Helena left the room as a rushed waiter entered, stacks of food on a tray. Why did Kara order refreshments if she only talked to me for a short time? She must have planned to talk with someone else. With how she ended our conversation they must be close.

Arriving back at her room, she found Belesis still lying in bed, sound asleep. However, an IV was now inserted in her arm; pumping liquid into her veins and all the blood had been cleaned up.

Walking over to the desk, she unclasped her bracelet as Kara instructed. The tingling sensation returning, it felt like a weight had been lifted. Placing the bracelet in the drawer, she glanced over at the pills lying on the desk’s smooth surface. Considering it, she popped one into her mouth; it dissolved swiftly and she soon started to feel her headache subside. These pills are useful, but I can’t take any more for the next two hours.

She glanced back at Belesis. She’s helped me more than anyone in my life and without a request for payment. Why is she so infatuated with me? Always calling me Lady and emphasizing that I’m a Noble … it all reminds me of Noble servant behavior. A superior bending over for their servants spells a trial filled future. Realistically, kindness cannot go without return or it’ll lead to ruin.

She frowned. Klen mentioned her liking Booker and with that earlier reaction, it did remind me of Rean and Tamie’s response to Tom’s hormones. He also said learning Ladylike behavior wouldn’t help her cause; calling her a Kiyohime … what is a Kiyohime? It sounds like some kind of Verlish creature.

Bringing up the HCID clasped to her wrist, she took its cores out of idle and was shocked to find how much easier the manipulations had become. I barely have to think about the calculations. Is it because my Focus is actually replenishing without the bracelet?

Searching WITCH’s database, she found a file on the monster. Activating the file, a three-dimensional holographic display of a woman appear and suddenly started to transform into a large grotesque serpent. It had the lower half of a snake and upper half of a woman. However, it did have fragments of scales running across its skin, fangs, claws, and the serpentine tongue.

She read the information by the image: Kiyohime are large serpents that have the ability to transform into human females, masking themselves. They have also been documented to breathe fire at temperatures of a thousand one hundred and twenty degrees Kelvin, hot enough to melt some bronze compounds and swims quickly in water. Further research shows they forcibly undergo the serpentine transformation if exposed to a large volume of water. Their scales are hard, but not as steel. It can be penetrated with normal ammunition, although, it seems to be resistant against UV radiation, susceptible to higher frequencies; such as x-rays and gamma rays.

Helena mused over the comparison. Interesting, but why would Klen refer to Belesis as a Kiyohime, she’s a Biokinetic? Perhaps it has something to do with her personality being two-sided.

Finished speculating, Helena deactivated the HCID and took the small capsules out of her pocket, placing them on the desk. They were starting to hurt her butt while running. Instead, she pocketed a few of the tablets from the broken bottle and made her way back to the Botanical Garden to continue jogging. Finding a ladies room along the way, she went to the bathroom and continued on. She passed several people removing in-caved wall paneling and replacing it with new material.

I haven’t seen many people on this side of the base. Where are all the personnel for this massive base? In fact, where does WITCH recruit these people and keep them despite the risks? So much information to learn.

Entering the gardens, she tapped her toes against the paved walkway and did a light stretch. After finishing, she began to jog along the path using electromagnetism to lighten each footfall and propel herself forward. It’s much easier than before, specifically on my Focus.

As she reached the split, she found Booker stretching and still wearing his running attire, his glasses were still perched between his nose. His tanned muscular torso was bare, showing his toned physique. How often does he work out and what does he actually do in the Faction as a Captain? Both Belesis and Booker seem to have a lot of free time. Wait … did Kara tell him to meet me here since she knew I’d be training the technique she showed me?

As Helena rounded the corner, he straightened and walking to a bench, throwing on a white tank-top. “Sorry about that, little lass.” Booker said sheepishly, repositioning his glasses.

Helena nodded. “Salutations, Booker. Going on a jog again?”

“Yes, ma’am!” Booker said, starting to work out his calves.

“Would you mind jogging with me? I have some questions.” Helena asked.

