The other vehicles had long vacated into the sightless depths of the fog by the time their own had plunged into it. Immediately, the trio found themselves surrounded by an increasingly white obscuration, with each breath becoming a slightly more difficult affair as the thickness of the air mounted.

Maintaining a rightful suspicion as he moped quietly, Brock spread his aura throughout the area, though even after several seconds of an intense combing, he could sense nothing out of the ordinary.

All the auras he had located priorly had long receded out of his range in the short time it took to arrive at the fog’s edge. From the gist of the conversation, Brock was already pinning ‘Genesis’ - as the small army seemed to refer to themselves - as the kind of people that seemed a bit too stuck on their idea of normalcy. The fact they kept to regimented ranks and wore clear uniforms was all Brock needed as an indication. Very military-esque in nature, they appeared to be.

He could tell they wouldn’t appreciate his savage way of going about things. His ‘new world’ outlook, if you will.

“What do you think of that Adam guy?” Brock glanced over briefly at the woman driving.

Fon chewed on her fingernail as she looked out to the clouded expanse of ivory, “Professional, I guess? Direct? He at least seems like he knows what he wants from you, and he looks confident in getting it.”

Brock nodded sagely at her words, finding that he really did seem confident in something. Of course, he was well aware of what he could offer the man. The real question was, among those numerous things, which was he after?

“And what do you reckon he wants from me?” Brock idly felt his unkempt stubble and at the split ends of his hair. It was probably high time he got a haircut and shaved. He was starting to feel a bit like a wild boar.

Fon deliberated in silence for a few seconds, Harry’s loud belches as he tried to burp the alphabet to alleviate his boredom serving as the backdrop to her thoughts. She furrowed her brows and threw an unimpressed glance his way, before shrugging, “Either he wants to know how strong you are for whatever reason, or he has a problem, and he believes you can fix it.”

“Probably, it’s both, although the latter would imply that he’s been spying on us.” She added after a short inhale.

Brock gave her a grateful thumbs up and stewed on what she had said. Personally, he reckoned that she was spot on, especially the part about spying, which he was not too happy about for obvious reasons. They knew his name right from the get-go after all. However, in life, he had learned it was best not to assume, though they were undeniably credible and most probably accurate guesses.

He thought back to the sensation of being watched he had felt earlier and the shifting of the shadow that he had instantly discarded. Seeing the messenger appear from the prior dismissed shadows was enough of a link to know that they had been anticipating his arrival through constant reconnaissance, if driving to meet him wasn’t enough of an indication in the first place.

How they knew his name was another matter entirely, as he doubted they had access to some kind of facial recognition technology considering most larger machines seemed to have been deemed as structures by the System and aged significantly beyond repair, at least from what he’d seen in passing. Going along that path, he was also clueless as to how much they actually knew about him.

It was never a good feeling to enter the territory of another where they knew more about you than you did of them. It was oddly uncomfortable, he had to admit. Even with his significant combat prowess.

Just in case, Brock pre-emptively stretched his limbs and glanced at his metal bracer-weapon for assurance. If what they wanted was a fight, they’d certainly get it, although it was unlikely that was what they were looking for. If they were going to ambush them, they would have done it a while ago.

Nothing even remotely suspicious occurred during their time spent in the fog, and soon, dozens of aura signatures began to pop up every second and showed no signs of slowing down. A hulking rectangular silhouette faded into existence and joined that of the Eiffel Tower’s, looming tens of meters overhead as they approached.

The closest of the auras were clustered on and around it.

Fon eased the vehicle’s speed as they happened upon what appeared to be an archway, most of the details obscured fog. Apart from the clear radiance of sunlight shining through its shape, they could discern nothing else. He glanced at Fon from the corner of his eye and smiled pleasantly. Her shoulders slumped in defeat. A small handful of auras were approaching them.

A body faded from silhouette to substance and a woman no older than Brock’s sister arrived beside their vehicle, a cheery smile donned upon her face, “Mr Seezy’s guests, I assume?”

