Goooood Morning !

I was up and well rested, ready for another day of adventure, and shared my sentiment with the rest of the crew in the living room.

“It’s five in the afternoon, you know…” Kurt, down to earth as always, tried to bring me back to his level of half-slumber, half-awakeness.

“Someone’s got up on the wrong tooth, huh ?”

“Foot.” Alissa intervened.

“Age !” I answered.

“What ?” Alas, they didn’t seem to understand my quip.

“Hmm… Ur ?”

“What is he on about ?” Fletcher asked more to himself than the others.

“No, wait ! Ile ! Am I right ?” My last offer to this little challenge.

“It’s too early for this shit…”

“I thought it was five pm ?”

“Urgh…” A collective sigh could be heard leaving the room, as the ghost of a deceased patience fleeing the scene.

They were all seated around the central table, eating crepes -covered with… jam ? - for a late, late breakfast. Kurt seemed out of it, eyes glazing over his plate, while his mother and the detective fixed me with fury, or pity maybe. Madison on the other hand seemed more interested by her book.

I took a chair and reversed it, grabbed a plate and served myself.

“What’s this ?” I asked, pointing at the lumpy marmalade.

“Lumpfish roe.” Alissa supplied while taking a bite herself. “Cheaper than sugar right now.”

“mmm-kay !” I smiled and spread some on my crepe. “Stranshe, bush tashty !”

“You man-child… How did I trust you with the safety of my son ?” She over-emphasized the last word, playing me for a fool.

At least this got some laugh from the audience.

We carried on with the meal, sporadic small talk in the air, the mood light and free. All along, Kurt’s head was bobbing up and down, as if too heavy for his neck to support. I wondered for a minute about my sleep cycles, becoming as loose as they had, and found that I nonetheless enjoyed the resting hours. It was a time to dispel all my debuffs accumulated during the day - or night rather - and was refreshing in and of itself, even if I didn’t need it that much anymore.

Then, cleaning up the table, I asked them to join me in the garden. I had an idea I needed to put to work.

“There’s a Skill you all need to obtain, to shield you from mind shenanigans and other mental matters. I expect a lot of those in the next few weeks.”

“Seems reasonable. How will you teach it to us ?”

“Well… I’m kinda going to invade your heads. So it might be a good idea not to think too loudly about your deepest secrets… And now that I said it, you’re gonna do just that.” Throwing my hands in the air, I ranted in a squeaky voice. ‘Don’t think of an elephant !’ he said, and they all went right to thinking of an elephant. Damn it !” I snapped my finger in frustration.

“Soooo… what should we think about, then ?” Alissa, the goddess, solved my problem with a smirk.

“Erm… Something calm ? Soothing ? Maybe even pleasant. But not too pleasant, because then I suppose you’ll be too receptive. Or maybe not. You could be inaccessible, as if you were somewhere else, somewhere with a cool air on your skin, and a nice lighting. Not too bright, but bright enough to see miles away, to see the countryside, with its fields of grains, and some little hamlets here and there… And don’t forget the birds ! Of course, the birds…”

“Neant.” Kurt shook me back to reality, his eyes laughing and his face straight as a lightning strike.

“Yep, I’m back. Sorry ‘bout that. Ok. Hum. Well, who wants to start ?”

Alissa of all people stepped forward.

So, if I’m right, there should be some kind of Skill to breach into the minds of others. Let’s try this.

I placed my hand on her forehead and focused on clearing my thoughts, putting [Abnegation] to good use. When that was done I picked a random tidbit of knowledge and pushed. Nothing seemed to happen but to be sure I had to ask her.

“Ok. What color are my underwear ?”

“No idea, and I don’t want to know.”

“Damn. Oh well. I’m going commando by the way.”

“Dude ! What the fuck ?”

“Gross !”

“We know, it shows…”

We all turned toward Madison, her embarrassment painted clearly on her face. She averted her eyes to her feet and pouted in awkwardness.

“Now that that’s out of the way, can we get back on track, please ?” Alissa, still sporting a wry smile, waved at my face.

I managed to gather myself. “Sure, let me try something else.”

I still had another idea, one that was a bit esoteric but seeing all the fuss about the mind and the soul, maybe there was some truth in those notions. I got myself back into a trance and pictured my spirit, the perfect reflection of my body, if a bit more transparent and alit, taking the same place, the same volume as my actual body. I imagined it reaching its hand to Alissa, touching her shoulder.

“Wow, ok. I felt that.”

I knew a notification was coming, but I pressed onward. My psychic self grabbed firmly onto her with both hands and, with its eyes shining, opened its mouth to speak a word of wisdom. What I didn’t predict was the wording itself, or the delivery. It screamed like a banshee. A shout coming straight from the deepest nightmarish level of Hell. I stopped it not a second later, cutting off any connection I had with the thing before it could hurt Alissa. She wobbled on her feet for a moment, Kurt helping her to a near bench.

“What did you do ? What did you do to her ?” A mix of fear and anger took him.

“I don’t know ! I didn’t think it would do that !”

“I’m fine. I’m fine Kurt…”

“Jeez, don’t scare me like that.”

“What happened ?” Fletcher asked, worry marking his brows.

“I messed up, I didn’t think this through…”

“Guys, guys. Calm down, I got a Skill !” She was actually proud of herself. “It’s called [Mental Resilience] apparently, and it says that it preserves me from attacks upon my mind. Is that the Skill you wanted to give us ?”