“No, ma’am, it’ll be my pleasure,” Booker replied with a grin. Booker walked over and handed her a water bottle from an ice-filled bucket at a bench. “Shall we begin?”

Helena set the pace as she thought about what question she should start with.

“What’s on your mind, little lass?”

“I’m at a lost with how WITCH operates; the internal structure is still a mystery to me and I keep hearing about different classes.”

Booker hummed pensively. “Where do you want me to begin?”

“How about the top of WITCH and work your way down,” Helena suggested.

“Right, well—the top, of course, is the President. He’s the law around WITCH. Then there’s the Alpha, the check to the Primes. Then the Primes and Vice-President, they coordinated together, but the Primes aren’t under the Vice-President.”

“Is there any more information about the Alpha?” Helena cut in.

“Well, he’s kind of an extension of the President. He doesn’t really have a voice and doesn’t coordinate any kind of missions, just stays by the President as his authority.”

Helena nodded. “I see.” So, he’s saying he has no clue what the Alpha does or why he follows the President’s commands. “Continue.”

Booker took a quick inhale before continuing. “After the Vice-President and Primes, you have the Faction Generals, which usually stay in specific regions to receive their Prime’s orders.”

“Then the Generals are usually of higher power than normal SOP members?” Helena asked.

“In most cases,” Booker replied with a shrug, “There are some really strong Generals and really strong bottom level SOP, it just depends on their Prime’s decision as well as the individual’s goals … if the Prime feels like listening to them. However, to become a General, you have to pass the SSOP tests, which you somehow already know about. Usually, that information is only for Captains and above.”

“You’re a Captain, what does that encompass?”

“Me?” Booker laughed incredulously. “Yup, I’m just a Captain—we normally take orders from Majors, but here I take my orders from Belesis … but we don’t have a lot to do here at the moment.”

Belesis’ a General of Kara’s Faction and she gives orders straight to a Captain? There seems to be a large berth in ranks in the Northern Base. There has to be some kind of deeper relationship between them. The connection does seem somewhat muddled between Belesis and Booker with the ranking system.

“So Belesis gives the orders while Kara’s gone at this base, but that usually isn’t the order of ranking?” Helena questioned.

Booker fell silent for a few minutes as they jogged. He seemed to be considering how he should explain something. “Kind of, but the Generals usually have personally appointed leaders or messengers of their own.” Interesting; he said usually, so Belesis doesn’t have a team?

“What rank are these personal team members given?”

“A squad that’s personally under a General is a step above a Lieutenant Colonel, they’re called Colonels. Under the Lieutenant Colonels are Majors and under them are Captains, which then usually personally appointed first and second Lieutenants. Finally, under the Lieutenants are all the SOP members in an area.”

Helena frowned. That usually statement again … a lot of usuals and exceptions in this base. “Then where are all of Kara’s members. If you’re a Captain and Belesis is a General where are your teams and the Majors, Lieutenant Colonels, and Colonels?”

Falling silent, Booker frowned as they jogged a good ten minutes before answering again. Realizing her position in the rankings, Helena waiting patiently. “That’s the odd thing, you see. I just got promoted to a Captain and the same for Belesis as a General, but she’s fairly new to the Faction. She’s only been with Kara for a year, while I’ve been with Kara since the start of the Purists.”

Booker frowned at his statement. “She certainly has the ability and power to be a General, but she’s … too soft for the position. I keep telling Kara, but she won’t listen. I think Belesis should spend some time under Olivia in New Genesis before becoming a full General.”

“Olivia’s the General in New Genesis?” Helena took a drink of her water.

Booker smiled broadly. “Yeah, an older woman made of grit and nails. I don’t know where Kara found her, but she whips the new recruits into shape right quick.”

“WITCH runs New Genesis, right?” Helena slowed her pace slightly as sweat began appearing across Booker’s tan skin. They almost completed a full lap around the track at a swift pace.

“Hold—yeah, you could call it that. WITCH built New Genesis from an old esper colony called Genesis.”

“So, WITCH has a capital city of their own, like Tech City for Tech’s people. I’ve heard that New Genesis only has espers in it. Is that true?”