“Yes. May we enter?” Fon replied, hiding her reluctance to speak perfectly. Power was always quite scary to oppose when all you had were words to defend yourself.

The woman nodded briskly and gestured to the shining radiance of a gateway, “Of course, just go right ahead. Welcome to New Paris.”

Their driver delicately pressed her foot down on the pedal, and the jeep lurched forward a bit too fast, almost mowing down a person crossing through the fog ahead of them. She apologised profusely as they cussed her out, and quickly they broke past the archway and into the city beyond, showering them in the warmth of the sun’s rays.

A quick glance behind showed the fog ended abruptly, as if it was kept away by an invisible barrier.

It took a few seconds for his eyes to truly adjust, but immediately afterwards Brock was met with the sight of a bustling street and people chatting happily, some lounging at the outdoor seating of ruined cafes fronts, others loitering around the sidewalks by their lonesome or with friends. A group of teenagers were all mucking around in the centre of the road, while others noticed the vehicle and decided to move out the way.

Brock didn’t spot any other cars utilising the road, only a few parked military jeeps like those he had seen driven beside Adam’s limousine. Men and women in sleek ballistic armour leaned against them, throwing wary glances they thought were covert their way occasionally as they monitored the actions of the public.

Patiently, Brock waited for the kids to scuttle away, though even upon noticing the waiting vehicle they continued to chat with each other. Clearly, they seemed to be ignoring them. Brock raised a brow at their antics, immensely grateful Harry wasn’t like this.

The man sighed wearily as the surroundings began to darken, and people gasped as a physical weight settled down upon their shoulders. The gang of teens looked his way with faux fear, immediately getting up and hurrying toward the nearest pair of armed soldiers. Oddly enough, they had fingers placed on the comm devices situated in their ears as though someone was speaking.

Brock’s Oppressive Might rapidly receded its influence, and the street was left still and quiet as their vehicle rumbled forward. Idly, he noticed the angsty teens leave with the guards and round the corner out of his sight. The auras of several more people met with them, and Brock was somewhat confused as he retracted his senses.

Suddenly, as they turned off into another street, the phone began to ring and Brock grasped for it, eying the unrecognisable number displayed on the screen. Shrugging, he tapped ‘accept’ and placed the device up to his ear. Adam Seezy’s deep voice resounded seconds later.

“My apologies for the test. The kids are orphaned, and it’s good to make people feel needed, especially in the times we’re in now.”

Brock scratched his chin idly, “So what was the test for?”

“Tolerance. You don’t seem to find that in spades these days. How you responded would have determined how our ensuing meeting would proceed.” Adam responded nonchalantly, although Brock could detect a hint of hostility in the last part. He seemed to care for those kids.

“We have an ‘ensuing’ meeting, huh?” Brock teased more than asked.

Adam hummed with affirmation and a ‘ding’ resounded from the phone, “I’ve sent through the meeting location. I’ve only just arrived myself, so I’ll prepare a welcoming the best I can.”

“I’ll be seeing you soon.” He added after a short pause.

Before Brock could quip anything back, the call ended, leaving him grumbling about courtesy and his wishes about having the last word. Either way, he genuinely didn’t care about the test, and instead thought it quite a good idea. The city seemed to be quite orderly and safe, and you didn’t have those two properties when you let every person you met into the place, crazy or not.

It reminded him of Adelaide in a way, with its sense of normalcy and happy citizens. Although similar to the Australian city, many buildings were left in serious states of disrepair, some even openly deemed a hazard and taped off with black and yellow warning tape. He still saw figures moving around behind the shattered windows, however.

From what he could see, a large portion of the population appeared to be sleeping in tents set up on the sides of the roads or in alleyways, the stable housing most likely being defaulted to Genesis personnel or other powerful individuals. Strangely enough, Food didn’t seem to be as much of an issue, as many stalls had been set up by civilians and were selling various produce and grilled street meats.

It was a far contrast to the desperate situation of the town he had found Fon in.

He wouldn’t put it past Genesis to have set up a series of farms to support their population considering the order they seemed to have established in the city. From what he’d observed so far, they seemed like they’d be industrious like that.

