Jackson marched to Room #338 within the Order’s School of War, he was briefed on a mission that required his unique immunity to psychic attacks and invasions. He was told that at least, the details of what the mission was or what kind of threat he would be dealing with was a mystery.
Yet that didn’t faze him, not like those cases ever did. Jackson dealt with the Order’s style of secrecy for longer than anyone could imagine, even the Council was unaware of how desensitised he was to their two-faced nature. It would be nothing but routine at that point, one that on the surface had merit as it was designed to protect Jackson and anyone from dangerous information that could cause harm if known without proper preparation. However, it could also be used as a form of control, to remind their operators that they were still under the thumb of the Council regardless of who they were.
There was more to it, while his mind was shielded by a ritual long ago. I knew their back doors, their inherent flaw. I always did. Yet if he wished to have some privacy in his life, it would be kind if I provided him with such. Even if it was small. Don’t worry, I might tell you one day.
Jackson entered the room, greeted by two middle-aged men who seemed to not have slept in days. ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you,’ one man sluggishly said.
In between the men was a file with “danger” in bold letters stamped on top. The reptile reached for the file, but the two men stopped him before he could.
‘No, before you read it we need to tell you about this creature.’ The first man said.
‘Can I know you first?’ Jackson replied with a flat and intimidating tone, though his intent was not out of malice.
‘Oh, I’m Richard.’ He pointed to his friend next to him. ‘This is Dick, he was the guy that discovered the creature.’
While Jackson was already aware that they were part of a new unit within the Butterfly Legion that specialised in tracking and neutralising monsters that primarily hunt via the internet. He didn’t get the time to figure out the names of the people who worked in that non-combat-oriented unit, even though they intrigued him.
‘The creature?’ Jackson spoke, while not showing it. He was satisfied with knowing who they were.
Richard took a seat after taking some Adderall. ‘The monster in question is a new species, what they do is they set up what we dub as traps on the internet. These traps usually come in visual format, which are photos, videos, in an extreme case even a spectrogram. When the victim sees these traps, that is when the creature has sensed you and will do its best to hunt you down and kill you.’
‘How they kill its victims is usually through psychological torment.’ Dick continued, ‘it does it by weakening your natural immunity to psychicality. Which in turn will make the target hallucinate, become delirious, aggressive, suicidal, and potentially violent to themselves or others. These visions and hallucinations cannot be seen by others, but they do seem to have a physical impact if the victim interacts with them.’
‘Explain,’ Jackson asked.
Dick rubbed his eyes with a yawn while he tried to come up with an example, even Jackson noticed he could barely function. ‘Say you hallucinate a person, that vision could touch you and even kill you. We had observed victims who claimed they saw a crazed man with a gun when they were alone in the room, only for moments later to have their head explode. We believed that it erodes your mind and sense of reality whenever you sleep, which I think you can see why we look like this. We’ve figured out that the hallucinations are mostly psychological, though we’re not sure if it can cause sight or even soul illusions.’
Like any form of magic, there are three ways to cause hallucinations. The simplest method is through the person’s psyche, giving the user ample information to torment their victim. Though simple, it is also the easiest to set up defences against. Depending on the caster, the victim could defend themselves against those attacks with their own fortitude.
Sight is the easiest but also a non lethal method, where the caster conjures an image through the victim’s eyes. There is no protection against this form of hallucinogenic attack during that time. However, this method requires the user to create an image scratch without the aid of their victim’s mind, making the victim aware that they are seeing a hallucination.
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Soul hallucinations are the most difficult to pull off, but the most rewarding. A form of curse magic, the caster creates illusions using the energies and internal information of the victim’s soul. Similar to psychological hallucinations, but the only defence against this form of attack and manipulation is the shattering of the individual’s soul. But even that method has its limits, for even fragments of a soul will carry important information.
Jackson glared at the folder, ‘I should be immune, would it affect me?’
‘No,’ Richard clarified. ‘But you will be a target once all of its other options are depleted.’
‘Shouldn’t the Mind-Breakers be suitable to take on the threat?’
Richard folded his arms, disheartened at what he would need to say. ‘The thing is, Jackson. We haven’t trained or performed the ritual since the 70s. The unit was disbanded about 20 years ago, and everyone else who was in the unit is either dead or retired. So, you’re the only one who can theoretically kill it.’
‘That won’t last forever.’ Jackson pointed out, aware of how stretched thin the Order was.
‘No, I heard they are planning to bring back that unit… we’re becoming desperate after last year.’
The reptile took a step towards the folder, ‘anything else?’
‘Every time it teleports its magic signatures go off like a flare. We figured the monster lived in an empty city in China. The place is called Tianducheng, and it kind of looks like Paris with its replica of the Eiffel Tower. We’ve already evacuated the place and prevented any chance of the city being accessed, so it should be empty by the time you arrive. So, keep that in mind when you hunt the thing. Try not to level the whole place and bring unwanted attention.’
Jackson placed his hand on the file, but before he opened it, he asked one last question. ‘What will happen to you?’
The two men sighed; they dreaded the answer. ‘We kill ourselves; our entire unit is infected, and we all plan to die the moment you land in China. Just so the creature doesn’t leave its home. It’s why we all left for England, it's so we can keep this realm safe. We removed every trap and replaced it with false replicas online, but we fear that once we die, it will re-upload them. I don’t want to rush, but… well, just get it done as soon as you can.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Jackson replied, this time with a hint of guilt in his voice. ‘I’ll stop it.’
Dick gave a false smile, though he appreciated the sentiment. ‘I know you will.’
Jackson opened the file to look at the creature, the monster was faceless, their arms lanky and long enough that their hands touched the floor, the creature seemed tall enough to tower trees though in some photos they seemed no taller than 7 feet tall, and their skin had the texture of pale bark yet the appearance of skin. Its feet had no real texture or form, instead it looked like wooden stomps made of meat.
The reptile could tell the creature doesn’t move much, for it seemed it overly relied on its psychic abilities and teleportation to move around. Though in the end, it would be a creature that was highly dangerous and specialised. The file mentioned that the creature is believed to only be detected with the assistance of electronic devices, so Jackson would need to get himself a camera and an audio recorder for his hunt.
‘That is all, I’ll be leaving in a few hours, by tomorrow I’ll be in China. I suggest you say your final goodbyes.’ Jackson said after placing the file back down. ‘I’ll come back and retrieve the photos. If you don’t mind.’
‘No need to ask permission from us.’ Dick chuckled, ‘but still. Thank you for taking on this mission.’
‘The honour is mine,’ Jackson replied emotionlessly after he shook their hands. Even though it would be the last time they meet. He could give them more time with their families, but the monster won’t give them the luxury everyone craved. A little longer to be with the people they held dear.