NEW WORLD — HUNGER'S BANE

Chapter 102: The Bane of Feasts

“Night shift again, huh?”

“Someone has to. Only way to keep the whole place safe.”

“True. Guess this is an important job. Still, kinda sad I’m missin’ out on dinner.”

“It is what it is. Folks can’t enjoy dinner without power, you know, and we’re the ones makin’ sure the power stays on. Just think of it like givin’ back to Tresnon, for all they’ve done for us.”

“Yeah, yeah…” A young man with tanned skin and short dark hair, dressed in desert robes and carrying a small gun, sighed in resignation. He briefly glanced at his conversational partner — a slightly older woman, with dark skin and no hair, but otherwise dressed the same — before looking left and right down the hallway they were standing in. Underground as they were, neither sunlight nor moonlight, nor any of the sights or sounds of Compound Tresnon above could reach them. All that could be heard was the steady electrical hum of the massive electrical generator sitting in the room behind them as it provided power to the entire city. The two young individuals stood guard in front of the generator room’s only entrance, bearing their responsibility as members of Tresnon’s Defense Force.

“That said…” The woman glanced to and fro as well, attempting to peer down the dim hallway in either direction — only to see nothing but more hallway. “What’s takin’ Nirka so long? He’s supposed to’ve brought us a CENT generator, by now…”

“Probably snuck out to join the feast,” the man replied.

“Don’t be stupid. Nirka’s got way more sense than you. An order like this comin’ down from Selind ain’t somethin’ to take lightly, anyways.”

“Yeah, yeah… wonder what brought that on. You think it’s those two newcomers?”

“Ain’t any other thing I can think of. Hope it ain’t, though. Those of us who’ve left the Bleeders…” The woman released a wary sigh as she continued sweeping her gaze across the empty hallways. “We gotta stick together. Just one of us actin’ up can fuck things up for the rest of us. Last thing I want is some ungrateful bastards fuckin’ up all the goodwill we’ve built with the folks of this town.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure, sure,” the man responded with a dismissive shrug. “But even if those newcomers did act up, only one of ‘em’s a Chaotic, right? Both of us are, too, so it ain’t like we’d need a CENT generator to help.”

“My, my, I simply can’t keep quiet in the face of such delicious irony.”

“What?!” Both guards snapped to attention, caught off-guard by the third voice that had suddenly joined their conversation. The man quickly crafted a set of ice armor around his body while the woman began to sweep the hallways with her gun, but no one aside from the two of them could be seen. “…Whoever you are,” the woman shouted, “show yourself—!”

Instantly and with no warning, the woman’s head snapped sideways, eliciting a nauseating crack that echoed down the hallway. As her newly lifeless body slumped to the ground, the man jumped away, his eyes wide with panic as he began to lift his hand toward his colleague — only to meet the same fate within seconds.

The silence that followed was eerily deafening, but didn’t last for long. As if manipulated by an unseen force, the woman’s necklace suddenly snapped off of her neck and flew through the air toward the nearby door. It lingered near a small scanner for a second, after which the scanner emitted a soft beep, followed by the metal clunking sound of the door’s lock being released. Promptly, the door opened on its own… and then the two dead bodies began dragging across the floor, grasped by some invisible entity that sought to hide them.

Once both bodies were through the door, it closed behind them. Another brief moment of silence followed, accompanied only by the low hum of the massive, two-story tall electrical generator that filled the gymnasium-sized underground space. Thin streaks of rust, scuffs, and other signs of aging and disrepair covered both the generator itself and the walls that housed it, but the generator carried on nonetheless, supplying power to every building within the walls of Compound Tresnon.

Eventually, the sound of footsteps echoed through the air, as if the person creating them was no longer concerned with hiding their presence. The footsteps followed a metal grating on the ground that constituted a makeshift path up to a series of panels on the side of the generator. Once the footsteps stopped, another moment of silence passed… followed by a certain, heavily-robed figure with an oversized hood that obscured the top half of her face suddenly appearing as if out of thin air.

