Arc 2 Chapter 8
A hour before dawn I move out and bypass the city. Their guards don't have to know that I come from their enemies base. When the sun rises I approach the outer perimeters of their settlements. I have to pass a checkpoint to actually enter it, but the guards there aren't suspicious of me at all. I am just another refugee in this area filled with them.
My destination isn't in this area though I need to get to the centre and to get there I have to get past the gates, which are sadly closed. After questioning some people on the streets I learn that only authorized citizens are allowed to get past them. Looks like I won't be able to get past them the official way. Which could prove to be a disadvantage. I could simply scale the walls while being invisible, but if someone in there discovers me and can't remember ever seeing me it could cause a ruckus. I would have liked to get a permit to disband and disarm such events. Sadly I don't think that will be possible.
I could use my abilities to heal some people and get the reputation of a godsend and could be invited, but just as easily that could lead to me being accused of witchcraft. It could work or horribly backfire. But the biggest downside would be the time it would consume. I want a fast way in, while not casting the security of this operation aside of course.
Going in with my soul alone is too risky, especially since I suspect that their leader can feel them. When I leave my body behind I loose a lot of my power. The last time I did that I couldn't even push aside a normal soul. I don't want to get attacked in this form. I think the reason for this drop in power is the lack of 'footing' I don't have a foundation to push from. It is like standing on ice and trying to push a car. My body is my anchor that gives my soul weight. It allows me to push and pull things with my soul.
In the end the only way I could come up with was to scale the walls and hope that I won't draw too much attention. Nobody saw me as I landed on the other side of the wall. I walk about the plazas and streets, listening to the many gossips. Strangely there isn't any talk about their defeat or the refugees. They speak about new citizens though. Seems like there is a lot of propaganda at work here. They spread that they won and the refugees are just new settlers that want to bath in the glory of the capital of New Eden.
Why would one spread such lies? To remain the stability of the city of course. But is that stability worth so much? Why do they need their people here. I sit down at a bench in a park, focusing completely to hear every chatter from the people around me. Surprisingly they don't talk about war at all. Could it be that this area has been isolated for way longer than I though? What are they planning here?
I walk around the city for the rest of the day, they live a really normal live, considering the state of their country that is really strange. There doesn't seem to be a lack of food or other things here. It would be normal to ration the food when the city is under siege, but there aren't even attempts to do so. That indicates that whatever they plan will be put in action soon. I will have to infiltrate the government buildings and get a hold of an influential persons soul.
“You don't come here often do you?” an elderly man says while sitting down beside me. “Ah crap old people and their unerringly memory for faces.” I though to myself. “No I only came here today, the weather is rather nice and I got some time to spare. Normally I am too busy to wander around and chat with people in the park.” I reply trying to create a believable cover. “You don't have to fool me young miss, I saw you come out of a blind alley near the wall. I know that you come from outside the city, you don't live in any of the houses there, I know that for sure. You see when one is as old as me, one has a lot of time to spare, and I like to watch the city while most of it still sleeps and I like to chat with my neighbours.” he whispers. My thoughts are racing at the moment. How can I minimize the risks? Did he share his knowledge of me with someone else?
“Don't fear an old man like me. I won't tell anybody and those stinking arrogant guards are the last ones I would ever talk to. But there is something I want to know. What happens out there? You see all we have been told is that there was a rise in demon activity in the surroundings and we should stay in the save area. Not that we could leave... They even denied us access to the floors of buildings that could provide a look over the walls, saying that those buildings aren't save anymore. What a load of bullshit. I helped in building some of them and I can assure you that they will stand proudly for another hundred years.” he continues to whisper. “So this is something akin to a golden cage huh?” I ask. He nods. “What do you know of demons?” I ask, “How much of what you heard do you believe?”.
“I am just an old man that had his share of deceit and manipulation. I know what they preach everyday, but do I believe it? I don't. It sounds just like yet another politician blaming all our problems on those that are different.” he says. “It is wise that you took everything with a grain of salt. Or maybe you just want to live peacefully... Anyway in the last months an army of New Eden lost a major battle against what they call the demons. For all I know they are just normal humans though and have nothing in common with those men-eating mutants.” I reply.
