Mathew

Joining everyone else, Mathew watched them working to take the Night Stalker apart. Stunted plumage ripped and cut from the giant crow's hide began to stack like a pile of oversized palm fronds.

A shirtless Ben brought over Caustic Resolution. Blood coated his arms to the elbows showing he ripped it out by hand. Visually the blade and his arms seemed to be made of the same material.

"Here you go," Ben smirked. "Try not to lose it, again."

"Yeah, yeah," Mathew took the blade. "Thanks."

There was a vibration within the weapon. Mathew wondered if it was something Ben had done but watching Ben's retreating back, he was certain Ben didn't even notice.

Scan.

[Caustic Resolution

Blood forged cutlass by Clare Jackson. This work embodies a pivotal decision she made in the journey of life.

Passive: -20% acid damage taken when equipped

Active: +3 Monster friendship skill when brandished

Permanent:

30% affinity +.3 resistance

85% affinity +3 resistance

Current affinity 43%]

I refuse. Mathew heard Clare's voice again. This time though, his mind was drawn into the moment. The experience had as many missed messages as messages he understood. There was just enough to not be totally lost. Life for Clare was heart-wrenching. Alone and left to die, she made one sacrifice after another. Each one hurt her, so she became numb, uncaring and heartless.

Mathew didn't know what the sacrifices were in detail. They reminded him of his own regardless. The rejection of identity, the sacrifice of feelings, sacrifice of those she cared for and giving up on a worthwhile life to stay alive. As her mind was caged by the overwhelming monster within her, she made the decision to feel. Clare made the resolution to feel every break and pain in her body and soul.

In those feeling where the monster didn't want to exist, Clare found a way out of her mental cage. Embracing the corrosive elements of life, Clare found a way to live. Her monster would retreat from suffering, and that opening became a foothold to return to ownership of her own mind.

Mathew's awareness resolved back to himself. Checking his status, his Resistance increased by one.

My return from my monster side gave me affinity with Caustic Resolution? Mathew thought. What did I leave in Ripper to tell people the story of my life? It had the same affinity permanence bonuses. More reasons to be careful of leaving pieces of himself around.

Clipping the rapier to his side Mathew made his way over to the work area. Dismantling the body of the Night Stalker was a less monumental task than it seemed at first. With their advanced stats, a job that should have been nearly impossible for such a small crew became merely tedious.

Saving the bones, feathers, skin, and as much meat as Harper could process before it went bad, the rest became a pile of leftovers Mathew was expected to eat.

Mathew felt like a glorified trash disposal system. In a pleasant way, though. This job needed to be done, and he was happy to do it. Some of it was his own feelings; some of it was from his Carrion Beast side. Either way Mathew embraced the state of mind that made the work more palatable.

To fill in the tedious harvesting, they just talked. Grant had stories to share. Some were funnier than shit, but Mathew noticed they weren't Grant's stories. They were stories of people Grant knew or used to be in his life. Everyone had those stories, but most people also had some of their own. Mathew wondered if that was just that Grant didn't want to share or if he really never did anything fun or risky.

Ben, on the other hand, outed himself as a total nerd. It wasn't really Mathew's go-to culture, but he could go there. The dated nerdism Mathew brought to the table was enough for them to click.

"So, which do you like best?" Ben asked.

"Mild Inconvenience Man is the best," Mathew answered. "Did you ever notice that he stopped fixing things with his power after his partner died? In the comics, it's the little things he could have fixed, like stains on a shirt that he chose not to. It means so much to his character, but it wasn't in the story, just the attention to detail of the original creator."

"Pft, 'A' Man could beat him on his worst day and is a more interesting character." Ben countered. "Come on, being weak when he cares adds so much depth. What depth comes out of stains?"

"The way I read it, he stopped fixing all the mild inconveniences around himself because he wants them," Mathew said. "It's a choice. He's gathering resilience from all the minor setbacks, so he is resilient for when real trouble comes calling. He took the easy road the first time and didn't like the weakness it left him with. And they put all that in stains without telling anyone."

"Okay, maybe it's deeper than I thought," Ben carved cartilage freeing another bone. "But that is just your speculation, right?"

Mathew's shoulder plates clicked as he shrugged. "Yeah, but it's the best conclusion anyway. Pa used to say that life's a game we have to speculate at."

"Deep stuff," Harper praised.

