“Are you sure you’re alright to talk to them right now?” Fran asked me when it was just the three of us, concern on clear her face.

I wiped the blood from my eye, “Not really, but blocking the obelisk is just going to cause problems.”

We were sitting in a side room, the meeting hall currently occupied and organized, attempts to figure out what to do about the obelisk chiefest among the topics.

“Man, I hope you can talk some sense into them, because this is badass.” Daniel flexed a steel arm, “It feels natural.”

Fran shot him a withering look.

“Sorry, my bad,” he coughed, metallic voice ringing out, “But seriously, I think I could take a dozen wolves with my bare hands right now.”

I nodded, conviction clear in my voice, “No matter what they say, I’m going to keep using the obelisk system. Besides, the two of us don’t have a choice in the matter.”

“What do you mean?” She asked, looking between us, “You could just stop?”

Talking about the fact that we were semi-forced bounty hunters now might not be the best thing when we would be going into a room of politicians. Then again, I wasn’t certain that would be a bad thing. Eventually it’d come up, and I didn’t harboring a secret like that might make things complicated later.

But, either way, Daniel would make for a very apparent case for weapons. My alteration was less acceptable to most people, I wouldn’t have volunteered for it either if I could help it. But, this meant that body parts could be augmented, swapped out, replaced. Much more could probably be done with the system as well. I just needed to know some general information, something that anyone would use it for.

I felt a twinge in the back of my head at that, and suddenly felt a relay of information from the obelisk system.

[Information fetch finished.]

I snorted with amusement, “I can do that too? Wow.”

“What’s up?” Daniel turned to me, the head of his mech built into the chest, not so much of a neck to speak of. The gray paint made for a very simplistic appearance, but the fact remained that the nine foot tall machine was made for taking punishment and dealing it in earnest.

“I just got an information download from the obelisk,” I shook my head, “It looks like if it has to do with something the obelisk, I can search it remotely.”

“You… are you saying you have a computer in your head?” Fran asked, “What did you just search, then?”

“What could be done with the obelisk system. I think it gave me information of relevance. We’ll see when I’m talking to everyone in there.” I grinned, certain that any logical person wouldn’t be able to say no to the system. I did, however, feel a vague headache, though it spread slowly, unlike anything I’d felt before. Unfortunately, I don’t think I had any time to actually see what was going on.

They were ready to see us. The situation was such that any kind of information on the obelisks that could be verified was treated as critical and potentially confidential. Not that what had just happened outside could at all be kept confidential; Daniel was wrapped in what looked like a tidal wave of glowing mercury and could suddenly walk around with a nine foot tall mech suit afterwards.

In the room, we stood in front of a table full of a dozen people, only half of whom I’d ever even met before. Some were in positions of power before everything had happened, politicians, the mayor, and some others. Along with them were a few soldiers, civilians, and even engineers that sat together, seeming to represent the general population in the city for the time being.

A group of people that would be predisposed to resist hunting biotics. I thought such because the vast majority of people in this city hadn’t stepped out away from the walls since the wolves appeared. It would be naive to think that the obelisk’s appearing would suddenly resolve that, even though I desperately hoped it might.

At the very least, I had to make them see that it was a good idea for volunteers to continue using the system.

Best case scenario, they would let everyone use it.

I stood in front of Daniel, though every eye followed his hulking form. He had to stoop down to get through the door, and even then, his bulky body scraped the frame. They were clearly intimidated, except for those that knew us personally. It was their calm that kept the room from devolving.

“The one currently in the… exo-suit is Daniel Drake.” James Maddoc introduced us, “And this is Matthew Todd, they’re both long time scouts and have been partly responsible for keeping track of wolf… no, sorry, biotic presence for months now. They’ve been in their territory almost as often as they’ve been bunkered down in the city.”

The explanation gave me a sense of pride. At the very least, we hadn’t gone unnoticed.

