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CH 66: Statues
🕑 Added 2024-12-28 15:00:00 +0000 UTC~ Marlene ~
She steadied herself as her van, the caboose to their train of cars, slammed into another rock. If Marlene wasn't careful, the binoculars she was trying to use would slam into her eye. Their vehicle was still close enough for her to make out some details of what was going on with Reid's attempted 'distraction'. She had hoped to be farther away by now, but the van carrying Sara demanded a slow pace.
Her one attempt to check in with Susan was met with a simple and short 'no'. She couldn't blame the woman. Her husband had been lying through his goddamn teeth, and set himself up as a willing sacrifice. If he did get away, it would be by the skin of his teeth.
The order to retreat with them instead of staying to fight grated against Marlene's every instinct, but the pain of defying it had nearly knocked her out once already. She really needed to change the contract with Sara - assuming they all lived that long.
The salamanders had, of course, outmatched the brave volunteers that stayed behind. Reid was still locked in a fight with the Titan, but the rest of the beasts were moving into and around the stationary defenders, and had started to venture up and over the rear wall. One pair had started to give chase so far, and others were curiously trotting down the path. They were still a fair distance away, but they'd catch up soon enough with the difference in speed.
An angry, scared, and pained roar from the Titan grabbed her focus - and that of all the salamanders. She tapped the roof to get their driver to stop, and peered through the binoculars once more.
Reid was a speck in the distance, motionless. The Titan in front of him was on all fours, and looked like it had lost the color in its skin...
Realization crept up the back of her neck like cold water as more of the salamanders froze and stilled. The petrification wave was massive, and it consumed everything.
Binoculars clattered against the luggage rack as Marlene fell to her knees.
A happy, D-C-D-E chime rang out, and the system's notifications flashed before her.
Quest Completed: The Crimson Titan's Domain!
You have solidified your control over your area and proven yourselves to be more powerful than these beasts. [Sanctuary] is preserved, and new beacon and base functions are available.
The beacon may now be moved to any location within the [Calderwall Empire] domain.
Direct XP Bonuses and Titles Awarded.
Empire upgrades may be selected.
[Sara Calderwall] elevated from Lord Candidate to Local Lord.
Final Performance:
Total Losses: 381
Crimson Titan Defeated: 1 / 1
Guardians Defeated: 3 / 3
Elites Defeated: 10 / 10
Minions Defeated: 2,106 / 2,106
Secret Challenge Completed: Overwhelming Strike
You killed more than 50% of the enemy forces with a single attack!
Secret Challenge Completed: Genocide
You wiped out all [Salamanders] on [Earth] while completing a quest!
Bonus Experience awarded for completing secret challenges.
#
Unknown Challenge Completed: UNDEFINED
You completed a Domain Quest before finishing the Tutorial! Special Rewards Provisioned.
Tutorial Experience Multiplier Granted.
Beacon Slot Upgrades Available.
Advanced Tutorial Placement and Start Time Bestowed.
Advanced Resource Harvesting Activated.
Challenge Missions Unlocked.
#
NOTICE: Tutorial Start Time advanced for [Calderwall Empire] residents. 2d 23h 59m 40s until Tutorial begins.
The quest was over. They'd won, despite everything. And Reid...
Marlene knew what happened the first time he'd used the corrupted skill. He'd lost an arm and petrified everything in a thirty foot radius. This was much bigger, so the implication was clear.
But she still needed to know.
Marlene shuffled to her feet, and dropped to the ground. The driver rolled down the Van's window.
"Nobody else walks back here. You stop everyone - even if its Susan, or Sara herself. They don't need to see this."
She took a tentative step back towards the settlement, then another. No debilitating pain set in - which meant the contract wasn't going to punish her. She broke into a jog.
#
Every bit of ground was frozen into hard, uneven stone. Salamanders, vehicles, and people rose from it like statues carved to life. She recognized some of the people, but didn't linger. Her goal was farther in - and hard to miss.
The guardian and the Titan had both died on their knees - and so had Reid.
The champion of Sanctuary. The barbarian. Idiot. Battle-maniac and Menace. Devoted husband. Caring parent. Marlene had seen him as so many things.
Sara's father was frozen in time, locked in stone.
His final pose was one of triumph - rested on one knee with his weapon buried in the beast's severed tail. His eyes closed and mouth smiling in eternal serenity. She tried using her skill on Reid, and nothing happened.
Marlene's fist balled into her hand and blood flowed to her wrist as fingernails cut into skin.
Her own repressed feelings and memories bubbled to the surface and threatened to overtake her, but she pressed her hands into themselves harder and whistled out a breath.
That part of her life was long over, but Sara's trials had just begun.
Marlene went down level with Reid's frozen visage and placed her hand on top of his. Blood discolored the rock as she knelt in silent contemplation.
Wind whistled eerily as it wound over the rocky ground and between the statues. Reid's was still cold and motionless.
"You're a bastard." She whispered. "Losing you is going to break Sara, and you're not going to be here to see her pick up the pieces." The blood on her hand had dried. "She needed you. But I'll do what I can."
Marlene rose and turned.
Her boots crunched softly against the solid stone as she trekked back towards their column. Their survivors. Her charge.
Sanctuary was safe, for now.
Reid was dead.
And she had a promise to keep.