“I guess so, yeah.” By the look on their face I knew I had to elaborate. “It might be the lower ranked Skill of what I intended to teach you, but it’s a good start.”

Before they could ask any further questions, I raised my index and opened my figurative ears to the signal I was receiving.

By performing special actions, you have unlocked the Skill [Mental Projection]

[Mental Projection] Level 1 : The user’s spirit manifests itself. Be wary of backlashes. Based on Stability.

Interesting…

“What is it Neant ?”

“Nothing, I thought I heard something. Anyway, who’s next ?”

This got some rather… contrasted returns.

“Nope.”

“Not me.”

“Nu-uh.”

As I was about to plead for my cause, Alissa grabbed my attention. “I could try something else, if that’s ok with you.”

I shrugged and sat on the ground, looking at her expectantly.

She approached Madison first, who quickly shook her head as if trying to unscrew it, but to no avail. The barely fifty year old woman wouldn’t have any of this and smiled ruefully to her friend. In the end, it took five minutes of argument to convince the chef to participate as a guinea pig in this little experiment. With both of them ready as can be, Alissa laid her left hand on Madison’s head and both closed their eyes. After a short amount of time, some… current traveled through them, leaping from one mind to the other, joining together two very different entities. I could feel the energy Alissa was deploying in order to establish the bridge, and I could do nothing but admire her tenacity. Finally, after a long minute of exchange, they separated, smiling between themselves as if sharing a drink with a long lost family member.

“Did something happen ?” Asked Fletcher, as ignorant as ever.

“Yeah, we kinda… linked.” Madison offered her view of the event. “Frankly, that was the most amazing thing I’ve ever lived. Scary yet fulfilling at the same time. I feel like I know you so much better now, Alissa...”

“You and me both, Mad.”

“I take it one of you got a Skill ?”

“Sure thing. [Communion].” Alissa was the one providing all the efforts during that ‘Communion’ and she was the one to receive the Skill. “With it I can form a connection between my consciousness and another’s.” Then, turning toward me. “I guess that can count as an invasion of the mind too, right ?”

“Probably. Let’s see if they can resist it.”

“Well, before that, I think I’d like for everyone to link with me without barriers, after I get some rest of course. I’d like… I’d like to know you all a bit better, if we’re going to stick together.”

I didn’t know what to think of this. Sure, it would be a great team building exercise but showing the hooks and crannies of my inner workings ? No thanks. And I feared that preserving myself from experiencing what the whole group would share might antagonize me from them even more. What to do ? What to do...

The fact was, they needed to get closer together. In this new world and age, it was clear you needed a group you could count on. I wasn’t about to keep that away from them, not when it would mean life or death along the road. That became clear to me as I saw them talk among themselves. They were chatting and laughing about some lame joke from Fletcher. Not one to laugh himself mind you, but his deadpan expression served its purpose and reinforced his sneaky humor. Even Alissa was smiling… Maybe I should leave them for a bit, let them wash away their worries with some chit chat and camaraderie. I was too strange, too out of it to include myself properly in this kind of joyous ambiance. Maybe I should leave them be, go on my merry way and not disturb them any longer.

I smiled when I saw Kurt looking my way, or tried to rather, he made a weird face afterwards. Probably messed that up, too. Oh well, I decided to give them as much of a headstart as possible and I’d let them be. But first, push the aliens back into space.

“So ! Let’s get you three [Mental Resilience] ! We shall make quick work of this and then I’ll show you some others tricks !” With a genial and open smile I gathered back their attention.

“Wait, I haven’t linked with you yet.” Alissa politely offered me.

“Don’t bother, it won’t work on me. Now ! Let’s start the training, shall we ?”

And so we did. Alissa went around the three, trying to pierce their defences one by one. At first it went as smooth as a knife through butter, then, as they each gained some understanding of how to counter the pushes, they earned the intended Skill and were able to resist the assaults. But they kept going, to train themselves, they said. And as time passed, Alissa got better and better at slithering inside their mental castles, sneakily perverting their mind’s well and breaking apart the walls they holed up in. She had a clear talent for this and I wondered if she hadn’t ranked up her Skill.

“Good. Now that that is done, we should go on and assign each of you a role.”

“A role ?”

“What for ?”

“Yes, you all need to work as a team now, and as a team each of you will specialize in a different field.” I let them ponder this for a moment, then pointed at Fletcher to my right. “Fletcher. You will be the craftsman and man in the shadows. You’re tech savvy and you have experience with uprooting information. You’ll work under the radar to supply information to the others. In a fight, I think your stature gives you a good reach advantage in melee, so invest in Finesse and Wits as soon as possible and craft yourself a weapon to wield.” My guess was that with the advent of super-regeneration and harder than steel skin, firearms were on the decline. Hand-to-hand combat might see a revival in the next year or two.

“Madison. You’ll work as the drunkard whisperer slash cook slash mage. Yeah, congratulations, you evolved to magic wielder. Meet me later to learn some spells. Or just practice on your own, you’ll figure something out quickly I’m sure. You’ll need Intelligence and Charisma. Focus on area of effect attacks and stay away from danger.

“Alissa. You will be the figurehead of this group, a small game diplomat if you will. Improve your grasp on the mind thingies and get some Discipline plus Fluency. You must keep your head cool at all times, I trust you will handle those ruffians well.

“And lastly, Kurt. You shall become their defender, their shield, their lance. You’ll handle the standoffs and the inevitables skirmishes. Invest in Might and Constitution first, and don’t forget to bring your Bo wherever you go.