Another man spoke up, “That, ladies and gentlemen, should tell you that they are the most familiar with the situation around us. And, from what you can see, they’ve already gone waist deep with that obelisk out there.” The acting commander in chief of our military wing’s words were almost what you could all quiet. He was a solid but soft spoken man that I had a healthy respect for, Charlie Song. He was getting up in the years, but he still carried himself with a commanding air. If anything, it grew stronger in these last months. “Please, continue,” he gestured to us.

James was stunned for a moment, I stepped up, finding that I was analyzing the room with my red eye. I could determine a great deal when I focused it seemed, but I stopped when a throbbing headache spread much more rapidly. Whatever was happening was picking up the pace, I grimaced briefly, stepping forward.

“Thank you for seeing us on such short notice.” I began, taking the initiative. James looked up, wisely taking a step to the side seeing that I was ready to begin.

“A few things that I’d like to say before we really get into this. This… eye of mine, as well as the suit Daniel is wearing, are due to a special circumstance that we found ourselves in. The obelisk has an advanced artificial intelligence program called the Specialized Intelligence System, and likes to call itself Sis.” As I spoke this, someone from the table snorted, a stubby businessman.

“Calls itself ‘Sis’? How bizarre.”

“Well… as I was saying before being interrupted,” I continued briskly, hoping that clearly indicated that I was annoyed. In order to ensure that our information was being taken seriously, I decided to hit the room with a much more important detail, “We verified the possibility of gathering this supposed ‘Matter Energy’ by killing the hive outside of town.”

The room went dead silent.

The first one to manage to speak was none other than the man who had interrupted before. “You’re saying you’ve completely cleared the hive? Just the two of you?”

I blinked, uncertain if the man was perhaps about to try to spin the facts any way he wanted. I’d always had a distrust of people, politicians especially had my wariness.

“Yes, and we’re also the reason for nuclear weapons being locked behind a class system.” I was completely blunt.

Charlie Song’s stern voice came up then, “Did you use a nuclear device so close to town? Did you even consider the possible dangers involved?”

At that point I grit my teeth, there wasn’t any dodging this without completely lying or misleading them, something that would be more damaging in the long run. “I couldn’t excuse myself before Sis, either, the fact that it was a mini-nuke doesn’t mean it should have been used. I can only offer my sincerest apologies at my lack of foresight.”

“Give the man a break…” the previous mayor, Alan Detriet, spoke up, “They got rid of a hive, shouldn’t that be cause for celebration?”

“The radiation will make that area dangerous, let alone if it might spread. There’s a reason why the military never considered nukes as a viable option.”

“You’re right,” I rose my hand, “However, as you’re aware from the notice, that radiation was the exact reason why Sis removed them from use, because it causes damage to the environment and is fatal to humans. If it were left as is, there would be a great deal of damage. And so, as compensation for Sis to clean the area of radiation, the two of us were billed about eight-hundred thousand M.E. a piece for the penalty.”

Again, silence hit the room.

“To put that into perspective, we’d have to hunt wolves relentlessly for a year without the benefits of the obelisk system to make up for it. Or so I was told. I’ll go over the benefits of the obelisks in a moment.” I nodded, wanting to ensure that these people understood that we would continue hunting no matter what their decision was. “As such, Sis gave us an alternative. We’ll go after certain targets and objectives at the obelisks discretion, so long as it shouldn’t guarantee our deaths.”

“And that brings me to my next point. We have to do this, at least myself and Daniel. However, the system itself isn’t evil, though I was skeptical at first as well. So, let’s go over some general information that would help people who don’t plan on hunting a great deal. Matter Energy has few uses on its own, the obelisk is required to transform that energy into other materials. The most obvious from looking at Daniel should be that we have a replenishable form of weapons and ammo, as well as some pretty advanced technology. But,” I paused for effect, “That isn’t the most important use for this energy. It can also be used to create food, and from what I’m aware, it has analyzed the bulk of cuisines that we once used. So long as we utilize these goods for ourselves, we don’t have to worry about hunting for resources, only for biotics.”

