What Descartes 3 brought up next was the Corrupted. The Nex Megalopolis was swarming with sapient Corrupted that were easily mistaken for other races and even the Impuritas. The only way one could detect them was through ImpulseWorks’ thorough investigation, although this had proven to lead to many false positives in the past.
Enoch touched upon this.
“We have had a 200% surge of detainments just this week alone compared to the last few months. Hard to tell if they’re false positives. You would know though, Amalgam. I heard you helped a green haired thing get out.”
“That was a relative of the Green Composer. I hope you realize that.”
“It was? Sorry~ It’s not like we can tell when they’re also Blessed.” Enoch pointed out an important distinction that made it frankly near impossible to tell normal people from the Corrupted apart.
Especially those afflicted by the Piece of the Fallen Star’s power.
“… I’ll be careful.” Enoch sunk back after being met with Frost’s glare.
“Repenters alone cannot handle the Corrupted. I’ve consulted ImpulseWorks ahead of time and their Anomaly Recovery Teams are best suited. Your Moons can deal with much stronger Corrupted. The problem comes twofold. The first is detection, and the second is that there are sapient Corrupted for a lack of a better word.”
“How can you be certain that they are Corrupted but not people that appear to be Corrupted?” Frost asked.
“Aside from appearances, some showcase abnormal powers. If a brick speaks to you and there is no evidence of magical interference, then we should assume it is a Corrupted.” Descartes argued. “Admittedly, many are cosmetic changes. Sapient Corrupted, however, are something we wish to study. I find it difficult to believe that a Corrupted can have its wish granted, but here we are.”
She knew that these Corrupted existed because she was informed about Mimicry. Thankfully, Descartes did not seem to know anything beyond that. The other Beholders didn’t have much to add regarding this, so, Frost added a single condition.
“I can allow it so long as I’m also involved. If they look like me and I find that they are in your possession, then expect to be expunged from the Nexus.”
The reason being was what if they found an Alter Frost? She wanted to be the first to know what kind of other sapient Corrupted were out there thanks to the Piece of the Fallen Star.
Descartes was displeased. She accepted the condition, nevertheless as there was no other way out.
“And detection.” Frost added. “I have a personal Blessing I can bestow upon my most trusted. They can do the detective work and have ARU respond.”
Time Reverberation could work well with investigating whether a person was a Corrupted or not. Or at least have personnel dedicated to the role and have them work with ImpulseWorks. Moons wouldn’t be made in a day, and Frost figured that some of these Moons could play a less combative role thanks to the Blessing of the Amalgam.
The perfect inspectors. They’ll carry my eyes.
“That will work. Time Reverberation has not yet been established, and yet it shows immense promise. I hope you can live up to it, Beholder Jury.” Descartes 3 nodded, pleased by the resolution. “Time Reverberation confirms. ARU intervenes. Our Repenters can jump in between whichever role suits them the best. They’re flexible like that.”
It was quick resolution, and Frost noticed that the Beholders were getting involved less and less with each round.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“Beholder E. Are you awake?” Marionette hummed, rousing the machine as bubbles frothed in his glass prison.
“I am aware. Unfortunately for you Descartes, I have much to discuss. The Coins. The state of the Wandering Healers and all healers by extension. Supplies for the greater part of the Nex Megalopolis. And finally – the matter of stolen magic.”
He made it clear that his turn would be exhaustive, and as a majority machine, he had all the time in the world.
“Coins.” Galia murmured. “Satania was supposed to dabble in them. Though I suppose there is no better person to bring them to light than yourself.”
“Coins and the stolen magic go hand in hand.” Knalzark declared. “We’re dealing with a resurgence of Midas Company’s technology.”
“The Midas Conversion Procedure, and another procedure stemming from what you’ve recovered.” Umbra failed to express the same seriousness as those surrounding her. “The one that makes the Infusions.”
“No secret of mine is safe. It is no wonder Iscario was able to steal one of my own.” Beholder E. said with what sounded like edge as his body loudly rattled. “I’m concerned how they have blended the two together. The Midas Conversion Procedure merely turns people to coins, thus guaranteeing its inherent value. This still does not add up to what we’ve discovered.”
“Healers have had their magic stolen too. Scarlet Logic’s Blood Moons and even their Red Giants came back completely sterilized!” Satania chuckled. She would have laughed her heart out were it not for the fact that the healers were also subjected to the cruelty. “It must be a painful process.”
“The Valorem Extractor. It extracts magic from a source be it living or not. It takes days to months depending on the potency. For them to do it so covertly has led me to believe that they are in the possession of a stronger version.” Beholder E. announced. “Then they apply it to the Etched Coins. Much like how we brew it with Liquid Nex.”
“You didn’t liquidate them as thoroughly as you thought.” Marionette breathed. “What an interesting twist of fate. If only you had heeded our Script’s warning. A rat like Midas Company was bound to lay in wait.”
“I regret it after seeing the White Doves having their wings plucked.” Beholder E.’s liquid tubes flashed red for a split second. “We don’t know if it is Midas Company itself, or if it’s their technology that has fallen into the hands of the Impuritas. This is a major consideration to make, because it is a factor that absolutely allows them to tinker with our technologies.”
“Preposterous. The power of our Aspects can’t be stolen as it is not magic.” Knalzark begged to differ.
“But it is a ‘value’ tied to the Genesis Stones.” Galia countered. “We still haven’t understood how they were compromised in the first place. As much as I also want to believe that Midas Company has had a role in it, I can’t see it being the sole cause. My Hyperlink Relay Sites were impenetrable. The only other thing that could penetrate them is…”
Her eyes then moved onto Frost’s lips.
“The maw of the Amalgam. It would be a surprise if they had something capable of achieving a similar feat.”
“If they did, then Iscario would’ve used it on me first.” Frost argued. “They had plenty of chances to kill me when I was at my weakest. Instead, they chose to imprison me. Midas Company’s technology sounds like the largest lead we have… I don’t see how we can come to a resolution on this other than a pledge of unity.”
“We’d have to find out where these Etched Coins are being made to learn something.” Jury suggested.
“Will all due respect, if we could find them, then we already would have. Oboros Infinitas has been probing long enough. The issue is that we don’t have direct access into the Derma Layer. It’s a one-way journey for the most part. Even a Beholder would find it difficult to escape.” Knalzark said, suddenly causing Frost’s eyes to widen.
“Then what if we had a way?” She slowly asked.
“We could then establish a foothold in their territory. Invade them as they’ve done to us.” Knalzark swiftly answered. “I’ve struggled myself down there. It takes a massive machine to generate a Spatial Distortion large enough to send infrastructure beneath. Something as small as a Train Core will never allow us to achieve the same thing.”
Enoch suddenly tilted her head curiously. “Amalgam. Your eyes tell me you have an answer!”
Frost firmly nodded, and right in the center of the Council she opened a gateway into the Derma Layer. Through the warped lens of the portal one could see the corpse of a colossal heart.
The Moons and Stars stared in disbelief, for they knew exactly what that thing was.
“It’s nothing large, but this might be what you’re searching for. I can keep it open without the risk of it failing. If it does, then I can simply reopen it. The problem is that it weakens me to maintain it… we may have not arrived at a resolution or a method to deal with the immediate dangers of the Impuritas, but we do have a pipeline into their world.
Knalzark. If you allow me to devour your larger machines – then I could create a much larger link to the Derma Layer. If we’re lucky, then I may not even need to maintain it. But by then you would have already established your own link I presume.”