“Everyone, understood ?”

I got a collective blank look of agreement, followed by some ‘What ?’ and ‘Oh, sure...’ or ‘Why do I get to be the musclehead ?’. All in all, it was a good thing, I had shared an apparently great idea and this initiative hadn’t broken my teeth on the pavement. They weren’t exactly happy to be told what to do but they received my advices as grown-ups, mulling it over and thinking they could come up with better solutions. And they were welcome to do so, I was far from omniscient and even I didn’t trust myself fully. Or at all, really.

The rest of the evening I explained them how I thought the System worked, how to gain Essence Points and rank up Skills. I shared some of my more obscure guesses, about the way to increase Stats without killing, or the time limitation of one additional Stat Point per day. I didn’t say anything about my Tutorial, or my real Status, mind you. They kept discussing the new knowledge and creating novel ideas and suppositions out of what I told them. It felt good to teach them, to catch the glimpses of comprehension and flashes of inspiration in their eyes. I felt... useful.

The night fell before we could eat, so Kurt and I grabbed some bread and meat and ran to the aliens’ office. Kurt was supposed to obtain the famous Trait from them tonight, so we hurried toward the bleak building.

“What kind of ceremony you think it’s gonna be ? Dark and bloody ? With choirs and brasses ?” Kurt asked me, anxiety hidden behind his antics.

“Oh, look ! The sacrificial lamb worry about its fate. How cute…” I mocked him, dragging out my last word.

“I swear one day I’ll make you run naked in a pineapple field.”

“I’d probably enjoy that, you know ?”

“I know…” I heard the disappointment in his voice, mingled with… What’s the word ? Something involving playfulness…

We arrived not too long after that. Jarof was waiting for us at the entryway with another alien I recognised immediately. It was the human-looking one with the frightening smile we had seen upon their arrival, one of the bodyguard of the red-capped monkey. Jarof stepped toward us and hailed.

“Here you are. We worried you wouldn’t come after all. Neant, you will follow Idrisa here, he has something for you to sign off, while Kurt will come with me to complete his rite.”

We nodded as one but only after checking what the other was thinking via non-verbal communication. God I loved when we did that. Kurt, with Jarof at the helm, went through a door in the back, leading who knows where. We weren’t comfortable with this arrangement, but felt it would have been too awkward to insist I should assist to this ‘rite’. Idrisa kept his bloodshot eyes trained on me, as a camera recording my reaction - which amounted to a raised highbrow and a finger in the ear, trying to shake away a scratch.

He turned away suddenly and did not wait for me to catch up before entering a staircase leading to the second floor. After a couple of swinging doors we got into a sort of manager’s office painted all in red. The walls were red, the ceiling was red, the floor was - wait for it - blue. Nah, it was red. The desk was red. What seemed to be a computer was red. The flowers were red. The chairs were re-e-e-e-ed. The fish tank was red. The fish inside the fish tank was red. Red was the fern. Red everywhere. Red all around. Red. Red. RED.

Red.

Hum.

If you will excuse me for a moment, I need some time alone.

*

* *

Insanity - a perfectly rational adjustment to an insane world.

So, where were we ?

Ah yes, the meeting with Idrisa. I... remember the red lighting, but the rest of the room was just regularly colored. I mean, the goldfish was kinda red, so that counts, right ?

“I heard from Jarof that you were doing quite fine as a rookie ? Even survived a few waves of giant rats ? I must congratulate you. It is not often we encounter such a valuable recruit in these kinds of newly discovered universes. Do you have some previous experience with Vault dwelling ?”

His voice was smooth, incredibly so. He was at ease, seated behind the desk, and his full attention was on me, the screen to his left not even turned on.

“Hmm yeah. I ran into some while in the wild.”

“I see.” His lips did the motion of a smile with no warmth behind it. “What do you think of this new career we offer you ? Excited ?”

“Very. The call for adventure has always lived within me. I cannot wait to get to the meat of the program. What’s coming next, by the way ?”

“Oh, some simple group exercises, and we brought some more mature Vaults with us, just so you guys can experience the real deal.” After a short break, he resumed his pitch. “I brought you here to discuss about your future with us. As you know, we are a multiverse faring organization at the order of the benevolent Hierarch, may he help us till the end of all. He is indeed the source of all our advancement, He uplifted many of us into true sentience and He offers the same to humanity. But as in all things, there is a price. That price is a set of rules to always follow and obey, a vow never to be broken.”

Here we go. Where’s the catch ?

“There are three of them. Don’t worry, it’s nothing too dramatic, and it won’t cause any trouble to the vast majority of your specie. The first one is to never endanger or cause harm to a fellow of the Hierarchy. Makes sense, right ?” I nodded. “The second one is to answer to the best of your abilities to your superiors. In return you will always have the opportunity to move up the ranks. It’s a perpetual work in progress for both sides, the ordered and those ordering.. A point of balance was declared by our master and it has worked quite well since the founding of the Hierarchy. Do you disagree with such a mode of operation ?”

“No, absolutely not. We have the same concept here and call it ‘meritocracy’.”

“A good term to name such a practice. Meritocracy… Anyhow. The third and last rule is judged unnecessary by many of us veterans, but a lot of the newcomers don’t have the experience to see the reasoning behind it, so it is still in place to this day. That rule is quite simple. You have to get the Trait [Child of the Hierarchy] to enlist.”