At that, I could see every eye in the room spark with interest. Of course they would, not everyone wanted to fight, but M.E. could be used to make food and who knew what other goods.

“Now, a few drawbacks.” I pointed out, “M.E. seems to cost more with more complex dishes and is wasteful if you’re only getting something in small amounts, because the minimum charge will always be one matter energy. However, matter energy can be traded through the obelisk, and once you’ve been registered, you can do so from any distance. In other words, we can easily adapt our current situation to suit the new infrastructure and market created by the obelisk.”

“There’s another drawback, though, and that is the problem where people might try to steal from each other, particularly weapons. I’ll say this right now, I wouldn’t be able to take Daniels suit even if he wasn’t in it.” Others looked onwards in confusion. “We can demonstrate what we mean.”

“Gotcha,” Daniel nodded, understanding what the point was. He began emerging from the back of the mech like a butterfly from a cocoon, and after a few moments, was easily able to leave it. Afterwards, he had James try to get into the suit.

Getting into it was fine, but the moment he tried to have it closed, he jolted, “What... I just got some kind of a message?”

“It probably said something about being unauthorized?” I asked.

“Uh, yeah, it said that the suit had to be traded or loaned to me by Daniel or it wouldn’t work.”

“And that’s why I’m not worried about someone getting their hands on a weapon they don’t know how to use. The system simply won’t allow it. There must be failsafes in all of the weapons to prevent misconduct. That leads me to assume that there are other failsafes, along with preventing us from ruining our environment and hurting each other with radioactive fallout, that will help to keep negative elements from popping up.” I grinned, “In other words, the system is designed to help keep everything from getting too crazy.”

“And, it’s not doing it for free. It takes a cut from all of the M.E. that is gained while we’re hunting. I don’t know how much, and I don’t actually care either. Expecting anyone to help out like this for free would actually be absurd. But, I digress. Any questions?”

“I believe we’ll need some time to deliberate,” the man from earlier, the stubby fellow who’s name I didn’t know, stated. “Thank you both for your information. That does do wonders for our current situation...”

I quirked an eyebrow that they were accepting all of this so easily, but I found that I didn’t really want to be in front of these people any longer. I’d just about spent my will power that day. Already, the only reason why I could deliver that information was because I knew it was vital.

“You get to make the next speech,” I thudded a fist against Daniel’s armor as we were leaving.

He chuckled, “What, you did great. A little stern, but got all the points across.”

“I agree,” Fran nodded, “Would the both of you mind company?”

I smiled and shrugged, Daniel said, “The more the merrier. Want to get some food?”

“Oh!” I exclaimed as we got outside. They watched as I approached the obelisk, and then as I turned back with a fervid look in my eye, “Daniel, do you have any M.E. left?”

“Nope, drained. Sorry.” He clunked towards me.

“Fran? Can you loan me three M.E.?”

“Umm… sure? How?”

“Just think about trading me one unit of M.E., the obelisk will do the rest.”

A few seconds later, the notification came, “Did it work?”

“Yes! Thank you!” I cheered out, showing more exuberance than I’d had in months.

They watched with confusion, and I could almost just make out a conversation they were having about my sanity. I didn’t care. There was something soooo much more important right in front of me.

I spent that M.E. in the blink of an eye.

“Alright, quick, we gotta get back to our room and close the doors!” I drooled.

“U-umm… okay, why?” Daniel’s mech suit had a single horizontal slit. That slit looked like it had widened with concern.

“Just come on!”

I led the way, nearly dragging the two along. I was frustrated with the way Daniel had to handle stairs, at least until he realized he had a platform-foot function that had several plates that would adjust for uneven surfaces.

When we got to the room, I slammed the doors shut, ignoring all of the whispers and talk about the gigantic mech suit.

“This is it. This is what I was looking for for so long.” I cackled, flipping back over the desk and dragging chairs to the thick wooden table.

“You’re scaring me a bit, you know that right?” Daniel stepped out of his mech suit, a now very clearly worried look on his face, mirrored by Fran’s.