Booker was silent for several more minutes as he worked around his mouth and considered several approaches. He was starting to slow at a consistent pace. In that time, they passed the checkpoint. “Well—WITCH seems somewhat peaceful and relaxed here at the Northern Base, but its brutality isn’t something to take lightly.”

This is peaceful and relaxed? Interesting, I might get some real answers about WITCH’s structure. “How so?”

“A large portion of WITCH’s resources are diverted at the moment in the southeast and midsouth sections of Elestveeve for subtle conquest. There’s also resistance in the Palma Islands that keeps arising.”

“What about the far East? I know we are in the northeast and WITCH is setting up a base on the Palma Islands or already has, but in the far Mideast is Tech. Would they sit idle, while WITCH conquers territory around them?”

“No—and they’ve been gathering Espit since their founding a hundred and fifty-six years ago. Tech has managed to gather a large portion of it and construct a fair share of their upper city with the stones mixed into its design. It’s like an esper death trap; all espers born there die as children, CFD.”

“I guess it’s an effective means to ensure espers aren’t born among them. I didn’t know that Tech was built within that short of a span. How long has WITCH been around then?”

“Best guess I heard was approximated at two hundred years, maybe a bit more,” Booker said with a studious frown. Before Tech’s founding and how did both of them wrestle control of this side of the continent from the Houses and Deities?

“You hinted that New Genesis’ not as calm as it seems. What did you mean by that?”

Booker was now sweating and breathing heavily, they’d been jogging at a fast pace for over thirty minutes. “I see—you learned—Kara’s—little trick.” He huffed with a smirk as he clutched his side. I guess talking and jogging at this speed is hard for normal muscles, even if tone.

“Let’s stop for a moment,” Helena suggested while trying to sound somewhat strained.

“You don’t—have to act for me—little lass,” Booker wheezed as they slowed. “I should have brought another water bottle.”

She handed him her water bottle. He opened the lid and squeezed it into his mouth, water wetting his lips. Finishing with a gasp, he wiped the liquid from his lips and stretched a little. Helena waited for him to catch his breath, leaning up against a layered hard bark tree, its long leaves sprouted out in stiff horizontal patterns to provide excellent shade from the UV lights.

Catching his breath, Booker continued. “New Genesis is under the President’s direct and complete authority, meaning a totalitarian political structure, but as I said before, masked as authoritarian. The same is said about every level of the color Factions and what makes Kara’s different.”

“Different how?” Helena questioned.

“Kara doesn’t make her members do anything but sets a number of goals that need to be accomplished and allows the districts to vote to decide who takes the job. If no one wants it then a Lieutenant will normally step in and volunteer his squad.”

“Has that ever happened?”

“Not while I’ve been in—which is since the start. So, nope.” That’s a surprise.

“When were the Purists created?”

Booker thought for a moment as he motioned that he was ready to continue the jog. “She turned sixteen three months ago—well, everyone celebrates that day as her birthday—so, about five years to date,” Booker said thoughtfully examining his memories.

Helena was extremely impressed and intimidated. “She challenged the Prime’s rule at eleven?”

“It was right after her Secondary Awakening,” Booker said. Another thing I’m completely unaware of!

“What’s a Secondary Awakening?”

Booker looked astonished. “Only the thing every young esper dreams about! The Secondary Awakening is when the seal on your Focus Facet breaks. You honestly didn’t know that?” Oh, it’s what Kara described. “It marks an esper’s maturity. Basically, an esper gets a power boost at their Awakening.” She skipped over that little detail. She only said that it would change my Focus Regeneration.

“In what way does it give a power boost?” Helena asked.

“A physical change happens to the brain’s processing capabilities. You get smarter and have better control. With that also comes more Focus Capacity, and Force as the new torrent blows through your Force cavity.” It makes a little more sense.

“So, that causes a burst of forced Focus to expel, causing a short spike?”

Pursing his lips, Booker said, “Yeah, usually it’s like a flash of energy that bursts out, but it’s not really that big of a deal if you’ve been working on control as you should. I mean, how can an esper gain more Focus then they can control? I’ve never heard of something like that happening.”