“I knew accessing the generator would be easy, but this was too easy,” she remarked to no one in particular, a smirk playing on her face as she eyed the two corpses by the door. “My… for being the ‘shining beacon’ of Treséd’s future, Tresnon and its leaders leave much to be desired.” She shook her head in disappointment before shifting her attention to the panels on the generator, at which point she held her left palm up to the panels. “Now, after a most boring couple of days, let’s make things interesting, shall we…?”

*

“Alright… there we go. All set!”

“Phew…” Conrad stepped back, taking a deep breath as he looked down at the pans of stuffing he had just placed on the table. “Well, that only took forever…”

“Figures you’d still be complaining even after we finish cooking,” Pierce retorted, playfully punching Conrad in the shoulder before gesturing out over their surroundings. “But just look, dude! This is what you were looking forward to, right?”

Conrad and Pierce looked out over the courtyard of WCU, draped in lantern light to dispel the evening darkness. Long, rectangular tables were laid out side-by-side, creating four long columns with enough seats and stools to seat the 300 some-odd students of WCU, along with the staff, faculty, and guests. The only other decorations on the otherwise dusty campus grounds were the massive swaths of food that now decked out the tables — tables that only continued to acquire more and more food as students and faculty alike brought their dishes in preparation for the night’s dinner. Leafy salads sat next to sizzling fish meat, accompanied by seasoned breads and thick soups; no two dishes looked quite the same, making evident the potluck nature of the meal — affirmed even further as students and faculty alike slowly began to fill the courtyard and talk amongst themselves, awaiting the proper start of dinner to take seats. Even turkeys and stuffing, the dishes that the Keys had spent most of their time helping Mark to make in large quantities, appeared on virtually every table. And yet, despite their Earthian origins, they didn’t appear to be out of place next to the surprising variety of Tresédian cuisine.

Conrad sniffed the air, taking in the medley range of smells as he slowly surveyed the courtyard, taking in every dish in sight. Upon noticing this, Pierce snorted in amusement and remarked, “careful, dude, or you’ll start drooling all over yourself.”

“Huh—?” Conrad absentmindedly wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, but upon realizing that his hand remained dry, he shot Pierce an annoyed look. “Hey, c’mon. I’m just looking forward to dinner, that’s all.”

“That was abundantly obvious from this morning.”

Pierce and Conrad glanced to the side, where Phoenix and Kestrel were approaching after having deposited a couple of turkeys on the dinner tables. As the two women stopped next to Pierce and Conrad, the latter adopted a sheepish expression. “I wasn’t that into it…” he insisted.

“I’m pretty sure you asked ‘when’s dinner?’ literally a dozen times,” Phoenix countered.

“Fifteen,” Kestrel corrected.

“…Well, I had to distract myself somehow,” Conrad replied. “Cooking isn’t exactly the most exciting thing…”

“You didn’t even do any of the actual cooking! That was all me and Phoenix,” Pierce retorted. “Maybe if you had actually given more than a token effort, you wouldn’t have been so bored.”

“Now, now, Pierce, this is Conrad we’re talking about,” Phoenix remarked as she passed Conrad a teasing look. “I’m sure he needed that nap to prepare for the exhausting trial of partaking in a feast.”

“Hey, my midday nap is an established habit,” Conrad pointed out.

“Still,” Pierce said, “for someone who likes food so much, you really ought to put more effort into learning how to make it.”

“’More effort’? Blegh,” Conrad scoffed. “Wish I could just summon food out of thin air. Isn’t that what Minilas does? That must be nice.”

“It can be.”

The four Earthians glanced off to the side, where Minilas, Liask, and Obra were standing not too far away. Minilas offered a casual wave, a half-eaten sandwich in hand, while Liask and Obra both seemed to only just notice Pierce — with the former breaking into a grin, while the latter’s expression collapsed into a scowl. Promptly, Liask approached, with Minilas and Obra not too far behind.

