An average staircase in a house had roughly thirteen stairs. This one had at least twenty. It was brightly lit and clean the whole way down, but I couldn’t help but be on edge. I remembered one of my last conversations with Healer Jonovan, how he’d let it slip that this cult was dangerous and to stay away. I’d promised him I would, yet here I was.

The stairs bottomed out to another hallway with white walls, a ceiling with mushroom lights every five feet, and a dirt floor — which explained the earthy smell I’d picked up before descending. The hall was at least the length of a football field and there wasn’t another soul in sight, but there was noise coming from the stairway at the other end. It sounded like a lot of people.

As I walked closer to the noise, I played over what the woman said before I left her. She mentioned someone named Dr. E. Ironically, that wasn’t the first time I’d heard that name. The first time was from Green five days ago. I heard it again just yesterday from Yellow. Dr. E was the client the rainbow brigade was getting the Cyan-Agaric for. Did they have a tie to the cult? I hoped not.

I was curious about the cult, true. But honestly, it was because — if this cult had some knowledge of the parasite planet, I hoped there’d be someone here that could help me save Earth; that I’d make an ally of some kind. I wouldn’t have to convince them about the threat against Earth or the danger of the crystals — they’d already know — and maybe the Hunter Association would take my reports more seriously if I had someone else backing up what I said.

Even as I thought through my plan, I remembered what Healer Jonovan had told me about the drugs dealt here. They secretly lure people to their meetings and fill their heads with nonsense while releasing a vaporized drug into the air.

And it could be instantly deadly for humans.

If it was that dangerous, it needed to be stopped.

I stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked up to the opening above my head. As brightly lit as it was down here, was how dim it was up there. Many voices echoed from the open doorway, too many to count. The words overlapped and drowned each other out, some yelling, some talking quietly, some excited, some nervous.

I couldn’t stay down there forever so I climbed up. The narrow space opened up to a large room — a gymnasium, maybe? It was hard to tell. Even with my enhanced eyesight, the large cloth sheets hanging on the walls blocked any distinguishing features. All that was left was a huge room with hundreds of people standing and a large stage set up at the front of it all. There were no visible windows, they were probably covered with the dark material, just dimmed hanging lights from the high ceiling. It was enough for the average human to see the person next to them, but not be able to make out someone five feet away.

Not that it mattered. Everyone was wearing white masquerade masks, just like me. They seemed to glow in the dark, and I felt like I was standing in a crowd of ghosts. Some people stood together, strangers becoming acquainted and other groups of people who obviously knew each other. There were some people like me, stragglers that stood alone, some fidgeting nervously, some looking around with interest.

What surprised me was the wide range of appeal in the crowd. There were Hunters with good gear, Hunters with cheap gear, humans with expensive clothes, and humans with discounted clothes. Granted, most of the people with expensive clothing were human, but I was under the impression that only E Hunters were interested in the cult.

Then I saw something that sent a chill down my spine.

Ten feet away from me were two young men, standing together and talking quietly. One of them was wearing a varsity jacket from Aliya’s school. It had this year's graduating date on it and everything. These boys were Aliya’s high school peers. I turned my head and noticed another group of kids, obviously not old enough to be graduated.

How far reaching was this cult?

Suddenly fog started to billow from the side curtains around the stage. It spread over the stage and spilled down on the floor, twisting around people’s feet. More fog came from the top of the curtain and spilled down like a waterfall.

The crowd instantly hushed.

I frowned and covered my nose as the chemical smell of the artificial fog caused my eyes to sting. It sure as hell wasn’t the refreshing breath that my mist had, that’s for sure.

Blue laser lights burst from the top of the stage, five from each corner, and low mystical music started to play in surround sound from speakers hidden behind the hanging cloths. The lights shot into the fog then started to twist and turn, creating distorted images in the white substance. The earth and stars were depicted. Suddenly, two lightning strikes came from both sides of the curtains. They hit each other and exploded into a blindingly bright flash behind the waterfall of fog. When the light faded away, the laser lights depicted a dragon fighting Hunters, the colors changing from blue to red to green.

I gasped with the crowd, watching the story play out. I’d never seen anything like this. I didn’t have the time or money to go to shows and concerts with my friends. I was too busy trying to keep my family in order. I definitely didn’t think that I’d see something like this here.

The Hunters in the light show teamed up and attacked the dragon. Swing by colorful swing, and flash by color flash of magic, the Hunters slayed the dragon.

The crowd around me cheered, completely entranced by the light display. If I wasn’t so on edge about finding an ally and worrying about human teens present, I might have cheered too.

“That’s what it’s supposed to be like, huh?” A mellow man’s voice echoed around the gym.