“This is why!” I ignored them and felt for the matter energy contained in the symbol on my right hand and watched as the mercury light slide forward, clumping in several locations across the table.

“What? Oh my god.” Fran blinked and then was hit by the scent of freshly cooked food.

“Yup, I know I wasted a lot of that energy, but I don’t give a damn.” Self-satisfied, I watched as three fresh, hot cheeseburgers, three bars of dark chocolate, and three glasses of ice-cold water formed on the table.

“I’m going to buy whoever sent the obelisks here a beer.” Daniel laughed.

Fran practically melted, “Oh, I never thought I’d see chocolate again.”

“Help yourselves, I know I am.” I wasted no time in biting into the thick, juicy burger. The fresh veggies, all of them stunningly delicious, was like an explosive for my tastebuds.

“Couldn’t we have gotten booze instead of water?” Daniel spoke after savoring the first bite.

I admitted sheepishly, “It was an afterthought, I didn’t have a whole lot planned out, and I figured it’s been too long since I’ve had ice in my water.”

“True, so very, very true.” Fran sipped the water slowly. “What else is available?”

I smiled, “Anything. Anything at all.”

We spent the next few hours devouring snack foods, another two M.E. later and we found we couldn’t eat a single bite more. At that point, we rolled out a third mat for Fran, and we slept, more soundly than we’d slept since I could remember.

I don’t think I even slept this well when the world wasn’t ending.

It was strange, I felt like I’d dreamed distantly. Like I could see a dream, not so much half-remembered as half-viewed. It was bizarre, especially since it seemed like a nightmare that went on and on for months, maybe even years. I couldn’t tell, and if anything, it was nice to turn away from it and just relax. So much restful sleep was surreal to me these days.

Then I snapped awake to a notification as the sun rose.

[Bounty Hunt active! Six miles northeast of your position is the last living portion of a recently destroyed hive. Ensure they cannot establish a new hive.]

[Kill Wolves 0/500]

[Destroy Pseudo-Core 0/1]

[Bonus rewards based upon completion and circumstances.]

“What the hell…” I coughed, coming upright, feeling my body snap to perfect wakefulness. “500 wolves? How the hell are there even so many left alive?”

“Huh… what?...” Daniel still rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes before fully reading the material that had been sent.

“What’s the problem?” Fran’s normally refined and in control persona melted to a sleepy blob. “Can you keep it down? I’m trying to sleep.”

“Sorry, we just got our first bounty,” I suppressed a snicker seeing Fran’s outrageous bed-hair.

“A what?” She woke up quickly, looking to Daniel who stretched his limbs.

“Yup, looks like that hive we blew up had some stragglers or something? They had to have been outside of the hive at the time, no way in hell they lived through that.”

“Maybe…” I started, then shook my head, “Should we see what they’re up too?”

Daniel yawned, “Yeah, I’m not too keen on trying to attack… wait, that’s five hundred biotics, right?” He was much more awake now.

I looked back to the notification with a grimace and a tense gut, “Yep. Think it’s a typo?”

“Would an advanced A.I. from another planet have a typo like that?” He sighed reluctantly.

I didn’t say anything to that, not really keen on trying to hunt that many biotics. What was the time limit?

Three days.

“It’s a three day time limit…” I groaned, “Don’t we get penalized for not finishing it?”

“Well… damn. Let’s… let’s check it out first and then see if we can take out some stragglers?”

Fran had started straightening her hair and clothes, “Would you mind if I went with you guys? I’d like to see how the whole deal works.”

It surprised me to see that she would be willing to come out, “That’s fine with me, but is that okay?”

“You mean, ‘Do I have other jobs I need to do?’” She spoke unenthusiastically, “From what you said in front of all of those higher ups, there’s no reason not to go out and do some hunting. Besides, this is a good chance to get a new weapon. My gun broke last week.”

“Ah, that was a gift, wasn’t it?” Daniel cringed.

“Umm… Yeah,” she sighed, “I’m just glad I was already on my way back to the city when it broke.”