Plus, with the fresh addition of Ascendancies to the agricultural industry, he assumed produce production had reached an all-time high in both efficiency and speed. All in all, housing seemed to be New Paris’ primary problem.

Brock thought it was strange he hadn’t sensed any Skin Walkers yet among the masses, and it made him wonder if Genesis had managed to develop some way to deal with them, or at least repel them. He wasn’t exactly sure how they’d do so, but if mosquito repellent could exist, why couldn’t monster repellent exist too?

Wasting no more time, he pulled up the directions Adam sent and placed the phone on the dashboard for Fon to follow. She nodded thankfully. What ensued was a montage of twisting and turning as they drove throughout the populated yet dilapidated streets of New Paris.

With the apparent use of vehicles by the organisation that lorded over the city, nobody appeared to be shocked by their own use of one, in fact, many seemed to think they were part of them and nodded their way respectfully.

Soon, they found the massive form of the Eiffel Tower to be looming high above their heads, courtesy of the directions they had been given by Adam. It was now a hulking mass of rusted iron, twisted and bent in places by the artificial passage of time. Fortunately, various repairs seemed to have been made upon its structure, keeping it from falling over and smashing a portion of the city and its residents to dust and pulp respectively.

Beneath it, a familiar armoured black limousine waited. As they pulled up nearby, one of the back doors opened and the form of Adam Seezy stepped out, his navy blue and red suit emanating raw style incarnate, even from a dozen or so meters away. Brock felt his jealousy bubbling. The man made his style look like it didn’t just come naturally but was instead inborn.

Brock parked his vehicle on the grass a little ways away from the suited man’s own ride and together the three of them exited the jeep. Brock yanked his keys from the ignition and slammed his door shut behind him. He clicked the lock button and pocketed it, if only for show. He doubted someone was going to steal his car. Wasn’t like they could sell it to anyone anymore.

He could have just deposited the whole thing in his spatial ring, but he’d rather Adam wasn’t made privy to his special piece of gear until he knew how common it really was. So far though, he hadn’t seen anyone use one.

“I know you’ve probably been told this many times already, but welcome to New Paris. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you all in the flesh,” Adam regarded them with his hands pocketed in his pants. His confidence was almost suffocating as it oozed out of him like a physical substance.

Fon stepped forward and threw him an award-winning smile, “The pleasure is all ours.”

Harry didn’t really respond other than look at Brock for guidance. He just shrugged and met Seezy directly in the eyes. Within, he saw the man’s confidence rattle slightly from the idle force of his gaze, “Quite the city you’ve managed to take control of.”

He expertly hid the brief shudder, though Brock had already caught it, and he smiled charismatically toward the three of them, “Yes. Our leader is to thank for that; I’m merely his man on the ground. As you see, however, housing is a glaring issue, but we as an organisation are working urgently to rectify it.

“Well, you’re doing a fine job of it,” Fon added at the end of his monologuing, clearly trying to butter the man up a bit.

He chuckled lightly in response, obviously aware of her tactics, yet he chose to ignore it and instead gestured toward the looming form of the Eiffel Tower waiting behind them. A pair of guards were stationed beside an elevator, their hands resting readily on the hilts of the swords at their waists.

“Much appreciated. How about we discuss the purpose behind today’s meeting with a complementary view.” He clicked his fingers and pointed directly up toward the peak of the tower.

Adam continued with an award-winning grin of his own, revealing his pearly white teeth, “Of course, food will be supplied, and I can assure you it is the best we have to offer.”

Fon threw a glance Brock’s way and the man shrugged, opting to follow behind Adam into the elevator, Harry uncaringly in tow. Clicking her tongue at their careless antics, she joined their little retinue and followed along. The guards stood, well… guard outside as their host pressed one of the buttons and the doors closed behind them.

This man seemed to have it all figured out. He was charismatic, handsome. Born for the suit and tie. Brock wondered what he could possibly want with a man a bit over half his own level. Shrugging for what felt like the millionth time today, he guessed he’d see in a bit.