I felt pressure on my shoulders. He didn’t move, his face didn’t lose its welcoming glimmer, but I felt the weight of his words assault me as a typhoon would a coast.

“Im sure you understand now our little dilemma concerning your situation. Don’t get me wrong, it is no small feat to gather enough crystals to afford a Trait while still in your Systemic infancy, but it breaches our decrees. Of course you could not have known that beforehand, so we don’t count you as obligated toward us.”

“Can’t you just give me the Trait ?”

“Alas, only one Trait slot is available to starting species. And before you ask, no you can’t drop your current Trait. While the System prevents any modification to one’s Traits, it is still possible for some elected few. But between time limitations, the equipment needed and the cost of such a procedure, it is not beneficial for us to reset your Trait.”

So it is possible to forcefully change Traits. And if Traits are susceptible to alteration, the whole Status might be too.

“Don’t worry, we won’t kick you out for this slight deviation from the right path. As I said, we cannot modify your Traits, yet. This means that if or when you prove yourself of enough value to us, we will agree to such spending. Until then you will not be officially part of our establishment and will need to cover your own expenses as well as your tuition fee.”

“Oh. I thought it would be much harsher than that.” I paused, showing a scrunched up face focused on the matter at hand. “I suppose you have no interest in our currencies, so how shall I repay you ?”

“With the crystals you recover from the Vaults we’ll lead you to, of course, plus those you might uncover by yourself. Would three crystals per one of your day be satisfactory ?”

I didn’t know if I was being swindled or ripped off, but it definitely was one of the two. Yet, it was a problem for another time, at least I wasn’t forced to leave the premises and for now I had no other use for them. Well, maybe I could have given them to the crew to further their strength...

“I think it’s acceptable. Thank you for not just getting rid of me, I don’t know what I would have done if you had done so.”

“It’s only natural for us to care about our new recruits and potential members. Now if you could just sign these to concretize our agreement...” Suave, he was playing along with my acting. I couldn’t tell if he had caught on to it, but I scribbled something resembling a capital N beneath squiggly lines and pressed on.

“I’ll show you I’m worthy of your notice, you won’t regret it.” First rule of lying, twist your phrasing enough to not feel like it’s a lie.

“I’m sure we will, mister Neant.”

At that, he got up and went around the desk to open the door for me. I saw his hand resting on his Bo, casually caressing its tip. His smile was as stretched as ever and I pictured an executioner looking into the eyes of its next client.

This guy gives me the hibby-jibbies. He’s seriously deranged.

Look who’s talking…

Shush !

He led me back to the front office and after shaking my hand in one brusque motion went back upstairs. I needed to be extra careful, now. I could feel a noose forming around my neck. And I was nowhere closer to gaining their trust, my primary objective coming here.

I headed toward the receptionist and asked him where I could find Kurt or Jarof.

“At the moment they are in the ceremonial chamber proceeding with the rite and should remain undisturbed. Mister Kurt was last on the line, so if you’d like I can direct you to our dojo where you can train while you wait ?”

“I guess so, yeah.”

And so I was shown toward a similar room to the first one Jarof had led us to. Empty if not for some racks of Bos and - surprise! - a few people sparring. The one seemingly leading the group was tall, a head above mine, and sported a black T-shirt with green camo trousers, revealing a definitely military tattoo on his left bicep. The others all looked to have taken inspiration of the guy with clothes similar - if not perfectly identical - to their leader’s, but none had any marking on their arm.

I wasn’t able to judge their combat prowesses but they seemed… brutal, even amongst themselves while training. At first glance they were all smiles and encouragements, but beneath I could hear the ragged breaths of raging beasts, eager to dismember, rape and pillage. That image stuck to me, as if branded in my brain. So, when one of them finally noticed me, I had a violent urge to snuff out their lights, to assert my dominance over such a horde of rabid animals.

The big guy hailed me. “Hey ! What are you doing here ?”

“The guy in the hall said I could come here.” I was instantaneously back to my sweet smiling self.

“Oh yeah ? Well, too bad for you mate. This room’s taken. Now piss off.”

I pondered for a minute on how to react to that. Take offense and argue I had the right to be here ? Or find myself a quieter, less morronic place ? First option would definitely set off a fight and I was walking on begshells - eggwells ? No, begwells ! - with the aliens. While the second one wouldn’t really sit right with me. Not that I had any pride to take care of - obviously - but these people would definitely become a problem if they felt they could bully me around unpunished.

At last, I decided to keep playing my role.

“Hum, there’s plenty of room for me to practice while you guys keep sparring. Can’t we share ?”

“What part of ‘piss off’ don’t you understand ? Go back to your mother’s nipples or I’ll break your head.”

“Such aggressivity. Such violence. Wow.”

“You asked for it. Guys ! Get that son-of-a-bitch !”

I had done my part, now it was time to run, or jog lazily to be honest. We roamed around the corridors for next to five minutes, only a few meters between me and them. At some point we encountered a group of aliens carrying various metallic crates and barrels and I expertly avoided them, the animals behind me... not so much. I looked at my trail and saw a bundle of limbs strewn about with little to no regards for safety concerns. I laughed a bit and turned around to face the big bad wolf who had taken another route to stop my escape.

I made sure to display surprise on my face and even made a show of flight back the way I came, but as predicted his posse had gotten back on their feet, and they looked absolutely furious.

Oh joy, how entertaining had this day become !

“No more running, bitch.” Said their chief.

One of his goons exclaimed behind me. “Fuck ! My pants ! Let me kick his ass, David !”