“Pierce! And Conrad!” Liask remarked, stopping next to Phoenix and Kestrel, who stepped aside to open the conversational circle. “I didn’t see you there!”

“Here to eat dinner with everyone?” Minilas questioned, her voice as flat as ever.

“That’s the plan,” Pierce replied. “We even helped out with some of the food.”

“Glad to know you ain’t freeloaders,” Obra muttered.

Phoenix shot Obra an incredulous glance before turning toward Liask and Minilas. “Hey, I don’t think we’ve properly met,” she said, “the name’s Phoenix. And this here is Kestrel.”

“Oh, right, you’re Pierce’s friends!” Liask replied cheerfully. “I’m Liask. And this is Minilas and Obra.”

“I’ve seen you around campus,” Minilas commented, her mouth slowly turning up into a self-amused smile. “Heard plenty about you, too.”

“Heard?…” Phoenix echoed cluelessly.

“Just don’t listen to her…” Pierce let out a deep, weary exhale before turning back to Liask. “So this is Hunger’s Bane, huh? Is it always like this?”

“It is,” Liask replied, turning to look out over the food-filled tables in the courtyard. “A big meal, where everyone pitches in… Tresnon has done this for as long as I can remember. One of the only holidays worth lookin’ forward to, I think.”

“Tresnon’s lucky, that it can afford to have Hunger’s Bane be this big thing,” Obra declared. “Most Tresédians ain’t so lucky.”

“Ah… so this really is something only Tresnon does?” Phoenix questioned. “I figured as much…”

“Tresnon at least supports the other Compounds in the region, so they can take part, too,” Liask quickly pointed out. “But… Obra’s right. The places Tresnon can’t reach are worse off.”

“And some places just don’t care for the holiday,” Minilas commented. “Like Rokres.”

“Rokres?” Pierce echoed, “what’s that?”

“Figures you don’t know anythin’ about Treséd,” Obra muttered.

“Oh, give ‘em a break, they ain’t from here, after all,” Liask chided, and then turned toward Pierce. “Rokres is the only real ‘nation’ in Treséd. They’re down south, on the Rokres peninsula. They tend to keep to themselves…”

“That’s one way to put it,” Minilas said, speaking around a mouthful of her sandwich. A moment later, she swallowed, and continued, “it’s pretty boring, really. They ain’t much different from Tresnon’s network of Compounds, but somehow even more stiff and unfriendly.”

“I heard that they have actual, real farmland down there,” Liask refuted. “And a denser network of cities, and a higher-tech defense force…”

“Meh.” Minilas shrugged before stuffing the rest of her sandwich into her mouth. “Not as good as it seems.”

“You say this like you’ve personally been there,” Pierce said.

“Well, yeah. I’m from Rokres.”

“Oh? That’s interesting,” Phoenix remarked. “What’s it like, there?”

“Strict. Traditionalist. Very martial. And they hate outsiders,” Minilas replied. “Weather’s nice, though. Near the mountains, at least.”

“Hey, can’t undersell good weather,” Conrad said.

“It certainly isn’t the best around here…” Phoenix commented with a sigh. “And it’s only going to get hotter, now, too…”

“The fact that you aren’t there now suggests the weather wasn’t enough to keep you, though, huh?” Pierce questioned. “Why’d you leave?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Pierce noticed Liask and Obra exchange an uneasy glance. Just as he realized that his question might’ve been insensitive — especially to a Tresédian, who didn’t seem to have the luxury of choosing where to live on a whim — Minilas broke into a bitter smile.

“Didn’t choose,” she said. “I got kidnapped. By Bleeders.”

“…Oh,” Pierce replied, himself wearing an uneasy smile as he tried to figure out how to respond.

“You don’t seem to be ‘kidnapped’ now, though…” Phoenix said. “Is there a reason you can’t go back?”

A bitter chuckle escaped Minilas’s lips. “I got kidnapped. Captured. To Rokres, that means I’m useless. Dead weight. They wouldn’t want me back.” She shrugged. “Not like I want to go back, anyways. Tresnon is better, weather aside.”

