"Shall we continue our conversation inside, in a calr environnt?"
Henry offered, then led the group to the elevators, heading to the cold room on the top floor of the building that they had set aside for guests like these.
It wasn't only a room for safety anymore. The thick, reinforced walls were still there, but it was no longer just a place to keep soone confined.
Over the last few months, the room had been upgraded. It now had weapons built into the structure too, ant to retaliate as a last line of response.
It was still questionable how effective it would be against Rank 4 Practitioners, and how much damage it could actually deal. Still, it was better than standing helplessly under an enemy's oppressive power. At the very least, it would help them push back.
Henry got into the elevator with the 2 Blood Path Practitioners, as well as Zephan and Liora. They went down 1 floor, and the doors slid shut behind them with a muted thud.
Selina, Rhys, and hundreds of white-uniford soldiers were left behind on the rooftop.
"Evacuation complete?" Rhys asked, glancing at Selina.
"The headquarters building and the surrounding blocks are clear." Selina checked her wristwatch as the live status updates refreshed. "All civilians and staff are out."
Rhys didn't change his expression. His eyes moved to the soldiers still standing in orderly lines around them. "Let's send these guys as well."
The white-uniford soldiers weren't ordinary troops. Every one of them had been handpicked from among the STF and failed Players.
They were the best of the best, a unit created for only 1 purpose.
To train their talents and prepare them for their future awakenings.
Like Rhys, every one of them now had the potential to beco Rank 3 Practitioners as soon as they awakened. That made them too important to humanity to be risked, thrown into a threat like this, and wasted.
Selina clearly thought the sa. She relayed the command, and hoverjets arrived in quick rotations. They pulled away in controlled bursts, carrying the troops off the rooftop in waves until the lines were gone.
Soon, only two commanders remained. They stood alone on the rooftop, holding their mission. If anything went wrong inside, they needed to keep an escape route open for Henry.
After a few quiet breaths, Selina glanced at Rhys again. "So... what's it like?" Rhys looked back, one eyebrow lifting. "What's what like?"
"Carrying his Path." She didn't hide her curiosity. "Being a follower of sothing Adyr made."
She was one of the few who knew Adyr had created a Path. She also knew he was sleeping now, resting to replenish his life force.
But she didn't have enough knowledge about what kind of Path it was or what it did to the ones carrying it.
Rhys was used to questions like this. The researchers had been asking him similar ones almost every day. He answered with the sa words he always gave them.
"It's terrible."
Selina blinked. "Terrible how?"
Rhys took a deep breath. His hand went to the pocket of his uniform out of habit, searching for the familiar shape of his flask. His expression tightened when he rembered he had left it in his room today.
"I've been dreaming. Too much."
Selina's gaze sharpened. "Dreaming about what?" She could tell that he appeared deeply troubled by whatever he was experiencing in his sleep. For a Rank 3 Practitioner, sleep wasn't a primary need anymore, especially for soone like Rhys. His [Resilience] stat strengthened his mind and body, and when it ca to fatigue, it was enough for him to sit and rest for a short while. Even so, sleep was an old habit. It was sothing he still couldn't fully give up. "My past." His gaze drifted to the sky, his white pupils mirroring the white clouds sliding overhead. "Old mories. Like I'm living through them again."
He hesitated, then continued.
"But so of them are... wrong. I wake up, and I can't rember them. Or I rember pieces, and they still don't make sense."
Selina stayed quiet, letting him speak.
Rhys paused, searching for a few fragnts he could actually put into words. "In those ones, I'm not even . I'm just watching. Like I'm standing behind
soone's eyes."
Selina watched the frown on his face deepen. Even his eyes trembled slightly. The weight of it was obvious.
"You think they're his?" she asked. "Adyr's?"
Rhys looked back at her, and his answer ca out bitter. "I hope not."
Seeing even small fragnts of those mories was difficult to endure, and most of the ti he couldn't even rember or understand what he had seen.
That was why the idea that soone had actually lived through all of it and carried it around as real mories was sothing he wouldn't wish on anyone.
The group, after leaving the elevator, walked through the long corridor and ca to a large door.
The drone floated forward and stopped at the control panel. It hovered steady, as if it was waiting for permission.
Then the doors split open heavily to both sides with a sharp beep, revealing the
man inside.
"Thank you for coming." Henry Bates greeted his guests politely.
He dipped his head slightly, showing proper respect. "Allow to introduce myself properly. I'm Henry Bates, the City's spokesperson while our Ruler is
away."
Arvyn, and especially Kaelor, looked at him strangely.
The being they had been speaking to through the drone now stood before them as an ordinary living person, startling them, as if the voice had finally stepped out of the machine and taken on a body of flesh.
But it didn't bring disappointnt to Kaelor's face. It was the opposite.
He looked at Henry and asked expectantly. "Are you a Creator?"
The Creator didn't necessarily have to be a chanical being, as it could be anyone with the talent to create life out of tal.
Henry already understood what this chari was expecting and what desire was driving him, so he answered smoothly, keeping his tone steady. "Unfortunately, I'm not the one you're looking for." He didn't drag it out. "But don't worry. I'll make sure you et one soon."
In his mind, showing Kaelor the laboratory where drones and vehicles were manufactured would be enough to impress him. For now, he politely asked him
to wait.
The chari didn't push him either. He had spent most of his life trying to et one, so he could wait a little longer, if only to show them proper respect. "Please co inside. I believe we have many things to speak about and discuss."
He let them inside and closed the door behind them, sealing everyone in. The room was simple and quite small, with only 4 bare walls and a single table in the center, surrounded by comfortable-looking chairs.
The temperature was fine, and the soundproofing was so good it felt almost unnatural. It was quiet enough that everyone could hear their own heartbeat. The air was completely odorless, with only pure oxygen circulating inside, carrying no trace of any scent. It felt like a clean emptiness that reminded you of nothingness. Instead of discomfort, it created an almost excessive sense of
ease.
Even though this world was very different from Earth, and the guests were literally aliens with different cultures and habits, Henry knew how to handle people. He took control of the eting imdiately.
"Take any seat." He moved to the head of the table and sat down where he could see everyone clearly. "Make yourselves comfortable." Henry skipped a bit of hierarchy etiquette. Even though he was a mortal, he didn't wait for his Rank 4 guests to sit before taking his own seat, making Arvyn
show a flicker of displeasure at that.
But she was the only one who seed displeased, and even she swallowed it without showing more. She eventually took her seat.
She had already seen enough to understand that whatever this race was, they
were strong. So even if he was a mortal, she had enough sense to keep her anger and displeasure inside.
Then, when everyone was seated, Henry kept his host and superior role. He asked directly, without wasting even a mont on small talk.
"So, do you mind telling what your reason was for joining this Blood Sect, or
whatever it is?"
It was his strategy to understand his guests first-what they desired and what they lived for-so he could later prepare the right bait to pull them to his side.
Kaelor was the first to speak. He began explaining without the slightest hesitation.
He talked about the situation his race was in, their need for Creators to
increase their population, and went into detail, even explaining what kind of race the chari were and how they lived.
He seed eager to et a Creator, almost desperate, and because of that he
shared everything he thought they should know, without hiding anything or telling even a single lie.
When he finally finished, and Henry felt he had gathered enough information to
be satisfied, the turn to speak passed to Arvyn.
And the mont she started talking, the sa word took shape in everyone's
mind, the only one that fit her.
Insanity...
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