So that’s the famous David. Alright.

“I’ll let you have your piece when I’m done.” David said while extending his Bo.

Bad choice. Firstly, in a skirmish like that, you don’t wait around to fight your opponent one by one like a group of well-behaved kids. Also, Bos in those narrow corridors are kind of a stupid idea if you don’t want to limit yourself to thrusts. But who am I to judge ?

Of course, he did just that, a thrust to my torso, which I dodged to the side, followed by a weak swipe to my legs that I jumped over.

He paused, frowning deeply, and offered me the chance to taunt him once more. “Jeez ! You’re a feisty one, you know ?”

Cue the full-on charge aimed at my center of gravity. A spin to my left and a conveniently placed foot, and down goes the calf who thought himself a bull. After that I just disappeared into the hallways, my acute laugh echoing through the whole structure.

I’d see them again, that was for sure, but I was glad I’d do. As if playing with a fly, I had made a fool of them to my greatest enjoyment. Sadistic, me ? No, not even a little.

Plus, I knew this encounter had been engineered by the Hierarchy, and as such I had dealt with it as a game. A dangerous, no slip-up allowed, game where I couldn’t afford to deliver any pain to my playmates, just a little bit of shame and frustration, nothing too serious. In the end, what’s a bruised ego in the face of adversity if not a great opportunity to better yourself ? That’s right, I was their benefactor !

But enough of that. As I was strolling through the nonsensical and dismal maze, I came upon a storage room filled with boxes of all sizes and shelves displaying bits and pieces of arcane technology. Grabbing a chunk of what looked like computer hardware encased in glass, I was fascinated by its intricacies. If our regular gold and copper circuit boards showed tiny cities, this chunk of polymer had an entire country inscribed on it. It was light, warm to the touch and had no movable parts. I was wondering what use it had and if I could snag it real quick to study it when I heard the door displace the air behind me. Perception sure had its uses.

It was a small alien worker bringing another crate into the depot. He had red fur on his face and two four-fingered hands, a slight hunch to his back and a tentacular appendage as a nose. I asked myself why they were so insistent on the use of manual labor when I was sure they could just whip up a swarm of robots to answer to their every beck and coal. Might as well ask the concerned party, right ?

“Hi ! Why do-”

“Ah !” And of course he dropped the box which emitted a clear sound of glassware breaking.

“Oh I’m so sorry ! Did I frighten you ?”

He started to speak in the same language as Jarof had in his rare moments of consternation, but caught himself quickly. “Who- Who you are ?”

“Just a recruit who got lost in this labyrinth, no need to be afraid.” I added a bright smile and stretched my hand to him, but I guess the complete darkness we were in didn’t really convey my cheerfulness. I popped a light into existence above my head, illuminating the whole room and his scrunched up face.

He had backed up to the entrance, his legs ready to carry him far, far away. “Please me not hurt.”

“Calm down kiddo, I’m no evil doer. Just trying to find my way out.” I still had the contraption in my hand and waved it at him. “And looking around for interesting baubles, of course.”

Eventually, he relaxed and let his eyes blink a few times. “Why master’s hip holding you ?”

Why am I holding… Wait, it’s a hip ? That thing ?

“I’ll put it down, ok ? Just… don’t move.”

I proceeded to put back in place the artificial limb under his watchful gaze. His eyes were wary but he possessed no weapons, I simply feared what he could summon on me if he were to escape.

“There. Now, let me help you with that.” I said as I pointed to the crate on the floor.

It was a mess. A goopy, glassy and cutty mess. Luckily for me, my Might made my skin as hard to breach as rock, and Finesse allowed me to pick up the broken pieces without a snag. Well, as long as I didn’t touch the fuming liquid in the bottom - I nearly lost a finger in that caustic soup. The boy waited for a bit while I was toiling before joining in, still fearful of me.

“So, what are you doing around these parts ?”

“... Word is… Squire ? Squire Am I.”

“Oh ! So you’re learning the trade by doing menial chores ?”

“... What chore is ?”

“Well, it’s things like lugging around big objects, mopping the floor or anything your master says, really.”

“Hum… Chores do I.”

“I do chores.” I corrected him. I had enough trouble understanding him as is, I couldn’t even imagine what longer and more convoluted sentences would sound like.

“I do… chores ..?” His eyes opened wide as he grasped the grammar rule. He then yelped an impressive sound for a human-looking mouth made of rolling Rs and sputtering in a quick succession of Ks and Gs while his trunk made a wet slurping noise as it swung back and forth following the rocking of his torso. That was a sight to behold, alien and comical in all its glory. It competed on equal ground with Jane’s snorting.

“Did you just laugh ?”

Hearing my reaction he quickly dropped his head, averting his eyes to the side. “... Yes…”

“Hey, don’t be ashamed, I’ve heard more absurd giggles than that. And it felt good, right ?” He nodded, a smile creeping back beneath the elongated nose. “Anyway. What’s going on around here ? I heard some from my specie came to get [Child of the Hierarchy] today.” I didn’t know what had been so funny about that little syntax correction but I prefered to let the matter slip away, I had to gather some intelligence and fast. This teen, for he was clearly a teen to me, both in mind and body, might have something valuable for me.

“Yes, I know that. Master Balin tell me to bringing the crystals early. Earlier.” I hummed and acquiesced, encouraging him to continue. “They be done now. I carry back the waste here.”

“That’s what was in that crate ? The leftovers from the ritual ?”

