Xander carefully read through the mission description as he rested his battle hammer on his shoulder.

New ONIM Function: [Missions] unlocked. New Priority Mission received! Priority Mission: Investigate the Marco for Corrupted Humans. Eliminate with extreme prejudice.

Threat level: Low

Rewards: 5 Nexus Merits, 100 Lumina Shards Objectives

- Locate all Corrupted Humans (In progress: 0/??) - Eliminate all Corrupted Humans (In progress: 0/??)

Already he felt troubled, seeing as how the mission was forcing him to fight—and quite likely—kill another human being.

Xander looked over his [Map], which has been updated to look highly detailed, to the point where wireframe models of a coffee mug and the receptionist’s table were visible. First, however, he examined the numerous white figures, which previously were just spheres, throughout the hotel area.

They represented a life sign of a human. Thankfully it was a slow month, and there weren’t too many people in the hotel.

The lobby had twenty people, including the Tier I’s. The restaurant had a few employees, but the function halls were empty. Additionally, figures roamed around the hallways, either janitorial, guests, or one of the corrupted.

The four floors above him had some rooms filled with guests. Counting them all, Xander came up to sixty-six individuals.

Outside, guests occupied some of the cabins. Xander counted forty people, including a cluster of what looked like the people who followed Anna outside. They were heading back to the hotel’s main building, making it easier to round the rest up with the security guard’s assistance.

Apart from them, the remaining people outside were very few, one looked to be standing in the middle of the parking lot, but it’s unclear whether he was one of the corrupted or someone taking a smoke.

Xander wondered why the Harbinger couldn’t scan the Corrupted Humans in the hotel, so he asked the alien why that was so.

“My ability is less effective in distinguishing these individuals, and their mind infection was designed to counteract our surveillance. However, given enough time, the changes due to their conversion become more evident and will be shown on your [Map].”

Once Xander’s query was answered, he pondered how to accomplish the mission. However, his contemplation was interrupted when he felt someone poke him in the shoulder.

Looking to the left, he saw Anna with a concerned expression on her.

“What’s up, Anna?” Xander asked softly.

“I know we received this mission, but isn’t this out of our league, Xand? We just came here to get this assessment done and bailout. We still have to head to your parents.”

“Ah, hell. I got hyper-focused again,” Xander’s face scrunched up in irritation.

Whenever a problem or a goal presented itself—whether mundane or complex—Xander would throw himself into it with total concentration and get severe tunnel vision. It was worse if he was with others working towards the same objective, to the point where he would ignore anyone trying to get his attention unless they poked him in the shoulder to bring him out of his zen.

Xander let out a muffled groan. Leaving things unfinished peeved him.

“You’re right, Anna. But I think this is an amazing opportunity for us to not only get to test out our new strengths and weapons but we’ll learn more about what we’re up against. Plus, there are the rewards,” Xander reasoned.

Anna sighed.

“Maybe. This mission is an opportunity for sure. But is it even possible for us to refuse this mission?"

“I’m afraid not, Conscript Anna. You must complete Priority Missions issued by the Omninexus to the best of your ability. It may update the mission parameters depending on the situation,” the Harbinger clarified to the gathered Tier I’s.

“Right, I kind of guessed that was the case,” Anna mumbled under her breath.

“Excuse me, is our current mission merely to act as exterminators? What about the civilians?” The tanned-skinned older gentleman in the taqiyah cap queried to the alien.

“That is not your objective to worry about at this moment. The rest of the Tier α’s will be informed what to do,” the Harbinger reassured them.

“Still, it would be good to get everyone into a single group here in the lobby. That way, anyone who isn’t here is more likely to be Corrupted Humans,” Xander put forward while scratching his cheek.

“By the way, I’m Xander. Xander Stahl. This is Anna,” Xander spoke with a hand on his chest before gesturing towards Anna.

“Hello,” Anna nodded in greeting with her hands crossed.

