A light pit of anxiety formed in Frank's stomach as he walked, following the mayor's aide. He knew he hadn’t done anything wrong, so there shouldn’t be any real cause for concern, but he couldn’t help it. Perhaps he had been conditioned by years of abusive bosses, but having a sudden meeting with the local authority did set off alarm bells in his head.

Maybe Victor was right, and they’re going to try forcing me into some kind of servitude where I’ll spend the rest of my days enchanting equipment for them.

He shook his head, trying to dislodge those thoughts. That doesn’t make any sense. They could literally just load someone else up with [Enchanting] and get someone else to do it. Maybe, the idea occurred to him, they want to ask me how I got the Skill. He smirked. Take that, paranoia! An easy solution presents itself.

Frank glanced around, getting his first good look at this part of the city now that the sun was peeking over the horizon. They’d walked down a few blocks, away from where much of the housing and aid efforts were underway, and well past where any of the roads were cleared. There were a few teams in the road every now and then reminiscent of the group he’d seen earlier; one or two folks attempting to clear the streets, with others on guard. Most of the people they passed at this point looked more like his guide, though– they were moving with purpose.

His guide turned suddenly, going into an alley between buildings. Hesitantly, Frank followed. The aide turned his head toward Frank, but kept walking. “We’ve managed to take an office building nearby that the city government is working out of at the moment. Ideally, we’d still be able to use the city council building, but… Well, it’s off the table for the moment. We’re still working on clearing some of the streets around here, but the civilian areas have been prioritized for the moment, so try not to mind the mess.”

They’d already walked beyond what streets had been cleared, so he didn’t have high expectations. What he saw still surprised him.

As they stepped out of the alley onto yet another street cluttered with abandoned cars, it was hard to miss the bodies. Not people, though he wouldn’t be shocked if a few had passed, but animals. Similar to the deer he’d fought, these were animals, but not as he knew them. Not as they were supposed to be.

Gingerly, he pushed a rat the size of a large cat aside. It wasn’t alone. There were clusters of the things scattered about, as well as the bodies of a few different types of birds. They came in a colorful variety of plumage that Frank suspected wasn’t natural, and was marred by splashes of blood. “What happened here?”

The aide gave him a curious look, eyebrow arched. “You didn’t hear?”

Frank shook his head.

“Hmm. You must have slept through it then. Well, don’t worry. You’ll hear all about it soon enough.”

I’m beginning to think this meeting doesn’t have anything to do with me. The thought took some of his anxiety away, just to place it elsewhere in his mind. Is this why they have guards moving around? Because animals are attacking? Or even… monsters?

He thought back to how the others had described the so-called monsters over breakfast and shuddered. Hopefully it’s just animals for now.

They continued walking, past a few people gathering the mutated animals up, and into an average looking office building. It was a relatively tall building with a nearby parking deck and a sign out front with the names of the businesses that leased space in it. Someone was pulling the businesses off the sign and taping a sheet that said “TEMP CITY GOV.” in their place.

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Stepping into the lobby was like stepping into a military encampment. There were improvised barricades set up, and traffic from the entrance was funneled to a few specific locations. There were a few people here in police uniform on watch, but the overall mood was not as tense as he would expect. He gave them a polite nod as they walked past.

They took the stairs up to the third floor, passing by a number of people moving between the first few floors. Glancing up the stairwell, he didn’t see anyone moving near the upper floors.

On the third floor, he recognized some faces that had been at the library yesterday. The aide turned to him, and gestured around. “We’ve moved our logistics operations here for now. This is where most decisions are being made while the city figures out how to reorganize. That’s partly what the meeting today is about. Your presence was requested because you have some information that could be very useful for the leadership. They will likely ask you a few questions at some point, but other than that you are not expected to participate.”

With that said, his temporary guide pointed him to a conference room and walked away.

It wasn’t what he expected of a typical conference room, but he suspected there had been some modifications made. The seating had been arranged so that the members of the meeting on either side of the room would face each other. Right in front of him as he entered, there were a bunch of chairs arranged in rows and columns, and at the front of all these chairs were a few tables. On the other side of the room, there were two tables.

At those tables, sat facing the rest of the room, were three people. Frank recognized one from yesterday; steely-eyed, silver haired and jaw set like he was trying to make diamonds in his mouth was Anthony, the man who had given Frank his volunteer orders. There was a little paper placard in front of him that read “Anthony Atrescu, Council Member”. He sat to the right of the group.

On the other side was another man, and he looked far more relaxed. He appeared a bit younger than Anthony and had rounder features. As he sat, flipping through some documents in front of him, Frank noticed that the man had taken the time to style his dark, slightly grayed hair today. It had a telltale sheen of some product. His placard read “Ian McIntyre, Council Member”.

Between them sat a woman, who appeared to be a similar age to Anthony. She was blond, wore a pastel blue jacket, and had on clunky glasses that made her look like a lost owl. Her placard said “Mindy Allen, Mayor”.

In the seats nearby, it seemed pretty clear at a glance how they were separated: tables up front for people who were important, chairs in the back for the rabble. Since the tables were already occupied, Frank slid into a chair towards the back, nodding at his neighbor. As he sat down he noticed Victor, the librarian– and [Librarian]- at one of the tables. Victor gave him a subtle wave.

It wasn’t long before the meeting got underway. Ian, the council member, stood up and cleared his throat. “Okay everyone, it looks like everyone is here, so we’re going to get started with the meeting. There are a few things we need to figure out–” he chuckled, putting on an easy smile. “Actually, there’s a lot we need to figure out, but there’s only so much we can handle right now, and some issues are a bit more pressing. You understand.”

He held up a sheet of paper, referencing it. “So, topics of discussion for this meeting, in no particular order are: What happened yesterday? Where did everyone else go? What do we know about the System, Skills, and Aether? Why are there monsters, and how do we deal with them? Then, less pressing at the moment, securing utilities and infrastructure and further outreach.”

The council member glanced at his colleagues with an arched brow. “Anything else to add to that?”

Mayor Mindy fussed with her cuffs with a nervous energy, and shook her head. “After last night, those seem like the most pressing issues.”

Anthony grunted. “After last night, ‘how to kill monsters’ is the biggest concern. Those twisted animals have spread out of control, and we can barely send groups a few blocks without them getting attacked. If we hadn’t started setting up a perimeter early, the apartments would have been overrun and we’d be cleaning bodies out of the streets, not cars.”

He shook his head in frustration. “Guns work on most of them, but we only have so many bullets. So far, Skills have been the best way to fight back. I’ve been putting together a plan to capitalize on that.”

Ian lounged back into his chair, gesturing at Anthony. “Please, share with the class.”

Frank’s heart rate spiked as he made eye contact with the steely-eyed old man. Anthony tilted his chin up at him. “Frank. Get up here.”