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“Those people camping in front of your walls are refugees that fled here, although as far as I know the invaders never pillaged any settlements and I was also among those fleeing, so I would know if they did.” I continue. “Truly a golden cage.” the old man grumbles, “Why would they do that? For what do they need us here?”. Silence emerges as our conversation pauses. ”Say why are you here? You don't look like a refugee to me or did you leave behind your belongings?” he asks. At this point there are barely any people around and the sun has almost set. “I just wanted to know why we can't enter and now I wonder what they want to achieve by this lock-down.” I answer.
“Maybe I can help you with that. You see I work as a maintenance worker in the government district, like I said I helped to build some of the buildings and now I am almost the only one with some knowledge about electricity lines in buildings. I don't have to do much, but I can walk almost everywhere in this district. I am but a lone old man, so I would appreciate it if such a crafty young women like you would accompany me. You got in here on your own, while we failed to get out for months.” he says, “But it is rather late now, so why don't you come over and have dinner with me and rest for the day.”
I don't think he would try something funny and if he does I can still get rid of him, it would even be a place where nobody could witness it. So I follow him to his home, which is rather close to the point I entered the city. While we eat we talk about where we could go to sate our curiosity and how we should proceed. Then we rest for the night.
The next day we set out on our journey. The old man with his cane and me carrying his toolbox. To the guards to the district I am his new apprentice that wants to learn his craft, hence why I accompany him. On the way he explains to me what I need to do to check upon the overall state of the network in the building. I will do just as he says, while he will chat with the secretary in the building. The same one which once gave me an appointment.
She still creeps me out. Her very existence in her role, which didn't seem to have changed at all through the apocalypse. She looks like she just went to work when it all began and didn't move from there at all since then. It is like she is made for this position. Even the years seem to have passed her without changing her much. Good thing the old man will do the chatting.
As planned I walk to the fuse box and begin to check the resistance of the fuses and the voltage on the source. When I finish and noted everything down the old man comes over. “She doesn't know much, but she knows that her boss, our leader, isn't around as often as he used to be, something demands a lot of his attention and since he is a workaholic I don't think that this thing are pleasantries. Could be the war though, but she mentioned that he rarely attends meetings at the moment. I don't think that he believes that he can lead an army better than all his advisers together.” he whispers, while looking at the numbers I noted. I wouldn't be so sure about the last part, knowing how horrible and absent their tactics were.
But overall the thing I should investigate first is the leaders activities. He is highly suspicious. He is the founder of a religion that founds on a knowledge of souls and soulmist. Although it has a lot of misconceptions. If he learned to use his power he could be the worst enemy we have. Given enough time he could create nuclear weapons. If he reached the same stage as me he is literally immortal, but I doubt that. Nobody among my apprentices is even close to that point.
“Looks like we are in luck.” The old man beside me says and turns around and walks to the secretary. “Looks like we have a problem in the higher levels. I guess there were some complaints about a flickering light right?” he asks her. “Yes you are right.” she replies, “If you need to you can go up there.” With that we begin to walk up the stairs, the elevator isn't trustworthy anymore at this point in time. “It always annoyed me that the people don't know shit about electricity. All I would have to switch is the damn fuse that has aged and gained a higher resistance than it should. What use is it to stare at a flickering light, whose power lines are out of your reach and most probably completely fine. But today I finally benefit from their ignorance.” he grumbles to himself.
We reach the floor where the leader is said to reside. A big area is guarded, so we wander around the open areas at first, inspecting the flickering lights. After we acted enough to gain a believable cover we approach one of the guards and ask whether there are any complaints about the lights from the leader. Sure enough there are a lot of complaints. Seems like their leader is working even at night, a time when flickering lights can become your worst enemy. We don't need to be very persuasive to convince them to let us into the chambers to check the lights. Of course we won't be alone there, they will accompany us and of course the leader will be informed.