“No leftovers, waste. Used Hierarchy’s crystals turn to eating water.”

“You’re thinking of acid.” And there he goes again, laughing like there was no tomorrow and clasping his hands around his torso. “You’re a strange one, you know that ?” After he was done with his feat, I persisted with my prodding. “Hey, would you happen to know where are the cutters stored ? Oh and the blasters, too.”

“Oh ya, those are erm… Miltirary ? Milirary ?”

“Military.”

He roughly contained a smile from reaching his ears. “Military equipment. They’re on fifth underfloor.”

“Basement. How do I get there ?”

And now his trunk was chuckling farts. “I show you, worry not.”

He hurried me out of the room, and back into the dark maze. We made quick work of the bends and turns, slopes and stairs, thanks to his thorough knowledge of the layout, and arrived before yet another door. But this time it was bigger, badder, and was clearly indented in the wall. Three meters tall, four wide, seemingly thick enough to sustain several of my kicks, it was a beast of a gate. Did I mention the terminal on the side ? Of course it had some kind of hand or eye recognition system coupled with a tough locking mechanism.

My mind immediately shifted into ‘bang on it until it breaks’ gear, but luckily my little assistant stood up before the interface and spoke a few words in his language, introducing me to the concept of opening reinforced doors the gentle way.

Open sesame.

And, oh joy, the chamber behind it was filled with racks upon racks of hand-sized devices. Jackpot ? Yes, but by the time we had gotten there I was wondering what I should do with the stuff. Sabotage them ? How ? I knew nothing of how they worked. Steal them ? Again, how ? Lugging around all this equipment seemed far fetched and stretched the limit of my candor. Eventually, I settled on taking a sample to see how the aliens’ hardware was ticking.

I picked up what looked like a replica of the cutter Jarof had used the night before, and looked for what he had called a blaster.

“Hum… We not allowed to take the weapons.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll give them back. I just never saw anything like that, so… I kinda want to test them.”

“Well… If you say that… You promise ?”

“Sure kiddo. By the way, you never told me your name.”

“Erm… How do I say it ?” His nose swung side to side for a moment. “I not have Human name. I only have Scritcher name.”

“What’s that ? Scritcher ?”

“Is what I am. Not part of Hierarchy, but have been taken to become.” He scratched the back of his neck, looking for my approval to continue. “We not choose to become Hierarchy. We are… selected. At birth, by order of supreme leader, our families tell what kind of spawn we are.”

I wasn’t sure I was understanding correctly. “You mean the Hierarchy records the type of child birthed and they pick the ones that suit them ?”

“Yes. We grow to serve. And if we prove we strong enough, we get baptized with true name, and expedition name if there is need.”

“Meritocracy my ass…” I should have expected something like slavery coming from aliens with superiority complexes. In fact, I had seen it coming, I was only mildly shocked, more angry than disappointed. “Well, let’s call you Trunk, alright ? And don’t ask why.”

He looked up at me, surprise in his eyes. “Trunk… Trunk is... I…” He seemed about to break down into tears for a moment but caught himself. “Trunk will do good ! Trunk will make master proud !”

Damnit, what had I done ? I had just given clothes to an house elf apparently. Oh well. Problem for another time.

“So, I’m gonna take those two with me, you ok with that ?” I said, putting away in my backpack the blaster and cutter I had in my hand.

“Yes, yes. But, now I give name to you too !”

“Wait what ?”

“You be named… Blik !”

Bleak ? Blink ? For fuck’s sake, I already have a stupid name, I don’t need another one !

“Hmm… Thanks, I guess.”

“Now we get out before overseer comes !”

We then left the room and the door slid down behind us. I bid my new friend goodbye at a small junction after he explained to me how to get back to the surface. All in all, my night was going fine. I was a bit nearer to learning some of the aliens’ secrets, I made a contact in their base, and I had... a plan. Find what makes their weapons tick, and then figure out a way to break or deactivate them. Or craft a shit ton of them and give them to the army, assuming they would still be fighting by then. That oughta do it. It wasn’t much, but my sanity fared much better with vague ideas rather than well-established schemes.

During the travel upwards, I caught myself thinking about Adalfaro, and how I had reacted the last time we had talked. Maybe now was the time for reconciliation.

Hey Adalfaro. You here ?

No answers came my way. He was definitely shunning me. I resolved myself not to be angry at him, and wait for his return. Peace comes with compromises, and I was ready to make some.

I eventually got back to the greeting hall, the receptionist informing me Kurt was waiting for me outside. All I could see was his strong back, powerful shoulders spread wide above his hips, his arms crossed in front of him. His posture was one of awareness even in the wait. He turned around, hearing me step on the raw dirt.

“Neant ! Finally ! No time to waste, they told me where to find the next Vault, come !”

As much as I was happy to reunite with my friend, Kurt’s enthusiasm hid and shackled something beneath. This was no genuine excitement for the hunt, or a will to train. This was but a poor disguise of a cry for help.

“Yeah, yeah… Lead the way.”

As we ran through the thickets adjoining Sutherdryre I inspected Kurt thoroughly, his gait didn’t betray anything out of the ordinary but he kept his hand resting on his Bo. I Scrutinized him for good measure.

Name : Kurt

Race : Human

Age : Young

Attitude : Suspicious

Power : Nonthreatening

So either [Scrutinize] just showed me what I already thought, or there was definitely something wrong with him.

“So, how was it ? The rite ?”

“Nothing to worry about.” He didn’t even turn his head to look at me.