Another flash of lightning bolts collided with each other. When the light faded, a man was standing on the stage. He was tall and slim, and his white priest robe with vertical blue accents only emphasized his lengthy build. His face was covered by a full mask. It was impossible to tell if the features indented on white surface were his own or made up. The mask went up his forehead and cut off in sharp square lines. Bleached hair spilled around the mask and down his narrow neck to brush at his shoulders.

He walked forward on the stage, the fog wafting around his white boots. “The monster gets defeated by Hunters and everyone cheers, right?” He motioned with his white gloved hands. “Isn’t it?” he asked, prompting the crowd.

A couple people in the front gave weak sounds of agreement.

“But that’s not what’s really happening, is it?” he concluded, his soothing voice rich with disappointment.

The crowd murmured with confusion as they looked at each other. That is what happened inside the Gate every day.

The man on the stage lifted his hand. The laser turned on again, showing the dragon and Hunters light show. But another element was added. Underneath the fight were smaller people, Hunters holding weapons and people without weapons — humans. Every time the dragon and bigger Hunters acted, the smaller people were stepped on, blasted with the attacks. Died. Until at the end, it was simply the larger, stronger Hunters standing. The dragon and smaller people were snuffed out.

“This is how it really is,” the man concluded. “The unspoken rule: The strong survive and the weak are simply their stepping stones for success.”

A hush fell over the crowd. Not a single person tried to argue.

The fog stopped billowing over the stage as the man walked forward till he was at the edge of the stage. “I am Epson. And I speak the truth. The truths you have come to find. The truths that the government, both human and Hunter alike, want to keep hidden.”

Okay, so far, this was not what I expected. But maybe now, maybe this was the moment this leader guy would validate what I knew about the parasite planet.

The crowd drifted closer to the stage, staring up in interest. I slipped around milling people, also edging my way closer. There were some who didn’t get closer, their posture indicating that they were still on edge, but I wanted to get a better look at Epson — and the handful of Hunters behind the curtains. Two had to be the Mages that crashed their lightning together. Who else was behind there?

“For two decades, our planet has been wracked with danger. We hide inside our cities, not braving to go out of the walls that imprison us just as much as it protects us. Do you remember what it was like before the Gates came?” Epson looked around the crowd.

For a second, his eyes landed on me. I frowned and stared back, refusing to look away. His gaze moved on.

“I do. I remember going camping with my family in the forests, not caring about what dangers were out there because we were at the top of the food chain. I remember being able to go to every part of the city. There were no walls, no restricted access in and out, like with Eden and Garden City. I remember a government that cared for its people. They gave food to the hungry, provided housing for the homeless, healthcare to those that couldn’t afford it.” He paused and looked around. “I understand that this sounds like a myth to some of you, since you aren’t old enough to remember. But others can attest for me.”

Younger people glanced around, looking for validation to this man’s memories. There were murmurs of agreement with the older people in the crowd. The veterans that lived through the collapse of society and were there every grueling step to get back to the life that we had today.

I had to admit, the world that Epson talked about sounded like a dream — everyone had food, housing, you could go anywhere. None of that came without a heavy price nowadays. Even with food and housing handled, the movements of the people were still very restricted. It was safe to say that the government knew what part of the city every individual was at any given point of the day.

It was even more so with Hunters and their guides. The pearls embedded in our temples didn’t just provide help, it also served as a potential tracking device outside of the Gate. Granted, the person had to do something really big before the government allowed law officials to track a person’s pearl, but the possibility was always there.

Epson looked around. “Back then, we were a land of the free. We could do anything we wanted, be anything that we wanted, live anywhere that we wanted. Tell me, is that possible today?” When the people responded more than ever before, he shook his head. “No. Of course not. Every person in the country is told what to be from the time they learn to walk. I am no exception. I wanted to be a surgeon when I was a boy. The Gates opened and I awakened as a Melee Hunter when I was a teen. There were no other choices left. I only had one choice — to fight. It didn’t matter if I liked it or not, that’s what I was told to do. Going to medical school and saving lives, which I had been studying for my whole life, wasn’t possible because I didn’t have magic and wasn’t a normal human anymore.” Sadness dripped from his compelling voice. “That same thing goes on today.”

I stood there, surrounded by people, hearing Epson tell his story and other people agreeing with him. Some shared their own experiences with their companions, a couple girls not far away even sniffled.

I couldn’t help but admire the guy. A surgeon huh? He sure had a steady hand for when it came to handling this crowd with finesse. Something I could never do. First he amazed them with the light show to perk their interest, then he shocked them as he hammered a stake into their sore spot labeling them all as cannon fodder for the strong, then he won their hearts with a sob story — one that they had all experienced. The man on the stage did a fantastic job making himself seem just like everyone else.

Would his tales evolve into the truth behind Earth’s greatest threat? Would this Dr. E be my ally?

A System message popped open before me. [Noxious contaminant detected. Please beware.]