Within the infirmary of Eternity, the doctors had all changed into bulky suits that offered full protection, even if it meant restricting their wings. The moment that they learned that everyone had been ‘transported’ to their own worlds, the risk factor rose exponentially. If it was simply one world that everyone had been transported to together, then they would naturally only have to deal with the hazards of that one world.
With over a dozen different worlds, though… the head doctor shook his head at the thought. “How are the reports?” He asked his assistant, sitting at his desk with furrowed brows. The immediate problems faced were for every patient to be able to secure shelter. Food and water was of little importance, given that everyone had already been hooked up to an intravenous solution.
“Seven individuals report an environment that has been confirmed safe by their suit’s scanners.” The assistant spoke, before a complicated expression arose on her face. “Three more detected unidentifiable elements in the air, and are keeping their suits sealed for safety. Another two have confirmed that their environment is not breathable, and the last one…” She glanced out towards the first patient that had alerted them to the damage.
“Right… her atmosphere is blatantly hazardous.” Although the damage was slow to accumulate, that was likely due to her suit being sealed for the first eight hours. “Make sure to keep her on a respirator, as well as those with inhospitable or questionable atmospheres. Those confirmed safe can be left as they are. Have any of them found shelter?”
“Officer Isaac has constructed a habitat for himself with his abilities. The others are acting similarly when they can, but are slower moving. Recently, Officer Mallard managed to receive a level increase, but there was no change in his condition.”
The head doctor gave a small nod. “This isn’t regarded by the world as ‘damage’ to be healed. Their souls have simply been relocated.”
After thinking it over for a moment, he glanced towards his assistant. “You’re dismissed for now. Continue monitoring their situation, and let me know if anything changes. I’ll see if there is anything I can do from my end.”
She gave a curt bow, before leaving his office. Once she was gone, he tapped a device on the desk, initiating a call with the captain. It had been several hours now, and the woman had managed to get a little bit of sleep, if only just. When she answered the call, she directed a tired glare towards the doctor. “Doctor Ballan. Please tell me we have good news.”
“Afraid not, captain.” He shook his head. “Things have gotten worse so far. Every patient is isolated, which has increased the risk factor for both ourselves and them. We’ve taken care of all of their physical needs beyond personal safety, and instructed them to seek shelter. However, in the meantime, I would like to request an emergency personnel from back home.”
“If you can think of someone that can solve this problem, I’m all ears.” The captain opened her eyes somewhat wider when she heard that there was a possibility of help. This was a rather… strange situation for her, to say the least.
“I would like to request one of the following. Either the God of Community, the Deckan researcher, or a Metong science officer. Actually, I think a God of Journeys recently ascended among the centaurs. If he is available, he would be on that list as well.”
“That’s… quite the list you arranged. And none of them are Desbar personnel that I can enlist for help…” The captain had a difficult expression, not entirely sure how she should react to these requests.
“That’s why I’m hoping that you can ask for them as a favor. Even if just one of them answers, we might be able to find a solution.”
When she heard that, the captain’s smile turned somewhat bitter. “Why not just ask for the Keeper while you’re at it…”
“If you are able to get in contact with him, by all means.”
“I was kidding, Ballan…” The captain shook her head. “I’ll make the call.”
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While the captain was able to make the request of the various individuals, that naturally did not mean that they would be able to respond so easily. Among the four requests… James was busy working on a new project and unable to respond. The God of Journeys was unable to be reached due to having the propensity to wander to random areas. The only ones that managed to respond were the God of Community and the Metong.
On the part of the Metong, it was a simple matter for them to select a researcher to participate. From what they had heard, this involved a strange phenomena that they had never experienced before, so they were all too happy to accept.
As for Jonas, he was often free. He wanted for very little in this world, and had been gradually working to establish his holy relic. Although it was a large project that he had already spent many years on, it was one that he could easily take breaks from as need be.
When the two both answered that they would be able to help, the captain of the Eternity was equally shocked and ecstatic. As soon as they were ready, she activated the ship’s personnel gate and personally received them. “Lord Jonas, it’s a pleasure to have you here. And you as well, Speaker?”
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“This one’s designation is now Researcher, Captain Lucifuge.” The Metong male said with a gentle smile. “Although I am still technically a Speaker, I have earned my specialization. You may refer to me as Researcher Night.”
“My apologies, sir, I didn’t know who the Metong would be sending.” Although she was a captain, this was a matter that concerned the continuation of her voyage. There was nothing wrong with being humble. Especially when the people she was humbling herself before were a god and a researcher from a galactic empire.
