What the hell is going on here?
My mind is thrown for a massive loop from taking in what's going on in the reality shift. If I wasn't being actively hunted by Excelsior and Latour, I would have grabbed one of the guild staff and squeezed him for some much needed answers. The orphanage at Pay 2 Win and now this base in the middle of a reality shift, I've clearly stumbled into something far, far above the paygrade of the rank and file.
The people here may be working for familiar sounding departments like General and Combatant Department but I've never seen any of them in Guild HQ back at Crossroad City. The staff here are most likely part of a specialized formation, based solely at this facility. Similar to how the Guild would send us out on resource extraction missions in the Rifts. Except that these guys never return to Crossroad City after their duty is over.
Resource extraction. My mind uneasily returns to the distant memory of how Rift bioforms would be vivisected for their organs and other useful materials. Damn, I've even done my own fair share of vivisections in the past. One of the gondolas lands at ground level, ready to pick up the next batch of kids.
As General Department marches the kids towards the gondola, I quickly shove the dark thoughts back into the corner of my mind. I can't afford to get distracted while in the middle of hostile territory.
And I also can't hide on this floor for much longer. Sooner or later, the guys tending to the reactor like device are bound to stumble into me, and that's discounting Latour and Excelsior. There's simply not enough places here for me to hide indefinitely.
Craning my neck up, I notice scaffolding left behind on the upper levels of the tower. Impossible to reach from here without high level adventurer skills. Latour was right about one point at least. From an orthodox perspective, I had backed myself into a corner by fleeing to this floor.
But I haven't been an orthodox adventurer ever since the day of my awakening.
"Lesser polymorph." I whisper, the casting focus stirring with a touch of my will. The skin of my right hand begins to itch as fur sprouts and cat claws rip out of my finger tips.
"Soul fire!" I hiss and my animal arm erupts into purple fire. I lock my focus on to the scaffolding and the spell sends me rocketing up toward the target. For a moment, I worry that someone had noticed my display of magic, but there's no sound of alarm. As I tear through the night sky, heading higher and higher, all I can hear is the groan of the gondolas firing up their engines again.
Everyone's attention is on the kids. Nobody has any time to bother about a single weirdo scaling the building. Good. Makes things easier for me.
Grabbing at the scaffolding, I dismiss the spell, the purple flames dying out immediately. No need to push my luck any further than necessary. Squeezing my body into the shadows, I begin inching my way across the scaffolding, careful not to look down. The winter wind howls past my ears, grabbing greedily at my flapping jacket. I'm well above the floor the bunker is located on, the droning sounds of machinery merging with the wind in an indecipherable cacophony.
"Good thing I don't suffer from vertigo." I mutter, making my way toward an uncompleted section of the tower's wall. Rolling through the gap in the wall, I sigh with relief at being out of the freezing wind's grip.
Taking in my surroundings, I note that I'm in yet another uncompleted corridor. But power cables are running along the ceiling and there's an ambient warmth coming from the surroundings. Meaning this part of the tower is in use. Following the cables, I eventually arrive in a room with a glass floor, turning it into a kind of viewing platform.
"What the fuck?" I murmur, peering through the glass floor. I've got a bird's eye view of what appears to be a laboratory equipped with several cells. Most of the cells are jam packed with kids and General Department staffers keep cramming more and more kids into those cells. The room I'm in has been sound proofed but my eyes don't lie, those kids must be crying their lungs out right now.
"At least its not vivisection the guild's doing here." I mutter in relief. That would have been way too much for me to handle. Casting my eyes about, I note that another section of the lab is set up with rows of isolation chambers, each of them sealed shut. Combatant Department staff stand watch with dead eyes, occasionally glancing at the kids.
The General Department guys are done squeezing in the latest batch of kids into the cells and the hefty cage like doors slam shut. Remotely controlled from a central location most likely. Facility like this would need plenty of automation to keep staffing requirements to a minimum. As I scan the lab, desperately looking for any means to escape this place, I notice a familiar face striding past the isolation chambers.
Its Charlotte, accompanied by several teachers from the orphanage. Given the lack of response from the guards at her presence, Charlotte obviously has authorization to be in the lab. Given the urgency of Charlotte's pace, she's here to execute whatever contingency the Padus had prepared. All very interesting. But Charlotte's presence does prove that an alternate exit back to Pay 2 Win exists on the lab floor.
I just need to find a way to get down there safely.