“…Tresnon and Rokres aren’t really on good terms, anyways,” Liask explained. “The Tresnon Defense Force saved Minilas, as well as other Rokres citizens that were kidnapped by Bleeders… but every time the Defense Force tries to help people go back, Rokres rejects them. So I hear, anyways…”

“Fuckin’ assholes,” Obra swore. “They think we’re the outsiders? Tch.”

“Right…” Pierce responded, momentarily glancing at each of Conrad, Phoenix, and Kestrel — who returned the look uneasily. “So… Bleeders, huh…?” Pierce commented, shifting his attention back to Minilas. “Uh… sorry if I brought up any bad memories.”

“It’s fine. I can deal with it,” Minilas replied airily.

“If you say so…” Pierce muttered.

“Ah, Pierce! Phoenix! There you are!”

The group turned to look out across the courtyard, where Mark and Danielle were now approaching from around the tables. Mark offered a casual wave of greeting while Danielle skipped up beside him.

“It looks like everything turned out well,” Mark commented, smiling proudly at Pierce and Phoenix. “Good work, everyone! I wouldn’t have been able to make enough servings without all of your help.”

“Don’t mention it,” Pierce replied, relieved at Mark’s unwitting conversational rescue.

“Oh, so that’s how you made so many of those, uh… birds?” Liask questioned, glancing toward one of the turkeys before looking back to Mark and Pierce. “Those are birds, right?”

“Yes, they’re called Turkeys. They’re from Earth,” Mark answered.

“I can still barely believe that you brought nine of them,” Phoenix remarked while shaking her head. “What were you expecting?”

Mark laughed sheepishly. “I may have gotten a little carried away after deciding to help out with the Hunger’s Bane cooking…”

“It worked out in the end, though!” Danielle exclaimed, “now, even more people are going to get to taste your cooking!”

“I mean, I prepped a lot of it, sure,” Mark said. “But ultimately, I only actually cooked a third of everything. It’s Pierce, Phoenix, Sky, and Twy who I have to thank for taking care of the rest.”

“Don’t sell yourself short,” Phoenix countered, “this is the first time I’ve ever handled stuffing. If not for your help and instructions, they would’ve turned out terribly.”

“Ah, I could’ve made up the difference,” Pierce declared.

“Turkeys and ‘stuffing’, huh?” Minilas commented. “So this is what Earth food looks like, then.”

“Some Earth food,” Conrad quickly interjected. “This is barely even a peek into all of the foods you can find on Earth.”

“You don’t often see roast turkey and stuffing outside of a specific holiday, anyways,” Phoenix pointed out. “…A holiday not too unlike Hunger’s Bane, actually.”

Mark nodded. “That’s right. I figured that Thanksgiving and Hunger’s Bane were similar enough that I’d try some Thanksgiving staples.”

“Well, I hope they taste as good as they look!” Liask remarked.

“They’ll taste even better. Trust me!” Danielle replied.

“Ours will, at least,” Pierce commented, and then snuck a glance to the side as he smirked. “The dweeb’s, though…”

Phoenix, Mark, and soon the rest of the group followed Pierce’s gaze to Spike and Sky, who were bringing out their own dishes and setting them down on tables across the courtyard. Austin and Twy trailed behind them, with Austin attempting to carry what was clearly too much for him to handle while Twy attempted to keep some of the pans from falling out of his hands with floating bubbles of water.

“Ah, there they are,” Mark said. “I was beginning to wonder if I’d need to go check on them…”

“…You might still have to,” Phoenix deadpanned as she watched Austin stumble to the side and nearly drop a pan of stuffing, rescued only by Twy’s attentive water manipulation.

“Why’s Austin stumbling around so much?” Conrad questioned, “he never seemed that clumsy, before.”

“Heh. You can’t see it?” Pierce replied with a snort. “He got these huge muscles, today, just out of nowhere. It looks hella ridiculous, and it’s clearly throwing him off. How the hell he thought taking a shortcut to massive gains would be a good idea is beyond me.”

