“No.”

For a number of seconds, Robert simply stared. Then he swallowed hard and looked back down to a note in his hand and repeated his message. “It is with the greatest pleasure that we inform Eik Magnasen of his reappointment as liaison of Earth as it relates to the dealings with the Nid—”

“No.” Eik deadpanned.

“But—”

“No.”

“Please, at least just con—”

“No.”

“Eik, stop that,” Olivia said. “Robert’s not the one you’re mad at here. Don’t take it out on him.”

“Okay, you’re right,” he said. “Tell them I’m not interested in accepting their offer. They burned that bridge a while ago.”

Robert shuffled nervously on the doormat. “But, uhm, it’s not exactly an offer per se… As far as I understand, they have already reinstated you.”

Eik nodded to himself. “Alright. Then tell them I quit.”

“I-I’m sorry, you quit? But you can’t just… They already…”

“I would be subordinate to them if I accepted that position, would I not?” Eik asked.

Robert’s mouth bobbed open and closed as he tried to think of the response that would offer the lowest risk of leading to being forced to deliver bad news to his boss twice in the same day. But there wasn’t much he could say. “Well, I… Yes, I believe you would. You would essentially be the messenger for the government in any dealings with the Nidafjeld Alliance and report to them on a regular basis.”

“Yeah, sorry, Rob. That’s just not going to happen. I’ve met those guys before. They’re all ego. Who’s your direct superior again?”

“Uh, well, it’s Darius Kerman but—”

“Yeah, I remember him.” Eik muttered with a toothy frown. “If I recall, he’s the guy who called me incompetent, accused me of being a traitor looking to hand over humanity on a plate to the evil aliens, and refused to investigate a nearly fatal assault on one of my best friends.”

“Oh… I-I see,” The young messenger stammered with resignation.

“I’m sorry to make you the bearer of bad news again but it’s just not going to happen, Rob.”

“I understand, Mr. Magnasen. I would think twice about it as well if I’d been treated that way.”

Eik raised an amused eyebrow. “Should you be saying that to us”

“Probably not,” he tittered. “I really need this job.”

“We won’t tell if you don’t,” Eik grinned.

***

Olivia was already situated in a chair, sipping orange pear juice, by the time Eik arrived at Travis Lockwood’s office. The corpse of the disgusting alien worm that had crawled out of Bart’s mouth during his fight with Eik laid still bloody in a box on the table.

A few minutes later Atla also came in. Jen called Travis in from the training ground in the backyard and when he came around, so did Boulder Fist Gary arrive.

“What is this guy doing here?” Eik asked with a scowl as the large, bald man took a seat. For a man who had only recently lost his only son, he appeared to be disturbingly calm in front of Eik all things considered. Olivia looked intensely displeased with his presence as well.

“I’d really prefer to not see your face either, D-ranker. You murdered my son.” His voice was steady.

“Your son tried to kill my friends and family on more than one occasion! He died because he broke into my home and tried to murder my sister on your order! We acted in self defense.”

“My order?” the man bellowed. “You’d better watch your mouth with those baseless accusations, Eik Magnasen, or I’ll make sure you have worse things to worry about!”

Eik suddenly felt an intense heat on his arm and turned to see half of Olivia’s upper body engulfed in flames. “I already know how your faction treated my brother while I was unconscious,” she snarled. “That stops now, Gary. You’re done fucking around.”

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“Give me a break, Olivia,” he grunted. “You can’t just start acting up all of a sudden. And he’s not even your real brother. Your only connection is some dead guy.”

Anger welled up in Eik like a storm at those words and an urge to pump the man full of poison and watch him explode suddenly dominated his mind from one second to the next. For a second he wondered if Profound Toxin had a hand in the bestial aggression, but he found himself unable to care whether it was or not.

“Was your son? Your real family, I mean. Because it sure as shit doesn’t seem like it with the way you’re sitting here like he was an egg sandwich I accidentally stepped on after you dropped it on the ground.”

“Fuck you, you little shit!” Gary shouted, getting up.

Olivia got up as well, the fire spreading to her face and scalp

“How about…” Travis said as he stepped in between the two B-rankers. “you all stop talking and sit down so we can get this party started.”

“I demand that Olivia Valkiri and Eik Magnasen be excluded from this meeting!” Gary hissed through gritted teeth.

Travis looked back and forth between Gary and Atla, who was silently sipping her juice. “Well, I don’t really think Ms. Atla is going to tell us anything if we throw out Eik,” he said. Atla nodded in the affirmative.

“See?”

“Then I demand that he gets thrown out!” Eik countered.

Travis sighed and rolled his eyes. “That’s also a bit… It was his son and he’s never gonna let it go otherwise. Let’s just start. You said you knew something, Ms. Atla.”