Mathew hadn't scanned her yet since his newly unlocked Territory powers gave him more information, and he wanted to level that slow-growing power.

Scan.

[Harper - Warden

Otherworld human

Class: Hub Master level 3

(Hidden Quest) Champion Builder of Earth]

Paying the cost to generate an intelectus to inspect the hidden quest was laughably easy with his expanded willpower.

[(Hidden Quest) Champion Builder of Earth: Generate a secure connection to Earth]

[As an Earth native, (Hidden Quest) Champion Builder of Earth can be shared with you. Accept quest Yes/No]

With a mental twitch, he almost chose yes. Mathew's current sponsor was Leternum. How would it feel about the offworlders working in service to their prior home? Would this be a way home?

"Mathew?" Harper asked, twirling a lock of her hair.

Realizing he was just staring at her, he willed the messages to be shared among everyone present.

"Says we have to find a material able to work for building an inter-cosmic array," Ben read aloud.

"Ben," Mathew pressed his lips together. "Did you accept the quest?"

Ben's eyes went wide, caught red-handed, before narrowing stubbornly. "Yeah, yeah I did." Highlighting the choice, Ben sent over his notification

[(Hidden Quest) Champion Builder of Earth: Generate a secure connection to Earth

Objective(s):

1. Find a material suitable for building an inter-cosmic array

2. Build a suitable defense for the inter-cosmic array

Reward:

Access to Earth upgrade path

Access to Earth]

There it was, printed in bold, a way home. Thinking back to the apocalyptic abduction, Mathew remembered that the world wasn't damaged. His sparsely furnished apartment was probably right where he left it. The life he'd left behind would be pretty empty without the people who were right now going through their transition process.

For others, this option would mean the world. Harper reported that children were left behind. Parents would do everything within their power to be reunited with their children. Not that the idea of a world without monsters wasn't appealing to Mathew, but he was hundreds of skill levels behind being able to wear his own skin again. Helping others reach their dreams and grow had an appeal to Mathew. If Leternum didn't like it, tough shit. Mathew selected 'Yes.'

[(Hidden Quest) Champion Builder of Earth: Generate a secure connection to Earth... Calculating

1. Employ the use of Alpha Spectrum energy to generate an inter-cosmic array

2. Find a substitute for Alpha Spectrum Energy

3. Build a suitable defense for the inter-cosmic array

Reward:

Access to Earth upgrade path

Access to Earth]

Sharing his progress with the others, Mathew was glad to hear their quests updated to match his. Except for Harper.

"Mine doesn't say that," Harper said. "It says I'm supposed to build it."

Harper's face split into a grin. "My hidden skill! It lets me build Grand Arrays! Whatever those are, anyway."

Picking up a 'bag' of birdskin filled with meat cuts, Harper exclaimed. "A hundred million! Mathew, how much of this energy do you have right now?"

"Uh," Mathew pulled his territory menu. "Seems like 22 a day. Mostly from the Territory, only one from our population. That's about 12,000 years."

"So if we want to go home, we need more people and more territory." Harper nodded thoughtfully.

"And a lot because that energy is valuable. I can use it to level up any of us. Or grant a second class," Mathew said. "That's probably why Leternum ended its message 'grow, lead and conquer.'"

"When were you going to tell us?" Grant asked.

"Dinner time," Mathew replied, suppressing the urge to spin up a Mental Attack intelectus and spy on Grant's mind to make sure there wasn't a misunderstanding. Being trusted took giving trust, and there was some breathing room here. Mathew didn't have to mind read. So I won't, Mathew tried to convince himself.

"Sounds like a good excuse to enjoy the hot tub," Ben grinned.

"Back to work for now," Grant said.

Making his way over to the pile of 'leftovers,' Mathew's eye caught on an iridescent glimmer.

"Hey Grant, what's that?" Mathew pointed.

"This weeks' chronospheres, I'd imagine," Grant replied.

"New friends!" Harper exclaimed as she turned away with a meat-filled bird skin wrap. She missed Grant's and Ben's eye contact. Mathew would have to ask about that.

Breathing out his purple fog of digestion magic onto the pile of offal, Mathew missed Ripper. Casting his magic through the weapon was better in so many ways. Its power went further and was more concentrated, but what Mathew missed was that he didn't feel like an avatar of hunger. Standing with his exoskull open and billowing out destruction, he felt like a villain. When Mathew cast through Ripper, it felt like a tool. When he used the power himself, it felt like he was part of the nature of the magic.