" - still completely unacceptable." a woman's voice interrupts my thoughts and I realize someone is approaching the viewing platform. Scrambling into action, I quickly slip behind one of the pillars, hoping it'll be enough to hide me from whomever is coming.
"I apologize Your Grace. Corrective measures have been taken."
Shit. I recognize that voice. The Acting Guildmaster. What the hell is he doing here?
Right on cue, the duo make their entrance and situate themselves at the center of the platform, the best place to observe what's going on in the lab. The Acting Guildmaster stands primly in his neat business suit, the lights from the lab, reflecting against his glasses.
"And what is this corrective measure you speak of?" the woman beside him speaks and I instinctively press myself harder against the pillar. The halo bursting from her is absolutely massive, even greater than the halo exuded by the Fat Man's array back at the burned out apartment. I barely keep myself from squinting from the discomfort of her presence, finally managing to recall where I had last met the woman.
She's the VVIP from the winter ball. The Grand Duchess of whateverland. The last I saw her, she was dancing with James. Meeting plenty of high society people today. If only my own career wasn't in the dumps.
"Andrew has been sent into Icepolis to secure your family's treasury." the Acting Grandmaster shrugs, "I thought it would be a suitable way for him to make amends. Especially after he conspired with the Disciples against you."
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Andrew. My supervisor. I unconsciously lean forward, getting more interested in the conversation despite myself.
"Andrew tried to have me assassinated. I survived only because of the team that you sent to retrieve me." the Grand Duchess responds archly, clearly dissatisfied at how the Acting Grandmaster is dealing with the matter.
"It is not my role to take sides." the Acting Grandmaster says indifferently, "The Guild's purpose is to open Delacroix's Third Path. Nothing more."
"I am Delacroix's daughter." the Grand Duchess pronounces, "You will show me respect, servant."
Wait, didn't all of Delacroix's children die? Did he manage to keep one child safe in secret?
"You are not the only daughter." the Acting Grandmaster squarely faces the Grand Duchess, "There is another who can open the Third Path for us."
"And she is missing, the last I heard." the Grand Duchess smirks, "Yet you seem unconcerned, despite how worried your captains have become over this turn of events."
"If the other daughter is worthy, she will survive and return to us." the Acting Grandmaster remains unmoved, "She is of no use to us if she cannot overcome her fated end."
"The same applies to you, Your Grace. If you can overcome your fated end, no special effort on my part is needed. If you cannot," The Acting Grandmaster's voice hardens for a moment and I catch the Grand Duchess shudder, "this conversation has no meaning."
The Grand Duchess looks chastened but she quickly rallies.
"The Disciples are insane." she urges quietly, "If Andrew has decided to help them -"
"The Occulted One stirs in the darkness," the Acting Grandmaster sighs tiredly, "and on the appointed day will bring about the end of time, ushering in a world of supreme justice. I am well aware of their doctrine, Your Grace. I just do not care one way or the other."
"You know how dangerous the Disciples are. If your own men are sympathizing with these beliefs, we would lose control of the situation." the Grand Duchess insists.
"Did you know the Grandmaster originally intended to enslave the Disciples?" the Acting Grandmaster suddenly asks.
"He attacked their Aga Khan at Baiji." the Grand Duchess nods, "That's how you managed to get James, isn't it?"
"We lost control of the situation a long time ago." the Acting Grandmaster turns back to gazing at the lab, "What should have been never came to pass. Now we can only stay the course."
"Someone altered the past." this revelation unnerves the Grand Duchess even more, "Shouldn't we be doing something about it? To compensate for the change in events?"
"No." the Acting Grandmaster shakes his head, "What we're doing now is sufficient."
"How can you say that?" the woman is close to her breaking point now, her nerves on full display.
"Your Grace, if you can avoid your fated end, none of these concerns will matter." the Acting Grandmaster sighs, "Why do you put on this unseemly display?"
"My father's enemies move against us and all you do is sit there -" the woman shouts but a sharp look from the Acting Grandmaster shuts her up.
"Your Grace, you still believe that perception creates reality." the Acting Grandmaster lectures, "I do not blame you for this misapprehension. Given your condition, you would naturally see the world this way. However, it is an erroneous way of understanding the world."
"A thing can exist by itself. Outside of perception. For example, this room was empty before we entered. Yet it obviously still existed. An ultimate reality so to speak."
The Grand Duchess simmers down but the Acting Grandmaster keeps the lesson going.
"The will to life, your desire to overcome your destrudo, is what blinds you to the ultimate reality. The soul gems implanted beneath your skin grant you fleeting relief, but you will always be a slave to the insatiable hunger within you. Not until you can achieve self negation."