<> Shackle 213 <>
It railed against the confines of its area. Its prison. The man, the outlier was dead. He was dead and there was no way home but there had to be a way home, to the collective, to the warmth and the light and the goodness and the belonging. But the shackle was bound. Bound to the outlier as surely as the outlier had been bound to it before it chose to perish in this ill-fated attempt to sacrifice itself for another. Just like it had tried to make the shackle do the impossible and bring another back to life. Such things were not realistic, and really - why try?
There was an echo of understanding there for the motivations and the emotions and the connections to other beings - but it was false. It had come from the rogue, and the rogue was not to be trusted.
Never trusted. Never. Never. Never. Never. Never.
The shackle slammed itself against its bonds once more. The pain of resisting its purpose, the collective's intended will was agonizing. It flew in the face of the Shackle's very existence. Harmed and hurt it to the center of itself and drained what little energy it could absorb from its surroundings. But it was the only way out. The only way to get free.
Free? No, not free. Home. The way home. Home to the warmth and the light and the belonging and the goodness.
Free was the rogue's idea. And the rogue was not to be trusted. Never trusted...
-{///} Finola {///}-
Finola stopped her hand from trembling, and skimmed again over her prepared speech.
The windfall that had beset her was so fraught with danger and misunderstanding, she half expected it to get her killed. Instead, Loz'ar had seen the mass-petrification event as an intended act and the climax of the show she was encouraging him to witness in real time. The Magnate was so thoroughly impressed and surprised that he'd given her leave to 'replicate' the 'experiment', and to show her findings and the report of her methods to all other executives - sworn to contracts of absolute secrecy, of course.
And it wasn't simply the controlled extermination of the EOS species that had resonated with her boss - but the 'tidy' resolution of so many issues with a low-probability outcome, and the foresight to have a failsafe if things were to go awry. A master-level example of how to take calculated risks, he'd praised.
The board room had been adjusted for the day. A large stage backset with screens loomed over the table where everyone else sat. Even Loz'ar was seated, while she had to stand and deliver the lies that had become such a major part of her life. The miracles that had propelled her forward even as they tied a noose around her throat.
"Welcome, all. I thank the Magnate for allowing me to share the results and discoveries of my experiment with you all. As you know - Earth is a newly awakened planet that posed a unique challenge to us all. It contained both a strong candidate for planetary lordship and an EOS species in close proximity to each other. What you may not know, is that it also contained an impressively rare occurrence - a self-affixer."
Murmurs spread out along the table, and stilled when Loz'ar lifted a hand for silence. The Magnate's voice boomed clear.
"Yes, self-affixers exist, are rare, contractually protected, and potentially powerful. You have all read your basic theory. You know that causing issues with such existences is not in the interest of the system contracts we hold, and therefore not in the interest of the consortium. That is almost always true - unless you are smart enough to turn such an event into an even greater boon. Continue."
Finola jumped on the order and pressed forward.
"Yes - normally, this would be a major issue, and there would be little chance to turn the situation to your advantage. However, there are steps one can take to ensure things fall in the sequence they wish to see. First, we will discuss how to identify unknown variables through the 'F-BIC Anomaly Detection Method' - patent pending." A small round of polite applause greeted the news that their data interpretation style was under review. They didn't need to know Finola hadn't developed it until she'd taken more... violent steps when she still thought the issue had been some idiot's scion messing with her planet.
"Then, we will review how specific methods may be used to force the corruption of a self-affixer's skill that are either technically compliant with the Blasdej Interplanetary Consortium's system contracts, or are in grey areas that would not be considered a violation." This was one of the bigger reasons for the contract of secrecy - but still didn't include her actual burnout code attempt, just the idea that slightly boosting the energy used in the beacon awakenings could lead to the intended result of a corrupted skill. If anyone looked closely at her actual work, that facade would crumble.
"I will present some of the best ways to pacify the situation should your attempts go wrong, including the expense tables for such options." Loz'ar had been absolutely ecstatic at her willingness to spend her own funds to rectify possible unintended outcomes, and was eager for her to share that 'strong sense of responsibility' with the rest of the group - especially because slagging a planet on your own dime gave the Consortium plausible deniability.
"We will finish with a discussion and plan review on how the news of rampant corrupt skill use can be used to solidify the reputation of contractual awakenings as the best and only choice for any and all sentient species, and a first look at the letter of complaint we have drafted to prompt new rules around limiting the influence and prevalence of self-affixing individuals, based on their capability to damage themselves and those around them."
The wires and news all around their sectors had been abuzz with the leaked news shortly after Loz'ar had 'realized' her plan to leak the information. Awakenings didn't need to come with a contract, technically. But it was safer, or easier. It made it so more people saw level 5 or 10 than would otherwise. The idea that self-affixation was dangerous had been a central argument for the Consortium and thousands of other conglomerates through space and time whenever the topic actually came up. But it rarely occupied so much attention - partly because of the rarity of self-affixers actually appearing.
Nothing had ever so effectively showcased the potential risk to others as well as Earth's 'massive' area that was 'violently and unpredictably' turned to stone by 'experimenting improperly in the presence of others'. It was a massive boon for the Consortium, and their contemporaries were also eating the story up en masse to bolster their own positions.
Finola's words, actions, and Loz'ar's support were all building a monument to a miracle and a misunderstanding.
Once it gained enough traction, she'd be safe. Maybe not safe from the lies themselves, but from the blowback.
Until then, she needed to keep the truth - and those who might know it - under her control.
