Chapter 11:

After dropping that bomb, Sil waited for Will to respond. He understood that what he had said deserved some real consideration, and found himself fascinated by the reactions of these humans.

His observations of humans over the last few hundred years had shown a broad range of potential human responses to stimuli. He had seen superstitious hysteria, self delusional levels of denial, pure rage, stoicism and any number of other possibilities.

Thus far, the young people in front of him were a bit of an anomaly to him. They showed a sort of exhausted stoicism, mixed with dark humor. It was as if they already expected things to go wrong, and would adapt as best they could.

Will didn’t disappoint. His response came in a calm tone that communicated his feeling that another proverbial shoe had just dropped. Sil could practically feel the internal, ‘fuck it,’ dancing through Will’s thoughts.

“I’m going to need you to elaborate on that.”

"Understandable," Sil replied, feeling like he was getting a better understanding of the people in front of him.

"It’s quite simple. Beyond a particular family group, we don't know for certain who is trustworthy at this branch. We have strong reservations regarding the local leadership, based on what we have been able to learn so far.

Reno's branch leader is a truly terrible person. He is a petty narcissist whose only concern is amassing monetary wealth and social clout. He’s essentially a walking stereotype for all of the worst traits of current human society.

There is also at least one member on his advisory council who may be worse, while still seeming satisfied being subservient to the leader. He is a sadist with a penchant for delusion. Truthfully, he is an example of someone whom we would have eliminated ourselves had he exhibited these traits when becoming an Initiate.

His character is also strangely inconsistent. From what we have found, he is content with his subservient role to the branch head. We have also found solid evidence that he wants nothing more than to eventually lead a cult. That is not likely to actually happen, as he utterly lacks the personal charisma required to do so.

This is where the strange contradiction in his mental state becomes obvious. Cult leaders are historically extreme narcissists. They crave adoration, and being the center of their own universe. This should preclude someone happy to play second to anyone, yet, as far as we can tell, he truly idolizes the branch head.

It is confusing, to say the least, and illustrates a glaring hole in our defenses against empowering people who absolutely should not be.

Now, that all illustrates the potential issues you may encounter in this branch. Some of the people there are truly a threat. However, the threat they represent is relative.

As you may imagine, Reno’s branch is not a large one. It's essentially a satellite of the Sacramento Branch, and the leader here was actually placed by the head of that branch. As an aside, I believe there is a distant familial relationship, of some type, between them.

Anyway, because of how small the branch here is, someone of Operator class is a real power. At our last survey, the head for Reno is only a late stage Operator, himself.

Compared to a human, Latent, or lower level Initiate, that gap in power would be impossible to physically overcome. An Operator, however, is far more durable and strong than you know. With training, you could likely defeat him once you reach the mid range of that stage, due to your unique situation."

“So, you’re saying the bad guys here are a problem, but it’s not something really significant on a global scale. That being the case, if I work for it, it’s not a problem I can’t handle.

So, you’ll give me what I need to get to the level of being able to take care of myself. With that, I basically become a perfect opportunity to figure out what exactly is going on, and handle whatever comes up. I’m an unknown factor who would be dismissed as a threat by these people.

I also have to ask, if that guy has crossed into the territory of someone you would take out, why don’t you just do so now?”

“You are correct concerning your first summation. Artie and I would ensure you learn to use your abilities properly. As for self defense involving your abilities, we have someone in mind to teach you.

To the second question, there is more than one factor. First, we are investigating him to identify how and why we didn’t catch him when looking for problem issues in The Activated community.

Second, our current methodology is not effective against those above the level of Initiate level, and we are hesitant to develop weapons that bypass the protections of stronger individuals. The potential threat posed by such technology even existing is not something we are currently prepared to make a reality.”

“I can understand that, I suppose. I imagine creating something like the blade that killed you could be something you’d prefer to avoid, on its own. Not to mention, if something like that wound up in the wrong hands it could be a seriously bad day for everyone.

So, let me sum this up real quick, then I need a break to get my head wrapped around all of this. Basically, you want my help to look into whatever is fucking with your systems up North of Reno. While doing that, I need to avoid attention from the asshole leader and his minion. I should also plan on running into them at some point, if nothing else so I’m prepared when things inevitably go wrong.

In exchange, you’ll figure out what makes me different enough from other humans that I survived a direct lightning strike. You will also teach me to use my basic abilities, and arrange for me to meet with someone trustworthy from The Activated who will further those lessons. That person will also teach me to use my super powers for self defense.”

“That is a correct summation. Though, I must admit calling what you can do ‘super powers’ seems incredibly unoriginal.”

“Yeah, but it was accurate. I’ll make sure to consider semantics later.”

“I can’t tell if that response was sincere or sarcastic.”

“Neither can I, Sil. Neither can I.”