“My name is Albert Rehmann. I work here, but it’s my day off. I just came to get something I left behind in the staff room. I still can't believe all of this is going on, Ya Allah…” Albert shook his head dejectedly.

“Joyce. Good to meet you all,” she waved in greeting.

“Oh, uh, I’m Peter. I’m a sole proprietor,” the man reached out for each of our hands and shook them.

All five proceeded to discuss how to go about their task. Finally, they all agreed to follow Xander’s plan of rounding everyone up, then scouring each floor.

At that time, the people who followed Anna when she faked asking for help came back into the lobby.

Not wanting to deal with the confused arrivals, Xander politely asked Albert to deal with his colleagues and explain the situation.

The group moved to receive their assessment, though a few were too wary of the Harbinger to come close.

Luckily, another Tier I was added to their team—one of the security guards who was somewhere in his late twenties.

When he approached them, Anna stealthily moved behind Xander to avoid being seen but still got noticed. Fortunately, the bespectacled security guard, Isaac, was too focused on the mission he also received.

“I’m assuming you all have some sort of plan?” The smart-looking man inquired the five as he looked over his alien stun gun. When he received the Support occupation, Isaac explained he had no desire for personal power and went into security for an easy life.

“Yeah, since there are six of us, I think we should split up into two groups. Anna, Isaac, and I will be Team A. We’ll search the cabin area. The rest follows Albert to the floors above as Team B,” Xander answered.

“Hold on! Why do you get to have a guard with you?” Peter hectically asked, earning a snort from the irritated look from Joyce and snort from Albert.

“Because he’s a Support, and he has a stun gun just like you. Two Conscripts, one support for each team. We also have two Tier I’s who work here—I’m referring to Albert and Issac— in each team, so we’ll get around easier,” Xander slowly explained towards the frazzled Peter.

Xander spoke mostly in truth, but a part of him did want an experienced fighter along with him. And though he has confidence in Anna’s rookie marksmanship, he’d prefer there being another with a gun on them.

“Oh, uh, right. Sorry,” he sheepishly murmured.

The six Tier I’s gathered everyone in the lobby and saw how people looked lost in their situation. Some had varying degrees of sullen expressions, while others were busy on their phones talking.

“So, who’s gonna tell them?” Xander asked his comrades.

“Not me! I-I have… I wouldn’t be suitable, I mean,” the man in the shabby business suit exclaimed awkwardly.

Xander was about to ask Albert if he could use his hotel staff charm, but the older man was already shifting away.

Xander finally looked at Isaac, who, seeing as everyone else chose to be shy tonight, let out a soft sigh as he resigned himself to becoming the de-facto speaker of their newly organized group.

“Alright, everyone! Listen up, friends. If you can, kindly call everyone to come to the lobby. Staff, get on the hotel phone. If you have friends or family in their rooms, please call them down. We think it would be best if everyone stayed together. After that, you can all decide to leave as a group and the other security guards. I repeat we are evacuating the hotel. I apologize for the poor reception due to an alien invasion. Thank you,” Isaac calmly and clearly spoke to the frightened group of Tier α’s.

“Excuse me, guard. A-are you going to leave us by ourselves?” A middle-aged woman in a black shift dress directed her question towards the Tier I's.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We won’t abandon you. We’ll come back from our search if the lobby is under threat. But we have a mission from this Omninexus, and we intend to finish it.

Everyone undoubtedly looked nervous at the moment. So while the Tier α’s stuck close to each other and reorganized, the Tier I’s readied themselves.

Xander, Anna, and Isaac moved to exit the lobby while the other team took an elevator.

Before they opened the glass double doors that led to the dark outside, Xander looked towards his two companions, specifically the weapons in their hands.

“I think we should all know what our weapons can do and what gene booster we got. Mine is Might, and I know Anna got Alacrity. Anyways, this is my hammer, and I love her,” Xander spoke with a smug grin as he raised his Conscript battle hammer.