“Well, there are plenty of weapons available. And you’ve still got a gob of M.E. unlike either of us.” I nodded, “You should be able to find something you like.”

We moved down the building, sharing what we knew about how to purchase things from the obelisk. I’m certain a few other people listened in while we spoke, but that wasn’t something I was concerned with. The rest of the people here were scouts, and in the first place it wouldn’t be a problem for other people to get to know about this. Eventually they’d figure it out, and the more people that were looking for biotics to cull, the better.

It was then that I also realized that the bounty system might well be a blessing in disguise. We might not have to go looking blindly for biotics, the system might send us straight to them.

Fran made her purchase and had the energy store in the strange tattoo-like symbol on her hand, that way she wouldn’t have whatever it was come out in the middle of the city. It wouldn’t last more than an hour or so, but it would likely be enough. The area around us was fairly empty, it looked to me that a few others were being allowed to go near the obelisk. They probably wanted to make it so that only a few would actually go through the process at first.

It was the safe approach, letting a test group of volunteers go through the process first. Depending on how that was handled, it might be damaging. If they wanted to make sure it was perfectly safe for a span of months, then by the time anyone else started using the system, the biotics might be too dangerous for someone with no experience to handle.

And while I didn’t know how much Daniel’s suit cost, I doubted it would be less than one hundred M.E. Plus, it was a class item, others couldn’t even dream of getting it right now.

“Alright, I think that’s it then.” Fran nodded, the items held in temporary storage.

“Good idea,” I nodded, “Probably better to conceal them from people until we’re out of town.”

“They can’t take them anyways, right?” Daniel shrugged, “So why does it matter?”

“Unlike you, you big lug, the two of us don’t have a suit of armor.” Fran chuckled, “And not everyone knows you can’t steal a weapon.”

“Ah, and I thought I was the only one who didn’t trust anyone,” I joked.

She huffed, “If it was just a regular gun, I wouldn’t be worried about it.”

That got me interested, but I figured it’d be good to wait until we got out of the city. Daniel led the way, everyone parted, gaping at his hulking form. His footsteps were remarkably quiet, the platforms on his feet would touch the ground and gently depress with several pneumatic pistons.

A few watched us curiously, and some even followed us. At least, until we hit the forest. They were still too afraid of the wolves to go into the woodlands. Even though we made our way through paved roads towards campsites and scattered properties in the mountainous woodlands, the wolves were an insurmountable threat to them. Fear got the better of our stalkers.

For once, I was actually glad of that fact.

“Alright, we shouldn’t have to go far.” I started off, looking over my shoulder. “So what’d you get, anyways?”

“These… I think this is how it works?” She blinked, watching as a glimmer of mercury light began to materialize. “Oh, that’s interesting.” She commented with much less surprise than I’d hoped, even as I watched a brief shine of it from under her clothes.

On the other hand, the both of us were confused at the apparatus that appeared on her back and the brace of metal that ran the length down to her hands.

“The hell is that? A backpack?” Daniel frowned, turning around to see her fully.

She almost seemed disappointed, “I was curious about something that might run with magnetics, so I just thought of it and it brought this up.” She looked over her shoulders, frowning at the weight of the two large protrusions. “It’s a lot more bare bones than I thought it’d be, though.”

The moment after she said that, she turned her palm outwards, a metal glove over either hand. Her backpack expanded, what looked like a pair of wings slid out of place like a steel valkyrie. Gesturing, a spear-like feather four inches in diameter pointed forwards from her wings and pierced deep into a tree.

“I was hasty in my judgement,” she offered an apology to her backpack, and then gestured a few more times, sending feathers shooting forward. “It feels... natural. Is that normal?”

I wondered about that. I guess that it would download whatever you needed?

[Information fetch completed]

I flinched, feeling a jolt in my brain, “Ow.”

“Oh, did I hit you with tree bits?” She chuckled, and then saw me pressing a hand to the side of my head, genuine concern replacing her mirth.