Helena gulped and a large weight pressed against her chest. What’s going to happen to me when my tap restraint is broken? Will my earrings keep it in check or will it all burst out of me? Kara forgot to mention that little detail or maybe didn’t want to scare me.

Getting back into rhythm with his steps, she asked, “Can we go back to WITCH’s structure. There seem to be non-espers working at this facility. Are there other positions besides esper SOP rankings, like those OP’s Teams the Operations Manager has control over?”

“Yes, the most powerful non-esper position is the Vice-President. The position directly under him is equivalent enough to at most question a Captain and that’s the District Supervisor. There’s a District Supervisor in each base and they take care of final base decisions. However, this base doesn’t have one, since the Vice-President’s main housing is here.” Why doesn’t he live in New Genesis, at WITCH’s heart?

“Under the DS is the SS or Section Supervisors. They have a little bit of weight with SOP members, but only in their direct fields.”

“The SS are like Supply, Operations, and Security Supervisors, right?” Helena asked, recounting previous books she read on common organization infrastructures and what information she had browsed in their system.

“Yes, they have specific control over their fields and can extend into others if the occasion demands it. The one with the most pull would be the Operations and Security Manager since it can encompass the entire base facilities.” Ventre’s position.

“What about all the random personnel? Where does WITCH find them?”

“Ultimately they’re slaves.” Booker shifted his position uncomfortably. “WITCH collects them from around their territories. They can be claimed by the Deity Faith or Tech Citizens, but we’re too far away from the Deity Capital and Tech has lost a lot of control in the last few years with a few revolts.

“That’s the largest problem with the Deity Empire and why I suspect the Great Houses have started joining WITCH. Their vast territory stretches too far for them to govern. They simply don’t have the military power to enforce it all. Since the Great Houses are unwilling to appoint anyone as a lands caretaker and take on full responsibility. WITCH takes these people away from their families and promises they’ll be taken care of as long as he learns a specific trade.

“Most of the espers found in these towns are taken to New Genesis, either secretly or by force. They usually only make it to operation teams, which the different Supervisors have command over. Occasionally, an SOP member will take interest in one and see about indoctrinating them into their Faction, that’s Kara’s main way of recruitment.” So, that’s it. WITCH blackmailed Deity and Tech Citizens into operating their systems.

“What do the Color Factions actually do in WITCH?” Helena asked.

“Well—as SOP indicates, we take care of special operations. If it’s a large force or small incursion, we take care of it. It could be a simple extraction job to espionage to full out army annihilation as the Primes have well enough power to do so.” Really, they have enough power to take out entire armies?

Helena hummed nervously. “I have no formal training from WITCH. I’ll be expected to fit into a Faction, into a team, and accomplish these feats?”

“Honestly—I don’t know, little lass. I mean, Kara did bump you up a lot of training levels. Essentially, she dropped four years of experience that prepares you for this contest. That’s even after the five years you’d be taught different languages, tactics, and survival techniques. Many SOP members train from mental cognition.” If someone’s born to an SOP life, it doesn’t seem like they are given much room to think for themselves. Just follow orders and a set schedule.

“That means that Kara was also bumped up a few levels, to have already gained the power to challenge the Primes at age eleven?” Helena asked.

Booker looked somewhat flustered. “Truthfully, I don’t know. The Boss’ past is a mystery like I said. No one at my level knows anything; I only met her a few weeks before she challenged the Primes. If anyone has knowledge of the Boss, it’s the Primes, she kind of came from left field.”

They stopped, while passing the checkpoint and grabbed some water bottles, continuing on. She’s done a fantastic job at keeping her past concealed; to what lengths did she take?

“Is there anything else you can tell me about WITCH’s goals?” Helena asked as they started on the trail again.

Booker stumbled. “Umm, well, besides what I told you—the President wants to take over Elestveeve—I suppose.”

“But, why?”