“It’s fine, I took no offense. However, I believe that it would be best to see to the patients as quickly as possible.” When Researcher Night suggested this, Jonas offered a faint nod of agreement.
“Of course. I’ll guide you to the infirmary right away.” The captain was more than willing to let the two of them get to work. The sooner they did so, the sooner her people would be safe.
“Don’t worry, we’ll do our best.” Jonas assured her gently, seeming to sense her inner concerns.
The journey to the infirmary was not exactly long, only a few short minutes of walking down various corridors. When they arrived, the captain backed away. “This is as far as I can go. Like I mentioned in my report, the infirmary is under quarantine.”
While she was unable to safely enter, this was not a problem for either of their guests, as neither of them had an organic body for pathogens to thrive in. One of them was constructed purely of energy, and the other of liquid metal. If there was a pathogen that could infect these two, then there was no level of quarantine that would be sufficient.
Jonas nodded his head in understanding when he heard that, opening the door to the infirmary. There was a large, hastily constructed decontamination airlock immediately inside, which the two of them were required to go through. Afterwards, they were greeted by Doctor Ballad himself.
“Thank you both for coming. Did the captain sufficiently explain my problem in her request?” He asked as he looked between them. Each of them had been on his list of requests for different reasons. The fact that they had both arrived filled him with a sense of hope.
“Of course.” The elven god smiled amiably as he walked over towards the patients. “For me… you’re hoping that I can either connect with their souls as members of my community, or that there will be someone within my community proficient enough with souls to reverse the blight, correct?”
“Exactly right, Lord Jonas.” The doctor replied happily.
“As for me, my job is to research the nature of this energy and determine possible counters from the library of energies stored within the Network. I must say that we have never experienced a situation such as what you described. From a scientific standpoint, it is fascinating. Perhaps you collided with an energy lifeform that had cultivated a unique breed of energy, and it lashed out as a reflex?”
Hearing Researcher Night, the doctor could only put on a bitter smile. “That’s right. With the two of you together, our chances of a successful solution have increased drastically.”
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I nodded to myself when I saw that Jonas and the Metong researcher were moving to help the demons with their plight. In truth, I had initially been observing Jonas, and only followed him to catch the situation of the demons after they contacted him. After all, I was far more interested in the holy relic that he had been building.
At this point… I had to question if it could even be called a relic, despite being crafted purely by Jonas’s hand and infused with his divine energy at every step. That was because… he was building a city. Every brick was being formed by his community and laid by Jonas personally as he infused it with his divinity. Each building could qualify as its own unique artifact, if he so chose, and there were already more than five hundred buildings erected.
Many of these buildings were nothing more than houses, but there were some others as well. There was a school, a prison, and even a Mage Tower. All along the city, bricks had been laid as the foundation, being smoothed out to form roads and sidewalks. And at the center, the last building left to be completed appeared to be a large palace. Once that was done, I did not know if he planned to construct defensive fortifications such as walls or guard towers, or if the relic would be completed with the construction of the palace.
Eager to see it for myself, I set an alarm in the system that would notify me upon its completion. Even if I was fast forwarding… that was worth taking time out to get a look at it.
However, now that I had set that alarm, I glanced towards the list that Ryone had sent me. This would be the list of items available for sale to Kathy, with special items noted to be sold only to trusted allies. Among those special notes were the races that had developed in my world, with the exception of the Merkin. Even the Merkin were not listed there.
Either Ryone felt that they would not be worth listing… or she was concerned that their sonar map of my world would be more easily leaked to others. I honestly felt that both were possible.
As for the actual ‘items’ on the list, I noticed a variety of different weapons, some of which I had not personally seen before. Some of them required special magical laws such as a hammer that was able to reinforce itself through card magic. Others were more general, like the grimoires that we had purchased previously and then developed further.
There was one item on the list that was given an exorbitant price. To be honest, I was surprised that it was even listed in the first place. For fifty thousand points, the Energy Manuscript. The description of this item was that it held the information collected from over a thousand races across a galactic empire, holding hundreds of different energy types.
Naturally, the exact energies weren’t listed in the description, but I knew enough from that to realize what it was. It was obviously referring to the Metong’s energy database. And at first… I had to admit that I was shocked to find it there. But, on further thought, I realized that the information within the manuscript would not reveal any important secrets of my world.
In fact, the flood of information within the manuscript would obscure the energies that were more widely used. Whoever spent the funds to purchase it would have the formulas for every energy that the Metong had encountered, both good and bad.
Now… the exact formulas for those energies might differ from world to world, but the ratios typically remained the same. Otherwise, if it included a detailed method to create each energy that worked properly in any world… there was no way it would be as cheap as fifty thousand points.