Chapter 106 - Powerless

However, before the man could even finish his conjecture, a scream confirmed it, "PAPA!!"

Vern bolted out of the house and rushed towards 3-04 without any prompting.

This isn't looking too good. He analyzed the situation. They couldn't just keep running around all these houses, hoping to get there in time.

He destabilized the lock long before he was close to the said house and rammed right in.

His eyes darted frantically to find out the source of the anomaly this time, and he didn't have to look for long.

A tall, muscular man was precariously holding on to the railing of the basement stairs with one hand while the other held onto the body of an unconscious young kid.

Gripped firmly around the child's dangling legs was a drenched, pale hand, relentlessly pulling him into the basement's darkness. Despite the man's efforts, the ghostly hand was steadily gaining ground.

"HELP, mister! It's…it's taking my child away!" yelled the burly man, his voice hoarse.

Vern, however, wasn't sure what to do in this situation. He hadn't been to any of these basements before, so he couldn't exactly extrapolate the position of the mirror to destabilize it.

But I have to do something!

So he jumped down on the staircase and pulled out his gun. This one wasn't as powerful as the previous two, so bullets should have some sort of effect.

Yet, just as he aimed it toward the shadowy depths beyond the basement door, a surge of brown light infiltrated the house, triggering an unforeseen turn of events.

The soaked arm clutching the unconscious child abruptly released its grip and recoiled, vanishing into the basement's darkness.

Vern turned towards Cedric, and a dark look appeared on the scholar's face as he hissed, "They're intentionally avoiding me."

"SAVEE MEEE!" Another shout came from somewhere in the block, and Cedric turned towards it with a frown. The spirits were clearly switching targets on the fly.

A frantic civilian darted from the street towards Cedric, eyes wide with panic. "Please, save him, milords! Quickly!" he pleaded, his voice trembling with urgency.

"It's my nephew, Oliver. He is only sixteen. His pa is out for work, and he is all alone there, milord. Only you can save him now." Desperation etched his every word, his plea a stark echo of fear and helplessness.

Cedric recoiled away from the man and instead rushed in this new direction.

Vern's hand twitched, an impulse to smack it against the wall surging within him, yet he restrained himself. Showing weakness was not an option. These people were already terrified enough.

Still, how were they supposed to end this for good if the spirits continued to escape Cedric’s grasp—preying on so many people at the same time?

With a composed demeanor, Vern turned to reassure the burly man, ensuring the kid was safe. Then, with a sense of urgency, he dashed out of the house towards the end of the street.

However, halfway to the next destination, he stopped, and a thoughtful expression emerged on his face.

He had an idea.

Ironing out the details, he turned around and sprinted over to the crowd of dozen or so residents who were following their every move.

A few backed away, keeping their distance from him, but he didn't mind it and declared, "I need everyone's help."

That was the only way.

Otherwise, many more would die in this battle of attrition between Cedric and the mirror spirits.

The gaunt man from the first house, as well as the woman from the second, rushed forward.

"Please tell us what to do, milord."

"How can we help, mister?"

Vern addressed all of them and spoke firmly, "I need all of you to help me get everyone in this block out of their houses. Shout out their names, bang on their doors, and do anything you need to get them out on the streets. Everything except going inside the houses yourselves."

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Some looked unsure, while others had that terrified expression. But Vern maintained his faux authoritative demeanor and pressed, "Understood?"

The gaunt one shouted, "Y—yes, milord!"

Vern nodded, and the man ran off to his neighboring house while the woman from before also followed suit. After hesitating for a few seconds, most others agreed and ran off, too.

With that handled, Vern turned to the end of the street.

Cedric was already walking back out of the house by the dead end, but his expression was even darker than before.

Vern met up with him, and the scholar jogged in another direction as he spoke with an edge to his voice, "This is stupid."

Holding up the glowing pendant, he added, "I've even charged the amulet of restoration to its maximum capacity. I just need to come in contact with them for a second. For a damned second!"

Amulet of restoration. That's what it's called, huh?

Also, Vern might have judged the man a little too harshly. He was clearly trying. Maybe he just didn't like to put himself in harm's way while helping others?

So Vern asked, hoping to figure something out, "Can't you force them into a house of your choice once again?"

"Well, that's not how my Vision works. It only amplifies probabilities. But even if I could, it'd only be one of them. There's actually sixteen of them roaming around right now."

