“Right,” Baylee says, looking between us with an assessing gaze. “Let’s get moving; we don’t have much time. Margret, how do soldiers normally situate yourselves around a sentinel team?”
Margret glances up from her tablet, “Generally, we stay near the sentinels. The volcora almost always go for a sentinel rather than a standard human if they’re nearby, so you being near us is generally protection enough. Other than that, try not to block our line of fire again. The last thing we want is injuries from friendly fire.”
Baylee nods, “Understood. Margret, you guide the way. The rest of you, same formation we were using before everything went to hell. We move towards the mind flayer and try to avoid any other fights where possible. Remember, we are all on a ticking clock for our assault states before mana toxicity build-up gets too bad.”
With that, we move out. Haruto, as the most defensive among us, is the one to take a peek outside the apartment complex that had become our temporary refuge. He looks back and forth for around a minute before finally looking back at us and giving us a thumbs up.
Moving swiftly, we stream out of the building, each of us once more taking up our jobs of scanning our surroundings. No one wants to be caught off guard, and Celeste’s early warning about the incoming volcora had been critical. I’m not sure what would have happened if they’d just come on us out of nowhere.
My feet splash in the puddles formed by the uneven surface of the road, even as the rain’s intensity begins to pick up. My hair had only just begun to dry while we’d been sheltering, but now I’m going to be drenched again. I shiver, both in fear and from the freezing rain. What we’re doing here is probably very stupid; I can only hope we all make it out alive.
Speaking of which, I turn to Baylee, who is near the center of the formation with me. “Should I resummon Celeste so she can scout ahead?” I question, keeping my voice soft so as to not draw the attention of anything that might be lurking in the darkened allies around us. I know we have the other’s familiars as well, but only Celeste can fly.
Baylee frowns, seeming to consider. “What does she think?”
“Celeste? Thoughts?” I ask mentally. While she is unsummoned, she won’t be able to join in on the conversation, only being able to speak with me.
[Too mana intensive,] Celeste says. [We don’t know how bad this is going to get, and the others will probably need healing. We don’t have a healing ability yet, but I’m sure we will get one in the next few sub-ranks. Healing is a lengthy and mana-intensive process; you’ll need everything you can get. All familiars can turn invisible, and I’m sure the others all have their own ways of doing things. Not to mention that not all volcora are fooled by invisibility, as we saw earlier. I could just end up getting discorporated again. I think we will be okay.]
The mental communication with Celeste had happened nearly instantly, as we could communicate at the speed of thought. A useful benefit of communicating telepathically rather than out loud. It allows me to have quick conversations without disrupting a conversation I’d already been having.
“Celeste thinks the other familiars can handle it. I should save my mana for when someone needs healing,” I report to Baylee.
Baylee nods, “That seems wise. It might even be smart to push you to get a few sub-ranks as soon as possible, see if we can’t get you a healing ability.” She looks up towards Akari and lowers her voice, “Even though she won’t say it, Akari is struggling. Those bandages helped, but the volcora attack on top of what happened at school the other day? That girl is strong, I’ll give her that, but everyone has limits.”
I follow Baylee’s gaze and nod my agreement. Akari is limping ever so subtly and holds one hand against her stomach where the volcora had ripped into her with its claws. My own hand clenches into a fist as I see it, my need to heal her stirring something within me. I’m sorely tempted to produce the more powerful medicine Audrey recommended, but I only have one, and there might be a better time to use it later.
“I think getting another ability will help us all,” I agree softly. “I’m sure that we’ll run into something on the way to the mind flayer. I just hope it’s something we can survive.”
“We’ll get through this,” Baylee says, her eyes meeting mine. “There are too many people relying on us to fail.”
Scene Break [https://i.imgur.com/s4uEg3H.png]
We walk quietly for a while, everyone feeling on edge as we traverse the city towards the slums. Luckily, the obvious volcora moving between the skyscrapers in the city are now absent. I’m guessing that means that the mind flayer had sent them after our mentors, but I can’t be certain. A slightly less optimistic person would say they are hiding somewhere in the city, waiting to ambush us, but I’m trying to push my optimism as far as it will go. Not to would just mean accepting despair.
As tense minutes of walking through the pouring rain turn to slightly less tense hours of slogging through the rain, my focus begins to waver. Every now and again, I jump at a noise or a hint of imagined movement. Every time I focus in that direction, though, I can’t see anything. In short, I’m wet, cold, and scared. Not exactly a mindset built for optimal focus.
Eventually, just to stay sane, I mentally reach out to Celeste. “Hey, can you talk for a minute? It doesn’t matter what we talk about; I just… need to put my mind on something.”
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[Of course, in fact, there is something I’ve been wanting to go over with you,] Celeste responds promptly. I can tell she’s trying to inject her normal cheer into her voice, but it comes out strained. I hadn’t thought about it often, but this is probably just as scary for Celeste and all the other familiars. Perhaps more so.
Before, Celeste had been flying overhead, able to see any threats long before they arrived. Now, she’s cooped up with me until I have spare mana to resummon her physical form. We both know that, as a blue sentinel, I’m likely the weakest member of our team when it comes to combat. Yet, here we are, delving once more into the fray.
“Oh?” I ask Celeste. “What is it?”
Celeste sends me a mental sigh, [I’m sorry, it’s just… there are so many things that were supposed to be explained to us before we ever got near an incursion zone. Now, I’m worried, I feel like we’ve been thrust into this situation with only vague explanations of what’s going on.]