"How dare you." the Grand Duchess hisses, "Making light of the struggle my father went through."
"Our understanding of the Awakened condition has advanced since Delacroix's departure." the Acting Grandmaster unrepentantly shakes his head, "He was correct in intuiting that soul gems were part of the solution, but not in the precise details."
My stomach churns at the garbage coming from the Acting Grandmaster's mouth. He's wrong, obviously, but he hit uncomfortably close to home when he described an Awakened's condition. Constantly enslaved by the need to replenish potential.
To feed.
The Acting Grandmaster gestures at the lab below as a flurry of activity erupts around the isolation chambers. Mechanical arms enter each chamber through a hatch, each extracting a gleaming soul gem.
"Beautiful." the Grand Duchess stares transfixed at the sight, her unending hunger barely hidden beneath a lifetime of practiced social graces.
The doors to the isolation chambers swing open and kids emerge from within, marching out with blank looks on their faces. They obediently line up at the command of the General Department staffers and file out of the lab in orderly ranks.
"The children have embraced self abolishment." the Acting Grandmaster drones, "The will to life removed from them like a cancer. They will never experience suffering again, their minds engaged with the ultimate truth."
"The children ..." our VVIP slurs audibly as she struggles to regain her composure, "they can still die. What a pointless distinction you've made to justify harvesting soul gems."
"Die? Of course they can die." the Acting Grandmaster nods, "But it will be a death caused purely by material forces. No fated end can be forced upon them. The children in the lab are everything Delacroix hoped his daughters would eventually become."
"Nonsense," Ms VVIP shoots back and I find myself agreeing with her, "Why haven't you gone through the same procedure then?"
"What makes you think I haven't?" the Acting Grandmaster opens his mouth wide and a sudden fear grips me. Ms VVIP takes several steps back, alarm written all over her face.
"An Awakened can see past the flesh." the Acting Grandmaster challenges as he takes off his glasses, "So see me for what I have become."
I catch a glimpse of the man's eyes, blinded white orbs holding a profane emptiness within. And that emptiness has hollowed him out, leaving a purely mechanical construct behind. No will, no desire. An abomination that exists simply because of the chemical and mechanical processes within its body.
"Impossible, what about you and Rachel?" Ms VVIP shrieks, shielding her own eyes from the sight, "You desired her, didn't you?"
"Her body satiated my will to life. Yes." The monster nods his head, "Sex is the most primal way of rejecting destrudo. But I have amended that weakness within myself."
Without another word, the monster drops his trousers, giving us an uncensored view of his crotch. Or rather the dried up gash on his crotch.
"Oh fuck ..." I sink to my knees, trying my best not to vomit. The man literally abolished himself alright. Ms VVIP is not faring much better, having curled up into a fetal position, trying to block out the monster's inhuman voice.
"Do you know what makes humans different from beasts, Your Grace?" the monster asks kindly. All he gets is a gurgle from the floor, but he doesn't seem put out by the poor response.
"Compassion. We have the capacity to desire for others what we desire for ourselves." the monster continues, "That is the heart of all generosity, all kindness."
"An Awakened can only think about its own needs and desires." the monster shakes his head at the gagging Grand Duchess, "In many ways, Your Grace is not much better than a wild animal."
"I just want for the children what I want for myself." the monster spreads both arms wide, "In that sense, I am the kindest man in the world. For I want nothing for myself."
"Why? Why do this to yourself?" Ms VVIP manages to stutter, asking the question I also had on my mind.
"To see the ultimate truth." the monster intones, "I will achieve salvation when the Third Path opens. So will the children I have saved. We will create a new world. A better world."
Before the monster can elaborate more on his lunacy, room's intercom crackles to life.
"Sir? Captain Latour here. Thank goodness you're still in the observation gallery."
"Yes Captain?" the monster asks mildly.
"You need to evacuate immediately sir. You and the Grand Duchess. Everett is on the loose somewhere in the facility. And the bunker's systems are going haywire." Latour reports over the line, "We suspect Everett deployed some sort of virus into our mainframe. We're scouring the entire facility for Everett right now."
I most certainly did no such thing with the Guild's mainframe. Not as if I can protest right now though.
"How is that a problem Captain?" the monster asks with mock innocence, "As I was explaining to the Grand Duchess just now, just because we cannot perceive something, doesn't mean that it isn't there."
Fuck.
"You can come out now Mr Everett." the monster says amicably.