Booker shrugged. “Like I said, I doubt Kara even knows the real reason, we’re all the same, trapped by power, even the Primes.” Expanding WITCH’s territory and to have a totalitarian rule over it. It seems too fickle of an idea to be practiced for over two hundred years and passing through multiple Presidents. There has to be a grand scheme underlining the simplistic plan for subtle conquest.

“What are the conditions like at New Genesis?”

Booker let out a long sigh. “Harsh—I’m glad I was able to leave that oppressive environment.”

Helena’s brows knitted together as she took a sidelong glance at Booker, his sweat sticking to his skin as he huffed beside her. That’s the first positive lie I’ve heard from Booker. It was very faint, but I know I felt a twitch in his heart’s rhythm. Maybe he does have something he missed there. Maybe that’s why Belesis doesn’t have a chance with his affections as Klen said. Maybe he has someone else he loves?

“Imagine a sky that’s always overcast, showering the city with ash from the factories and volcanic ash that suffocates the blue sky. There are cold winds constantly flowing around a deteriorating city; rotting skyscrapers and small structures surround the city, completely in disarray.

“There’s an extremely thick mist that floats in from the east sea, where two contrasting winds meet, one cold, the other warm. The mist blankets the city over two hundred days of the year and ashen overcast clouds cover the rest. Some say it hasn’t broken in over a hundred years.

“It rarely snows, but it’s never above ten degrees Celsius and you have to add wind temperature to that. That’s the kind of conditions the espers of New Genesis work in and you know what’s kind of sick?” Booker asked.

Helena felt his heart beat rising, even with the workout. “The ash that mingles with the fog … some of it is the burnt remains of dead espers.”

Helena glanced sideward at Booker. “They burn the dead in the same fires they use?”

“Yes, it’s not uncommon to see someone die at the heart of the city, which is by far the worst area. You know why?” Helena shook her head. He’s really getting into the story, but I’m getting good data from it.

“It’s because the heart of the city is where the Tenants are and the Shimmering Fiend’s headquarters, Sevilla’s hangout.” Helena recognized his heart start to even out and his demeanor seemed to shift darkly, but only for a second.

“Shelter’s a privilege, even though it’s a big city and can house every esper. Some espers live in entire skyscrapers, while below, tens of thousands of espers huddle in the backstreets without the ability to even light a fire.” They can’t even light a fire? How do they enforce that and by what means?

“Why can’t they light a fire?”

“Everything for the slave class is distributed by hours. It’s a way to give them a small ounce of hope for advancement. Every two hours someone works get them one ticket.”

Helena’s hum was low. It’s an easy system to get productivity, but how do they administer it and what are the prizes for the tickets?

Voicing some of her thoughts, she asked, “What’s the average ticket ratio per person for a set period and what are the distribution exchange items for their labor?”

“On average—a person will work from sixteen to eighteen hours straight, seven days a week for four weeks.”

Helena whispered. “Two hundred and forty to two hundred and seventy tickets a month.”

Booker nodded. “Three square meals are provided, no charge, but expected to be eaten while working. Water is also provided free of ticket expense.”

“I understand,” Helena commented, “they can’t have their workers becoming unhealthy, an efficient calculation on WITCH’s part.”

Breathing for a second, Booker slowed a bit. “Well—yeah, but shelter as I said, is a luxury and even heat. It takes two tickets to just light a fire for one hour and it costs two hundred and twenty tickets for a month of shelter.” I still don’t understand how they enforce all of these conditions over the entire city unless they have a full army and continually have the city under surveillance.

“That must be very harsh on the bodies’ of New Genesis, in a constant season of winter-like conditions and forced to spend points on shelter.”

“Not just that, but medical attention is also a luxury. It costs a hundred and fifty tickets for a single visit from a WITCH Biokinetic.” It continually gets more simplistic, can it really be that easy of a system?

“Then I assume WITCH snatches any Biokinetic they can find on the streets?”

“You’d be correct,” Booker grunted. They left the branch off twelve minutes earlier. Booker was panting as they slowed to a stop. Helena drank a little bit of her drink and handed it to Booker, who gratefully took it and downed its content. “Once you pass the contest, you’ll probably be sent on duty at New Genesis as an Overseer.”