Mentally, I try to push an encouraging feeling towards Celeste, which is kind of hard when I don’t feel it myself. “You’ve done a good job of explaining things to me. I know that we were supposed to have classes on all this stuff, though. Instead, it’s just straight into the fight.”
[That’s just it!] Celeste exclaims. [I’ve been doing my best, but I don’t know everything. A lot of the advice Audrey gave you I never could have known, and now I’m wondering how many other things we don’t know.]
“Probably a lot,” I admit; it is magic after all. I’m not sure anyone on Earth fully understands how or why it works. Maybe the Centurions do, but even that isn’t certain.
[Agreed,] Celeste says softly, and we go silent for a few minutes.
As I walk, blinking away the rain that keeps trying to stream into my eyes, I consider Celeste’s words. There really is so much I don’t know. About the Centurions, about the Volcora, and even about this weird system thing that apparently exists in my head. We had touched on it briefly, but the idea of ranks and sub-ranks and all that is weirding me out. It feels like I’m in one of those old games that Dad likes, except I don’t know any of the rules, and the cost of messing up is my life.
It feels like a computer had been installed in my head, and I don’t know how to feel about it. I’m not sure why killing volcora should be contingent on me growing stronger. Is that a real restriction, or is something put in place by the Centurions to make sure we do what they want? Is there any upper limit on how strong it’s possible to get? If so, is that also enforced by the Centurions?
“Well,” I say eventually. “One thing is for certain; you know more than me. Would you be willing to fill in a few blanks while we’re just traveling?”
[Always happy to help however I can,] Celeste says before her voice gets a tinge sad. [It’s about all I can do to contribute right now.]
“Don’t worry, I’ll get your form resummoned as soon as we can spare the mana,” I promise.
I can only imagine what it must be like for her, being stuck seeing through my senses and unable to contribute in any other way. With her mana projection destroyed, she’d lost all of the agency she’d had before. Once again, I reconsider the pros and cons of just spending the mana now. Sure, I might need it later, but Celeste needs it now — if just to feel better about this whole situation.
[I’ll be okay,] Celeste says, trying to sound reassuring. [When I was sent to the GDF by the Centurions, I had to spend multiple days completely unable to move or talk to anyone. I didn’t have a mana battery to project myself, so I was as powerless as any ordinary gem. Even now, I have much more agency than that. Anyhow, what was your question?]
My eyes widen as I think over what Celeste had described, being stuck in the gem, unable to talk to anyone or interact with the world in any way. If I die, would we both be stuck like that until the gem gets destroyed? Just… existing in a perpetual state of helplessness.
I swallow, shaking my head to try and banish that new source of nightmare fuel. I had wondered why it was apparently tradition for the soul gems of the fallen to be worn as jewelry by their family members or teammates. Now, I get it. If I was stuck in the gem, like Celeste described, and was just stuck in a dark drawer somewhere for years at a time, I would absolutely go mad. At least wearing the gem around might allow the fallen sentinel some experiences.
[Serena?] Celeste asks, breaking me from that dark train of thought.
I blink, “Sorry, just… considering what it would be like for us if we die and we just… existed in the soul gem.”
Celeste gives a mental shutter. [I really hope that isn’t how it works.]
“Me too. Anyway, sorry. That wasn’t my question. I was going to ask you why you were surprised that a mind flayer was in this incursion space?” I ask.
[Ah, well, that was for two reasons, really. First is that this was supposed to be a low-grade space. Incursion zones are broken out into three categories. Low-grade, mid-grade, and high-grade. For a low-grade space, the strongest volcora we should have ever seen is a strong D rank, or maybe a weak C rank. A mind flayer is a peak B rank volcora. Its very existence here means that this is actually a mid-grade incursion space, perhaps even a high-grade one if you want to argue semantics. Audrey had bad intel going in,] Celeste explains.
“And the second reason?” I ask.
[The second is that mind flayers are supposed to be very rare,] Celeste says. [Almost all volcora are self-aware, but very few of them have humanlike intelligence. Mind flayers are an exception to that rule. They are powerful and, more worryingly, smart. They are like generals for the Volcora and are massive threats.]
I frown, “Does that mean we are going to try and kill a sentient being? I… I don’t know how I feel about that. Even having seen what it’s done.”
Mentally, Celeste sends me a wave of understanding and reassurance. [I know how you feel. Killing should never be done lightly. Please understand, though, all volcora want to end humanity — from the most intelligent to the least. There is no peaceful coexistence or compromise that can be reached. By their very nature, volcora are hostile to humans.]
“Why?” I ask, trying and failing to understand why a sentient creature would want to wipe out humanity for seemingly no reason.
Celeste stays silent for a long moment before eventually sending me the mental equivalent of a shrug. [I don’t know. I suspect the Centurions do know why, but they aren’t telling. All we were taught is that reasoning with a volcora is impossible. They should be put all the way down in every instance.]
I bite my lip, feeling conflicted. Ultimately, though, a human life is worth more to me than almost everything else. Is it really worth it to try and reason with a creature like a mind flayer when it will kill so many people? Still, it feels wrong. It must have a reason for hating humanity as much as it does. Maybe it can be convinced? Maybe it can actually be reasoned with. Had any attempt really been made?
“Are you sure that the Centurions weren’t lying to you when they said the Volcora can’t be reasoned with?” I ask Celeste.
[As sure as I can be. This is part of the general information taught to all familiars. We are very specifically told to instruct our sentinels to stop trying to reason with volcora because it always ends with the sentinel’s death.] Celeste says.
“And you think they’re right?” I ask.
[I do,] She responds.
“Okay… I trust you.”