An Awakened is heading this way!

“Wha?” Jack replied, confused by the sudden change of tone and still processing the bombshell that had been dropped on him.

“Pay attention! An Awakened is heading this way!”

“What’s that got to do with-” Before Jack could finish his sentence the doorbell of his apartment rang.

“Oh… Oh no.” Jack stuttered as his heart leapt into his throat.

They'd been found.