“Nah, I just downloaded information related to your question I guess, it’d be nice if it friggen’ asked first.” I shook my head, “I guess you get the info you need downloaded. But everyone has their own style, so it really depends on how well you take it up, and differing talents. You’ve probably got some natural skill with that type of control scheme, just like Daniel’s a natural with moving around with that big ass thing.”

“Dude, that encyclopedia in your brain useful as hell, how do I download stuff?” He laughed, though I felt like he was a little worried about my wincing.

“I don’t know,” I said, and then flinched again at another jolt of electricity.

[Information fetch completed.]

With a sigh, I now answered the question I knew, “You have to have a cerebral augmentation that links into your brain… Wait what the fuck do I have going on in there?” I nearly shouted the question in shock.

[Internal scan commenced, latticework of ‘Blood of the Reaper’ fulfilling integration parameters. Current progress estimated at 33%. Side effects are varied and may include occasional numbness and headaches, as well as bodily modification.]

My face paled, something that Fran and Daniel both could easily see. After I told them what was going on, they gave me some consolation. Hopefully what it was referring too was just the eye, but it sounded almost like it would be making other modifications as it needed.

At that moment, I turned and listened, the underbrush rustling. “Wolves are nearby.”

The two stopped talking immediately, coming closer to me. Surprisingly, as though on reflex, Fran gestured to the feathers and marvelled as they reconnected with her ‘wings’.

“That’s crazy,” Daniel marvelled at the wings before stepping to the forefront. “Anyway, how many?”

“Not sure how many, but they’re a few hundred feet that way.” I said with absolute certainty.

The look of incredulity they gave me made me realize what I’d said was insane.

“How the hell did you detect that so far away?” Daniel nearly bowled me over as he turned to me.

“I’m pretty sure my class has something that’s augmenting my senses.”

Fran frowned, “That’s certainly useful, but it seems it’s painful for you?”

With a shrug I went around Daniel, “A bit. Lets go, I don’t really wanna be out here all day.”

The three of us proceeded onwards, though we weren’t certain about our chances. At worst, we’d just scout the pack. We discussed loosely the plan of surveillance, and that we would try to avoid conflict if possible. I had the pistol, rifle, and spear, since Daniel wouldn’t be able to hold any of them very well. We figured that his fists would be able to do a significant amount of damage, that or he could step on a wolf. He weighed in at over a thousand pounds, whatever he stepped on would probably be crushed.

We crept up towards a ledge, Daniel led the way. He gestured us forward, “Guys, look at this… They’re so many of them.”

We crept up, peering between trees. The woods were less dense here, giving me a clear view of at least a few dozen wolves. Now that we were closer, I heard others farther off. “There’re more of them elsewhere.” Their numbers amazed me, it was the second largest group I’d ever actually been near, aside from the one that attacked Gilramore.

“What are they doing?” Fran asked, a light tremor to her voice, “They’re not even hunting.”

I watched and found that she was right. They didn’t search for any prey, they moved at the same pace, all in the same direction. It was a methodical march.

“Could we take that many of them…” I thought aloud, and something in my mind answered that we could. That shocked me, and I felt like that couldn’t be correct. Just yesterday the prospect of fighting even four of them was excessive.

“Maybe. I’d have to tank them.” Daniel offered, “I don’t think they could do enough damage to me fast enough.”

“They’d weigh you down and tear through your armor if you gave them enough time; those things ate through tanks” Fran chastised him. And then she looked down the pass, towards where they were moving. “And... “ She paused, suddenly looking over both of our heads. “Dreadnought? Reaper? Why do you have words floating over you?”

“Long story short, those are our classes, I guess we’re partied up now.” I paused, looking around. Why were we partied up now?

[Information fetch completed.]

“Ow, damnit. Enough of that shi--” I froze. “We’re in trouble.”

“Why?” Daniel sat back.

“It forces people near to each other to party up when engaged in battle.” I turned my attention to the wolves below, and they, in turn, turned their gazes up towards us.

“Oh.” Daniel uttered, “That’s bad.”