Anna whistled in appreciation before her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“Wait, why did you get a melee weapon? Its description is rad and all but—”

“Someone needs to protect you gun-wielding folk. And I can take one of my dad’s guns after this is over,” Xander shrugged with a confident smirk.

“Riiight…” Anna drawled, entirely unconvinced.

“You’ll realize your doubts are unfounded soon enough,” Xander chuckled.

“If both of you are done joking around, I’d just want to mention that I chose Fortitude,” Isaac said with a mildly annoyed tone.

Xander and Anna looked at each other then turned to Isaac.

“You want to be a space wizard that bad, huh?” Anna teasingly questioned.

Isaac went quiet and looked away.

“...Yes,” A quiet voice left Isaac’s lips.

Xander and Anna had a hearty laugh as Isaac’s face flushed before continuing, “I heard that Psi was an Aspect. So, yes, I chose Fortitude. It didn’t raise my Psi, but it did increase Body by 0.5 and Mind by two. As a result, my senses feel sharper, and my thoughts are so much more organized. And I think my aim will be much more accurate.”

The two Conscripts were impressed by what he described after his change.

“Urgh, I’m starting to regret my choice in gene booster,” Xander groaned as Anna pursed her lips.

“Whatever, we’ll have ways to increase it, I suppose. Anyways, here’s my gun.”

Anna raised her gray-metal pistol.

Looking closer, Xander observed how it resembled an amalgamation of a nail gun and Glock. The compact design looked quite pleasing to the eye. Xander used his ONIM to read its description.

Ballistic Firearm: Conscript Slugger Handgun (Tier I) This handgun is a standard sidearm for many Conscripts. It fires a highly impactful kinetic slug through its miniaturized magnetic rail projector. The body and its ammo are made of Lustrous Steel. The handgun is designed for short to medium range and carries 16 slugs. It has minor self-repair, maintenance functions, and a recoil compensator.

Apart from Anna’s impressive handgun, she also received four extra magazines, which she stuffed in her hoodie pocket.

What a weapon. It’s like firing a shotgun slug from a pistol. I can imagine a rifle would pack as much punch as .50 cal. Yet, I somehow feel my hammer is somewhat inadequate. No! Don’t think that. She’ll prove herself soon enough.

Xander looked over to Isaac’s weapon.

It was similar in style to Anna’s except being smaller and its square barrel.

Non-lethal Support Device: Paralysis Pulser (Tier I) This device is a popular choice for many Supports. It projects a circular pulse from its barrel that inflicts minor paralysis on the target. The frame is made of Lustrous Steel. The device is intended for close-quarter engagements or self-defense and can be recharged via Psi power cells or any Omninexus recharge station. Additionally, it has minor self-repair and maintenance functions.

That’s quite a versatile self-defense weapon. So many people would love to carry this around and zap creeps with it. Starting to notice how typical a metal this Lustrous Steel is to be used as material for what is essentially starting gear. I can’t imagine what higher tiers use as weapons. Laser rifles? Light-sabers? Mechs?

Xander shook his head. There was a time for imagining the wonders of advanced alien technology, and this isn't it.

Finished with analyzing each other’s capabilities, the trio left the main hotel building and walked towards the cabin area.

They felt the nighttime air chill around them approaching the housing units. Xander took the central position as Anna and Isaac flanked his sides, weapons close to their chests and ready to fire.

The team reached the cabin, where Anna heard the haunting voice. She gritted her teeth as she came closer to Xander’s side. Her eyes alight with the need for revenge after getting so humiliatingly afraid.

Their [Map] told them there was a single person inside, in what was the cabin’s bathroom. The three looked through the curtained windows for anything suspicious, not wanting to leave their battle-awareness to their ONIM.

The team was deathly quiet as they approached the door leading inside—still slightly ajar.

Xander took the front. Isaac placed one hand on his left shoulder with his weapon pointed at the entrance. Anna did the same but kept her eyes towards the surroundings if they were ambushed. They couldn’t look at their [Map] all the time, and reducing it to a minimap was distracting.