Something’s fucky…

I spread my senses around, trying to find a clue as to why he was so tight lipped, contrary to his usual self. But nothing stood out to me. The forest was gloomy with the moonlight spearing through the foliage and no one was spying on us, as far as I could tell. Had my friend been turned ? Was he just an alien with my friend’s appearance ? Or... Did he just stop trusting me ?

We reached a peculiar boulder, as if a stony fist had sprung up from the earth in between two trees, moss covering its knuckles. Right on top of it was the distinctive glow of a Vault crystal. Without even a pause, he jumped on top of the rock and disappeared. I didn’t waver and joined him.

“They know.”

I was greeted with the usual whiteness, Kurt sitting down against one of the walls.

“What do you mean ?”

“Well, I think they know a lot more than they seem. They must had a way to spy on us even before they landed...”

“What makes you say that ?”

“It wasn’t just a ritual to get the Trait. I was interrogated. And… something got into my head.” At that his brows clumped together, the memory still fresh in his mind. “Glad you thought about that beforehand. That [Mental Resilience] sure was useful. But they… they knew so much about me, about my brother… I had to give them something so they’d stop.”

I really didn’t like where this was going. This was, in all certainty, the foreboding of betrayal. I should have listened to myself and left long ago.

“I told them about the militia, about the army hiding somewhere in the mountains nearby, I even promised I’d infiltrate them, but it wasn’t enough.”

I should have gone away, I should have left Kurt with his mother when I had the opportunity.

“They were only interested by one thing. You.”

I was responsible for this.

“I’m sorry Neant. They know about Knowles. They know about your powers.”

This was my fault.

I could see the pain on his face clearly. As much physical, from the ‘interrogation’, as emotional. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to… I didn't want to tell them, I swear. I tried to resist, and I managed to, for a while. But they… they did something to me, I don’t know what, but I couldn’t… I couldn’t stop talking.” He was now on the verge of tears, his eyes downcast and his arms around his knees. “They pulled and prodded till I was nothing… Just... nothing…”

“You’re not nothing. They raped your mind. Don’t apologize for something you had no control over.” I tried calming him down, but it visibly didn’t work, as his head turned brusquely toward me.

“But I could have resisted a lot more ! I should have done better !” He was now screaming at me, I guessed resenting me for putting him in this position.

It actually reminded me of something I had told myself after the Knowles incident, that I had to do better, to be better, and Kurt was already there with me then. How much of my unstable psyche had pervaded him ? I had to come to the sensible conclusion, I wasn’t a good influence on those surrounding me.

He got up on his feet and stared at me. “I can tell you think this is all your fault, but it’s not, Neant. I followed you on my own volition. I’m not some pet you protect in a golden cage for fuck’s sake ! I chose to enlist ! I chose to kill Knowles !”

“But if I hadn’t been there-”

“Then I would be the one dead, and so would my mom ! You don’t have to shoulder every responsibility ! You’re not the center of the universe !”

As he shouted and pleaded, he got near me. I staggered back, stunned out of myself. He grabbed my arm, and smiled.

“Thank you for all you did, but stop thinking you’re the one to blame every time something goes wrong, ok ?”

I can make him shut up if you want.

I quickly dismissed that comment coming from the darkest parts of my soul.

I breathed a long sigh, observing him, waiting for… anger. A hint of deception. Something… Anything other than… compassion. I couldn’t take it. This was too much for me. His honest smile, the way he just opened up to me, I couldn’t bear the weight of trust and honest friendship. I longed for it, but as soon as I got a whiff of it, it scared me. Shitless.

I shook off his hand and swiveled away. I could tell sadness grasped him, but we had more urgent things to discuss.

“We should go now. I don't know what their game is but they probably won’t let me come and go as I please anymore.”

“... No. They tried to flush my memory of their actions, but thanks to you and that Skill, I managed to stop them. I played dumb after that, so they don’t know that we know. And since they didn’t try to capture you in the hall, I guess they opted to wait and see what you could do for them.”

“Or they just need the approval from their superiors to capture us.”

“Or that. In any case, fleeing won’t help. We have nowhere to go.”

“We should ask Madison about that. She might have an idea about the localization of the army.”

I touched the crystal, wanting to come back out, but nothing happened. Seemed you had to complete the Vault in order to exit.

“Neant, you need to listen to me ! We-”

“Let’s finish the Vault first. I’ll tell you about my meeting with Idrisa on the way.”

And at that, he finally stopped talking.

*

* *

An evil feeling attacks. My body's shaking, there's no turning back.

“-and that’s why we need to know where the military is, right now.”

The sun was barely making contact with the horizon while we were all sitting at various places in the living room of our temporary house. Madison was practicing her newly acquired fire spell in a corner and Fletcher tinkered with a pile of advanced hardware - picked up who knows where - while Alyssa, Kurt and I were discussing the recent events. Grim future and worrying possibilities made their way into each of their hearts, I could tell by their little quirks. Madison had to focus extra hard to contain the tiny flame she produced out of her hand, Fletcher checked multiple times the same component and Alyssa had an empty look, deserted of any emotion. Bad news tended to have that effect on people.

“Indeed. They might be our only possible salvation.” Alyssa approved my thought process.

Madison cut off the flare she was focusing on and turned to us. “I may have a way to find them.”

“And I finally got this piece of shit working.” Good timing Fletcher.

“Madison ? We’re all ears.”