To be honest, his magic felt sinister. Maybe... maybe he just didn't accept himself. No, he didn't accept being powerful. Damn, this enhanced cognition was doing wonders, but this sucked. The resonating truth of it couldn't be ignored. He felt like a monster because he was powerful like one.

That just means I have to use my power the right way. Mathew thought. Yeah, just...as though doing the right thing was easy. Finishing his expenditure of magic, Mathew tapped Caustic Resolution. Accept myself and my power, embrace the discomfort.

Easier said than done.

Returning to the carcass, Mathew asked. "So, what's it like?"

"The first one is the worst," Ben's gaze unfocused. "More than half aren't alive when they land. Of those that arrive on this side, a lot are hurt. Scars, amputations, mental breakdowns." Quiet as a whisper, he kept talking. "At some point, you begin to tell the difference between hopeless and worthwhile because being alive isn't the same thing as having potential. Sometimes, the only rational thing to do is walk away."

Nothing about that quiet confession was true. Anger boiled at this abduction, at this world, the weakness of Ben and the bastardized leadership of Grant. The patience of an ambush predator flowed through Mathew. His anger wasn't what Ben needed. To destroy this sickly surrender to the world would be a slow, methodical process.

"We'll do what we can. As our situation improves, we'll be able to do more." Mathew promised. He couldn't offer more. Only actions would make a difference.

Still, strategies rattled around in his mind. Using Mental Support to help some recover and hope Harper could apothecary up a solution. In fact, for every new person that would join the Hub, opportunities would open up.

They'd be more ethical than the first colony was about exploring the limits of their abilities, but there would be an exploration of new powers. Who's to say there weren't more medical skills, classes or magic? Mathew had a self-heal. With that proven, it wasn't a stretch to think that someone else would have a heal-other.

The rest of their work was subdued or just thoughtful if he was generous about the mood. Either way, the work became methodical and disappeared at a steady clip.

During this time, Mathew's mind shifted from the survivors he expected to start filling the Hub to Clare. She was alive and well, the last his splintered mind could tell, anyway. Caustic Resolution showed her conquering trauma. Did she have some insight that would help fix others, or was her journey unique?

Nearing the end of their Night Stalker harvesting, Mathew came across a distinctive feature of the mechanics of this world. He was pulling muscle off a bone half his size. Rather than bringing the knives in his gauntlets to bear, he used raw strength. It worked, with a strength more than three times his original pulling apart the two tissues was a work of steady progress. Maybe half a minute to separate inch by inch of full effort.

Outside of adrenaline-filled fights, he hadn't really had to work his muscles quite this hard. Within this calm exertion, he could feel a new sensation of fatigue. It was mild but distinct, resembling a distant ache. Mathew's heightened endurance restored a basic amount of energy rapidly. His endurance had to work harder to fuel the superhuman strength. It took longer, and Mathew now recognized a new sensation to tell him his enhanced strength was at a fatigue limit.

Disregarding the responsible choice of saving his magic for refuse removal, Mathew channeled a touch of Conversion. This was why he'd never felt it so far. Conversion boosted the stamina regeneration process of his endurance. Mathew didn't know if it'd really improve his combat capability any time soon. It seemed like all his powers tied back into the same two costs. Either spending Reserves or heating up from the rapid spending. Maybe he could suppress this type of conversion to be more efficient with future usage.

Eventually, the work came to an end. Nearly all the bird skin was saved. Meat that wasn't already being preserved in the new smokehouse was transferred to Hint to feed the experiments. The bones and feathers were too numerous and large to justify putting inside the limited room. Stacked outside between the Hub and a wall that jutted up from the breaking of the spire, Mathew was confident they wouldn't be blown away. The bird's durability was pretty high, so it wasn't likely that they'd suffer from weathering anytime soon.

The last of the former Alpha was removed. All that remained was a prodigious bloodstain. Even that, Mathew was planning on removing even that with his magic. Picked apart in a day. The sky was darkening as evening approached, but that was all the longer it took to process the behemoth. This truly was a brutal world, and we were undoubtedly a part of it. Mathew grinned as much as his exoskull allowed. We can be brutal too.

He raised his head and followed his companions to the Hub. This was a victory, and it settled the foundation that future security would be built on.