Helena furrowed her brow. “Overseer … I’ll be enforcing the laws the President puts into effect?”

Shrugging, Booker passively played with the empty bottle. “In a way—your main duty will be suppressing revolutionists.”

Helena frowned. “Isn’t that the Green’s title, Suppressors?”

Laughing, Booker said. “You really are observant. Yes, you’ll be working in conjunction with Green and Turquoise. There’s a lot of tension between them and even more with their Primes. So you’ll have to watch your back, Brock and Sevilla are the longest living Primes and have a deep grudge against each other. No one really knows why it’s something personal. But … I think I’m going to head back and take a shower.” Booker wiped the sweat off his brow.

Stretching, with a yawn escaping his mouth, Helena said. “Can I ask one more thing?”

Booker emulated her action, saying, “Sure thing, little lass—what’s on your mind?”

Helena scrutinized Booker inquisitively. “You said, once I pass the contest, not if. You expect I’ll pass?”

A wide grin broke across Booker’s lips. “Far too observant, little lass. Yes, I think you’ll pass. After all, you’ve run a stitch into me.” He finished with a hearty laugh. Turning, he waved the back of his hand at her. “I’ve got credits on you, little lass. You’ve got what it takes.”

Helena’s frown deepened. We get paid?

Jogging for three more hours, she finally began to feel the burn in her muscles and she started to sweat. However, a smile broke across her face. I didn’t stop because of a headache, but because my muscles aren’t tone. That’s a huge improvement.

Heading back to the rest stop, she started searching for a female shower room but instead found a spa. They must power their base through thermodynamics. I’ve never been in a real spa. Although, I read somewhere that thermodynamic power was quite volatile...

Entering the female side, she removed her clothing and took out the extra pills from her pocket, placing them in a basket. Throwing the jogging clothes into a hamper, she soaked in the water and washed for thirty minutes. Not a single person entered. It really does seem dead on this side of the base.

Drying herself off, she found a message pop-up on her HCID. It notifies me of my messages without prompt. That’s nice. The message read:

Lady Vandred, I apologize for the delay, but that vicious toad had picked out such horrid clothing for a Lady of your status. I’ve been all over the clothing department and added sets of clothes to your closet. All in accordance to what will fit your looks!

I’m starting to faint while writing this … so, I’ll probably be asleep by the time you return. I apologize for using your bed, but it’s comfy…

Closing the message, she moved to the robing area. At least I have clothes now and Belesis … a General, near the highest ranking person within the Purist Faction, ordered them for me. This can’t be appropriate … Booker may be right, she’s too soft, but … I kind of like her personality. She just needs to learn how to be a leader, because she’s acting like a proper House servant.

Finding a comfortable robe size and slippers in a side compartment, she placed the pills into its pockets. Removing her dirty clothes from the locker, she backtracked to the hamper and threw them in. She didn’t know how WITCH handled dirty clothing, but there were other dirty clothes inside the hamper. She then made her way back to the front, stretching with a long sigh. It’s time for me to get some rest and start my jogging again in the morning.

She made her way back to her room, Belesis probably sleeping in her bed. How long does she need to sleep to recover her Focus? She’s healed a lot of my tissue over the past few days. She’ll probably sleep for a while.

Helena entered her room’s hallway and froze as a prickling sensation spiked her perception. A strange disturbance circulated in her room. The electrons are moving in an odd manner and I’m seeing a blurred image of a person inside? How can I not make them out?

Hesitating at the door, Helena examined the interior with her active reception, but the information was still warped. There are two bioelectrical signals. One is Belesis, but I’ve never encountered the second and it’s causing a strange alteration in all three of my sensing aspects. It has to be someone’s ability, but to cause such a modification in their environment? I won’t get any answers out here.

Opening the door, Helena began to enter the room when her reception warped, in a torrent, her reception was being distorted in a wave-like pattern. Her body convulsed with a shiver. I can’t get into that field, whatever’s coming, it’s dangerous!