“Well, I got in touch with some folk coordinating the militia. What surprised me most was his gear, it isn’t anything a civilian could find on the market. I mean, before the System and aliens and all that. So maybe they have a contact within the army.”

“And maybe we can reach out to this ‘contact’ ourselves. Fletcher, you think your radio could open a channel, or whatever it is they do, with the army if we had a general direction to point it at ?”

“We’d need to be less than five kilometers from them, but yes. Or…”

“Or ?”

“Or I could use the local radio station’s antenna to broadcast our message even further, if it hasn’t fried.”

“Talem’s range is at least a hundred kilometers from here, and that’s where they’re at, most likely.” Alyssa chipped in.

“Very well. Guys, we have our plan. Get to the army, and for that, either get this ‘contact’ from the militia or try to send an SOS via the town’s antenna. Everybody ok with that ?”

Everyone nodded or acquiesced verbally.

Time to go then.

And time to go it was. We packed our immediate needs. Fletcher took his handmade radio, Alyssa mainly clothes and blankets, Madison was all books - books ? -and food while Kurt traveled light. And by light I mean two jerrycans of water. I offered him to at least take one of them, but he mysteriously denied. On one hand I felt free from any wordly consideration, on the other I was feeling naked and idle. Their logic was that I would be in charge of protecting them, being the only one capable of annihilating a building with a snap of a finger made some kind of sense. I say that but neither Madison nor Alyssa looked very reassured, wonder why…

With the night not completely gone, we made our way toward the central plaza. Our destination was the church, of all places, prevailing upon the square. The head priest was our entry ticket into the budding militia. He was, in a way, the perfect representation of a typical religious nut, his head as bare and sterile as his beliefs - don’t hate the player, hate the game - and his welcoming, shit-eating grin spoke volume about his thoughts on us. I made the decision that, if more subtle and agreable ways didn’t yield sufficient results, I would definitely play the bad cop.

“How can I help you in this wonderful morning, my children ?”

Alyssa, as convened, took charge of the discussion. “Father, we are in desperate need of assistance. Our situation is dire, and we need to escape town, pronto. We hoped you-”

“-Of course, of course…. But I’m not sure what you expect of me ? After all, I am but a humble preacher in these parts. If you desire to flee, I can only direct you to the police, they shall be able to protect you, I assume. Or maybe you’d like to talk about what’s making you so frightened ?”

That’s when Alyssa shot me that look. That look that said ‘I tried !’ but didn’t convey any plea, or attempt at a bargain. Her life, or rather her son’s life, visibly meant far more to her than the wellbeing of a procedural old schmuck.

I stepped up, locked my gaze upon his, and flicked my finger at his nose. “Tell us how to reach the army. Now.”

Yeah, I know. Not much of threat. But I had to keep up appearances ! I wasn’t about to become the big bad meanie in front of all of them ! That’s not my style.

“Don’t you dare- Humph !”

“Talk.” My fist being where his stomach had been proved that, indeed, it was my style.

“Richard ! Speak to Richard… He’s the IT guy at the corner of the street…”

“Good. Let’s go.” Wow, I made a damn good bad cop if I can say so. Fierce tone, dominant attitude and all.

We quickly made our way to the computer repair store, all of us wary of any onlookers. Luckily, the door of the shop was locked. I mean, sadly, it was locked. For a short while.

“Hey ! What do you think you’re doing !?”

“Richard, right ? Who’s your contact with the army ?”

“I don’t-”

“-Don’t play dumb ! I’m not in the mood !”

“Sir, I really don’t know what you’re talking about ! I just run this shop ! Or what’s left of it…”

“Someone’s coming !” i heard Madison from beyond the storefront. This didn’t bode well.

“Everyone in !”

While they all rushed in, I peeked out of the window, and sure enough, a dozen guys with assault rifles and full combat gear were taking places in the street. These weren’t aliens forces, these were humans. The fucking monk had bamboozled us.

“Richard ! Is there a back alley behind ?”

“Hum, yeah, there is, but-”

“Alright. Fletcher, find us a car. I’ll distract them. Go !”

I launched a bit of screaming plasma down the street, delaying their advance, and received several bursts of bullets in return. I didn’t want to cause any unnecessary death this time, the militia was on our side after all. Kinda.

I repeatedly exchanged fire with them, getting my index finger torn off for my efforts, until Kurt called for me. Good timing, because I could hear the distinctive sound of a cutter behind activated. The Hierarchy was here. I left Richard cowering behind a desk and dashed for the exit. Outside, an old nineties car was waiting for me, engine revving up. We managed to avoid any other skirmishes thanks to sheer luck and left town without a look back.

“Too close, that was just too damn close !”

“What we gonna do now ?”

“Oh my god ! Oh my god, oh my god…”

“We need to go back, we need to try for the antenna.”

Apart from Fletcher who seemed to have fallen in love with his CB, they were all dearly feeling the adrenaline withdrawal. I couldn’t blame them, I was feeling it too. Hands shaking, head swimming, ears ringing… And that damn finger took his sweet time to heal. I didn’t exactly understand why I was so afraid, I had a bunch of trump cards in my deck, and was considering myself as essentially unkillable after the fight at Knowles’, but I knew in my gut that there were uglier fate than death. Maybe I could have squashed the aliens and the militia, but that’s a maybe, and with what results ?

We were now on the road, with a few days worth of supplies, a junky ride and no clue as to where to go. We were, in a word, fucked.

But what broke the mammal’s back was the green hue slowly appearing above us.