Xander looked at his companions, and his eyes questioned if they were ready. Finally, they nodded at each other in confirmation.

Xander took a deep breath.

He then kicked the door with all his strength, knocking a hinge off as it slammed to the wall connecting it.

“What the hell are you doing!? We were supposed to do this quietly!” Isaac yelled out at Xander.

“I was in the moment, sue me,” Xander retorted back.

“Ah, screw it. Move over, boys,” Anna pushed the two men aside as she raised her pistol.

“Hey! Come out, you creepy fuck!” She shouted towards the bathroom.

Xander tried flicking on the light switch to no avail, so he moved towards the windows and opened the curtains to let in the moonlight. He observed the absolute mess of the cabin. Furniture was overturned, and what looked like an alien script was written all over the white sheets and beige walls. Looking at the strange runic symbols made Xander’s eyes itch, making him look away.

“Xand, get over here!”

“Right,” Xander moved over between his companions as they stood in the middle of the ruined living space.

A few seconds of silence permeated throughout the room. Then, the trio’s breaths and the occasional creak of the wooden floor were the only sounds to be heard.

Then they heard it.

A quiet giggle echoed from the bathroom. Then a footstep. And another.

The door of the bathroom squeaked as it slowly opened. All the while, the giggle grew into a manic cackle.

The figure that finally came out was a sorry excuse of a human holding a butter knife. If the older man were healthy, he would have looked welcome to the eyes. But now, its ashen-skinned form walked in clumsy steps as he situated himself opposite the team. He was sweating profusely all over his wrinkled skin. The final vestiges of hair gathered in loose clumps on his scalp after what looked to be an attempt to tear it out.

“Urgh...” Anna murmured under her breath, ill at ease.

The older man raised his head, tears of blood streamed down his cheek.

Before anything continued, Isaac spoke to him.

“Mr. Paolo, please, listen to me and drop the knife if that's still you in there,” Isaac pleaded to him.

“Drop?” the croaky and breathy voice flowed out of his mouth, his expression morphing from insane laughter to masked innocence.

“Yes, drop it, please.”

Xander and Anna waited with tensed muscles. Xander’s grip on his hammer tightened.

“Drop. Dropdropdrop,” the old man swayed and giggled as he repeated the word faster and faster.

“Mr. Paolo, fight it—”

Suddenly, the older man twisted his form, propelling his arm that held the knife so fast it likely injured him.

Isaac barely dodged the sharp projectile that sailed past his head. Anna immediately fired a slug, missing once as the Corrupted Human lunged at Isaac. She fired again, carving a long wound on his cheek and ripping his ear off. But the older man was surprisingly resistant to pain. In fact, he started cackling louder as if he was having the time of his life.

Xander moved in between Isaac and the insane attacker to block the crazed charge. Suddenly, a bright halo of blue light flew past Xander’s side and into the older man. He froze as his muscles were wholly paralyzed, but his momentum still carried him forward.

Xander shoved the assailant aside and into a tipped-over couch. The older man was knocked over.

The trio moved to surround the hostile, now sprawled across the floor in an uncomfortable position—unable to move a muscle.

“Poor guy, he’s a regular in this hotel. Used to come with his wife twice a year. But she didn’t show up this time,” Isaac sighed.

“Those who are weak-willed get infected by this mental attack first,” Anna spoke in a low voice, “this sucks.”

Xander agreed wholeheartedly. There was something about the corrupted older man that felt incredibly uncanny. His posture, appearance, and shaking as if he took copious amounts of drugs. It was hard to see him as human, but Xander still sympathized with the sorry fellow.

“We should move on, look into each cabin. There’s quite a few, so we should move quickly and get the uncorrupted out,” Xander suggested.

His companions were about to agree when the older man’s hand grabbed Xander’s ankle. As she and Isaac raised their weapons, Anna shouted but couldn’t get a shot out before the attacker’s open mouth rushed towards Xander’s calf.