“Don’t say that like you wouldn’t take a shortcut if you could, yourself,” Phoenix retorted.

“Please,” Pierce retorted as he flexed his right arm. “This physique of mine comes entirely from hard training and practice. No shortcuts here!”

“…Austin, huh?” Liask commented, her eyes still lingering on him for a few moments before she turned back to the group. “I think I’ve seen him around the campus, too, but he looked a lot lankier, before. He’s with y’all, right? How’d he get those muscles so fast?”

“I can only think of one answer… he’s a Simulator Psychotechnic, so he must have simulated Danielle’s Transtechnism,” Mark replied with a sigh, and then glanced down at Danielle. “Didn’t Saito tell you to not let Austin do that?”

“Ahahaha, oops?” Danielle responded with a sheepish laugh.

“It figures that the dweeb would take the shortcut to getting strong,” Pierce remarked.

“’Dweeb’?” Minilas echoed, her one visible eyebrow raised.

“Don’t get him started,” Phoenix interjected.

“Especially not before dinner,” Conrad quickly added, rubbing his stomach as a low grumble emanted from it. “When does dinner start? It looks like everything’s here—“

“’Scuse me.”

“Hmm?” Mark glanced to the side, where Ralak had just approached him and Danielle. “Can I help you?”

“O-oh! Ralak!” Liask exclaimed, as if caught off-guard. “I didn’t see you…!”

“Well, I wasn’t comin’ to talk to you,” Ralak replied, and turned back to Mark and Danielle. “Heard you two were workin’ with Shade today. That true? If so, where is she?”

“Shade?” Phoenix echoed, “wait, she’s the one with all those heavy robes, right? One of the new former Bleeders?”

Obra and Minilas both quickly grew solemn as Liask passed a surprised glance toward Mark. “You were workin’ with a former Bleeder?”

“She claimed that she wanted to see what Earth cuisine was like,” Mark replied, and then turned toward Ralak. “Sorry, but she left a short while ago. She said something about having plans, but she didn’t say when or where.”

“Well that’s a pain…” Ralak muttered.

“Did you need somethin’ from them?” Obra asked, though the tense look on his face belied the innocence of his question.

Ralak passed him an unamused glance. “Don’t be thinkin’ anythin’ nasty,” she chided. “I just wanted to introduce Shade and Ind to what’s probably the first real Hunger’s Bane dinner of their lives. This kinda thing leaves an impression. But if they ran off… damn it, what’re they doin’…?”

“I’d like to know that, as well.”

The group shifted their attention once more as Major Hackett jogged up to them, her gaze quickly sweeping across the group before fixing on Mark and Danielle.

“Man, even more people showin’ up to talk?” Conrad complained, “I just want to eat dinner…”

“Seconded,” Minilas deadpanned.

“So much attitude, for just one question,” Ralak commented, a disapproving expression on her face as she eyed Conrad and Minilas. She then turned to face Hackett, asking, “you lookin’ for Shade and Ind, too? What for?”

The Major passed Ralak a glance, her expression unreadable. Following that was a sigh and a shake of her head. “Sorry, I don’t have the time to chat,” Hackett stated. “Mark, Danielle, something important came up. I need the two of you to come with me—“

Hackett’s words were cut off by the rumbling and thundering echoes of a distant explosion, accompanied by all of the lights in the courtyard suddenly shutting off, plunging the area into darkness — lit only by the fading dusk. Confused shouts soon began to fill the air as students and faculty alike attempted to discern what had just happened.

“We just lost power?!” Pierce exclaimed incredulously.

“I can’t think of the last time Tresnon lost power…” Liask commented uneasily. “What’s goin’ on…?”

“Shit, it actually happened…” Hackett scowled as Danielle quickly acted to shapeshift into a handful of lamplights to illuminate the courtyard. She then drew her pistol and prepared to head towards the distant explosion, muttering to herself, “so… we really are under attack…!”