Sixteen!?

The implications of the increase in this number sent a shudder down his spine. Seven more people were gone—just like that.

Their incompetence had led to this result.

Cedric eyed the shouting civilians and asked, "What the hell are they doing now?"

"I asked them to get everyone out on the streets. That way, we won't have casualties as we try to figure out a solution to this problem."

Cedric shut up for a while before replying amidst his ragged breaths, "It's a good idea, but if the spirits don't have any more victims, they might just escape this neighborhood."

Vern frowned, "That's possible?"

Cedric nodded, "Given their uncanny tactics and how shrewdly they're dealing with us, it's very much a possibility. Our attempt at eradicating them has clearly sent them into a frenzy, and it might not be long before they decide to ditch the place for good."

With his voice turning deeper, he added, "This is a product of prolonged objectivity pollution. Even though most of them start off rooted to a place or object, they can escape those bounds once they're intelligent enough."

Vern clicked his tongue. That indeed made his current strategy just a temporary stopgap. If they didn't come up with a real solution, they might even lose track of these spirits. Who knew where they would end up wreaking havoc if left unchecked?

Vern asked with hope, "Then do you have any plans on how to capture these spirits? Surely, Vigil has dealt with something like this already."

Cedric chuckled with mirth, "You're overestimating the experience we have with all this, kid. We latent Observers mostly went against others of our kind before the shattering. It's been merely ten or so days since we've had to find ways to use our Visions in scenarios like…this."

"Usually, pollution cases are straightforward. But this one?" His expression twisted into a scowl, and with a click of his tongue, he muttered, "Tch... seems like the numbers are not in my favor today."

Cedric outpaced Vern as he slowed his steps and tried to process the situation. The way things were unfolding right now, he wasn't of much use to Cedric anyway.

It would be wrong to say Vern wasn't disappointed by that answer. Yet, it also…made sense. Everyone was adapting and evolving to this rapidly changing situation.

There were no guides or standard procedures. One had to play it by ear and figure out the solution to the specific cases.

But people were dying here! Yes, they had saved a few, but many more had lost their lives right under their noses.

Maybe if they had prepared a better trap right from the start, things wouldn't have come to this?

He wasn't technically responsible for any of it. In fact, one might argue that he had already gone above and beyond for the woman in the second house.

Yet, as one of the few capable of intervening before more lives were claimed, he felt a compelling duty to act. These people are already dealing with death, loss, and starvation. They don't deserve this.

Even though his plan of enacting a balance of Stability and Instability in all his actions to progress wasn't bearing any fruits, he had to keep trying.

But what exactly?

Getting people out of their houses was the priority. Cedric just had to keep scaring the spirits away until everyone was out on the streets.

Then, they would have to do something about it before the spirits decided to leave the neighborhood for good.

Cedric rushed from one house to the other, and sometimes, there weren't even any screams. Sweat pooled on the man's forehead, even in this chilling cold, as his steps grew slower and heavier.

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The gaunt man came rushing and addressed Vern, who was writing something on his notepad. He looked up from the web of details on the page and eyed the man with an askance gaze.

"Milord, it's done."

Vern raised his eyes and noticed a crowd of over sixty people huddled together in a bunch of groups. There were all kinds of looks in their eyes, ranging from excited to terrified to mournful to hateful.

Vern closed his notepad and gripped the man's shoulder before walking past him, "Good work."

He made straight for Cedric. He had an idea, but he needed to clarify a few things with the man.

Now that all the potential Victims were already in a safer position, the middle-aged scholar didn't have to continue running around haplessly between each house. He sat on the stairs of one, breathing rapidly, the hat still perched on his head.

Before Vern could say anything, he spoke, "Kid, I get that you can't do much to help me with the mirror spirits, but are you really okay seeing me become miserable like this?"

Vern opened his mouth to say something, but the man continued to vent, "Seven people! That's how many have tried to talk to me. If nothing else, can't you handle them, please?"

For a second, he didn't know what to say. But looking at that helpless face with a hint of wrinkles, he sighed before replying, "I apologize. I will take care of it from now on."

The man clearly had some form of extreme social anxiety.

Cedric let out a deep breath and slumped in on himself—exhausted. However, Vern was here for a reason, so he started, "I have a plan."