Xander shouted in pain as he felt the older man’s teeth bite into his flesh. Xander swung his hammer in a downward arc with great force. The hammerhead easily punctured the older man’s forehead and carried enough momentum to dislodge him from Xander’s calf.

The older man rolled across the floor in a mess—dead. Blood and brain matter flowed out of the hammer-sized hole on his head.

“God! Fuck!” Xander screamed as he kneeled to look at his leg, bits of teeth still lodged on his calf. Thankfully, despite overexerting his muscle to the point of injury, the corrupted human was still human and couldn’t tear into his flesh.

Anna rushed over to the older man in a fit of anger and began kicking the corpse, cursing each time loudly.

Isaac sat down on an undisturbed recliner in a heap, emotionally exhausted.

Xander took out a handkerchief, and a tiny spray bottle of alcohol hung on his belt and took care of his wound.

Anna finally finished attacking the dead, tiredly groaned.

“An old man. We let an older man get the better of us. We were upgraded and given alien weapons, and we still fucked up!” She yelled as she kicked a fallen potted plant across the room.

“You’re right. This can’t get on. We are woefully unprepared for this fight if we can’t even handle this.”

“Agreed, no more hesitation, we shoot to kill. Xander covers us and makes sure no crazies get close enough to punch us,” Isaac firmly ordered as he stood up.

“Roger,” Xander nodded, getting a feel for his injury as he put more of his weight on it. Fortunately, it didn’t hurt all that much.

Anna simmered down and wearily nodded her head, a gloomy expression over her face.

“Alright, let’s get this over with.”

Xander walked over and kneeled beside Mr. Paolo’s corpse. Xander closed the older man's eyes despite biting him in the leg. He then stood back up and made his way outside the cabin.

“Rest peacefully, mister. Hope you can be with your wife,” Isaac solemnly said.

Anna looked on apologetically. Her rage had cooled down moments ago.

“Sorry for kicking you,” She simply said before leaving as well.

The trio methodically searched each house, finding a few groups of guests huddled together after hearing sounds of shouting and gunfire.

They gathered into a large crowd and moved onto the last cabins situated on the end of the area.

When they approached the cabins, they heard a scream inside one. Xander looked over to the crowd of people following them.

“Get to the hotel lobby. We have this covered! Go now!” Xander shouted before rushing with his companions.

Immediately, the group ran in a somewhat organized fashion, but the trio couldn’t care less.

Anna glanced at her [Map] and saw four people inside.

Xander came forward once more and kicked the door open.

Four people occupied the room, with three of them on the floor. A young teenage boy was bleeding out in pain on the floor with some kind of multitool sticking out of his gut. Two—a young woman and a middle-aged man were wrestling each other—the man trying to pry out a switchblade from the insane woman.

The final occupant was another young man who pointed his hands to the sky, merrily laughing.

“Praise! Praise be, oh, overlords of the great darkness!” he crooned maddeningly.

Without another word, Anna hesitated for a brief moment before steeling herself. She fired a kinetic slug at the man’s head. The bullet explosively exited the back of his skull.

The crazed woman maneuvered herself on top of the middle-aged man, raking her long fingernails across his face. The man shoved her off, and Isaac fired his pulser.

The woman’s body froze, her harrowing smile and empty eyes looking towards the trio.

Not taking any chances, Xander moved forwards and swung his battle hammer. The woman stumbled to avoid the powerful swing. Xander capitalized on her lack of balance and brought his hammer back around for a quick follow-up strike.

It hit true.

The blow struck her nape, shattering the spine. The woman’s head bent backward at an unnatural angle before falling down like a crumbled statue.

Everyone stood still with labored breaths at the quick engagement. Then, finally, Isaac rushed over to the injured teenager and began applying basic first-aid.

A few minutes passed as silence invaded the cabin, minus the light groans of the injured.

Anna walked over to Xander and rested her head on his shoulder. A light sob escaping her.

“That was better, huh?”

Xander could only mumble back a yes, feeling numb before bending over and vomiting all over the wooden floor.