Atla drained the last of the juice and glanced into the box with a face painted in disgust. “Right. We call these things mind skulks. They are a… not uncommon tool of the cult that you've already met called Moon Shall Swallow.”

“I’m sorry, cult?” Olivia said with a raised hand. “Can someone clue me in real quick?”

“Inter dimensional cannibal cult. Creepy factor turned up to eleven. Likes to eat kids. Almost ate me a while ago, actually.” Eik said. “I’ll tell you later.”

Olivia blinked rapidly. “Alright?”

“So what do these things do?” Travis asked.

Atla picked the front half of the creature up with the tips of two fingers. It had a wicked spiral of teeth that seemed to make up most of its face. Two needle-thin tentacles hung out of a tiny hole in the center like a split tongue. Eik hadn’t really gotten a good look at it before. It was repulsive.

“They burrow into the victim during sleep or unconsciousness, using a potent anesthetic to remain undetected,” she said as she pointed to the teeth. “Once inside they start to affect the victim’s behavior subtly, making them more aggressive. Less feeling. Less risk averse. Greedier. That kind of stuff. It’s an effective way to cause disruptions and rifts in a society.”

“So it’s to make it easier to establish control? That’s it?” Eik asked.

“Essentially, yes.”

“How long has it been going on?”

Atla shrugged. “Can’t say. They plan infiltrations differently depending on size, stability, culture and such of the target society. They could have begun last week or years ago.”

“Are there more?”

“Worms? Or cult plants in general? I’d guess yes to both.”

“Why did they choose my son?” Gary asked, ire clear in his voice.

Atla pursed her lips. “Relatively powerful. High social standing. Already full of ego. He was a perfect template, I’m sorry to say.”

Gary’s jaw visibly tightened but he didn’t say anything more, simply staring holes in the floor.

“Jen,” Travis began. “Prepare for a thorough investigation. I want any relation to this Moon Shall Swallow cult wiped out as soon as possible.”

“That might not be a good idea,” Atla said. “You have to go about it more quietly. The cult is slippery. If they realize that they’re caught before you can end it properly, they’ll just restructure and evaporate. You’d have to start all over, and they’d know you’re looking.

“So what then?”

“You need the leader of the Earth branch. The instigator. If you get them, then there would be nobody to facilitate a restructure.”

“What about the rest of the cult?” Eik asked.

“It would take much longer for anything to happen again if you kill the head of their efforts on Earth. Anybody else would just be followers. The cult only wants one person with authority per invasion. Less friction in the ranks. Makes it safe but also very slow. You’d have better time to build, prepare, and integrate further into the alliance for if and when they try again.”

Travis narrowed his eyes as he nodded to himself. “Jen, forget what I said… If Atla is right, we might have to take it slow.”

“What, we’re just taking orders from her now? From the aliens?” Gary exclaimed.

“You have a better idea?” Eik asked. “We know nothing about this crap. You think we really have a choice here?”

“I’m getting tired of your barking, boy!”

“The only dog here is you, man.”

“Alright, that’s great,” Travis said tiredly. “Now shut up. Gary, thanks for your input, but I’m the head of Mission Central and my decision is final. I expect your cooperation on this.”

“What do you want to do, boss?” Jen asked, notepad ready in her hand.

“Keep an eye out for rumors, events, gatherings. That kind of stuff. This is all new, so we’ll have to make adjustments as we go.”

“Will do, boss.” Just the way Jennifer spoke to Travis spoke volumes about what kind of superior he was.

“How many people know that there was a mind skulk in Bart?” Eik asked, a thought striking him.

“Ten? Fifteen maybe?” Travis said with a frown.

“Are we sure there are no cultists or plants among them? Who might now know that we found one of the mind skulks.”

Travis bit his lower lip. “No, of course not. I’m not sure of anything,” he sighed. “But I think the best we can do is guard the secret for now, and then proceed with the hope that we’re not compromised.”

Eik nodded.

“How do we identify victims of the mind skulks?” Travis asked Atla.

“It’s very difficult. There are certain anti parasitic drugs and potions that could expel them but they’re not exactly healthy for the hosts either, and they're expensive too. When they're nested up they camouflage their presence almost perfectly inside the host. You’d need a powerful sensory expert.”

“And if we just kill the host?” Gary asked, arms crossed.

“When a host dies, an integrated mind skulk will essentially self-destruct and leave behind almost no evidence of its existence. They’re very difficult to discover, even after death. Sometimes it’s easier to just accept that you can’t find them.”

“But the one in Bart crawled out of his mouth before he died,” Eik wondered out loud. “Why?”

Atla gave him a long look before answering. “That… I have no idea.”

Her eyes told him that she did in fact have an idea. And with a reaction like that, it was pretty obvious to Eik as well.

The Profound Toxin he had mixed into the dust that he’d blown into Bart’s face must have had some kind of effect on the mind skulk in the man’s body.