Rough hands grab me and pull a hood over my head then pick me up, and I don’t fight them. They’ve come prepared and they’ve no doubt been dreading what they might have to face - they’ve brought in the big, professional guns who aren’t messing around. Part of me wants to see what I could do if I tried to break free, how many I could take on in a fight now that my Agility and Strength are 10x human maximums.
I reach out with my massively increased Mana pool and try to detect what’s around me. The instant I activate my Mana, a sharp blow to my head knocks me hard and I grit my teeth, not releasing it. Two more harder blows that hit my skull with a clear crack and it’s clear they can detect when I’m using it and they’re determined to stop whatever I have planned, so I release it. I’m not exactly a master mage after a few days with a tiny Mana reservoir.
I try to keep track of where we’re going, but as soon as we’re out of Saint Marianne’s I’m shut into some kind of vehicle and tossed on the floor. I can tell by the breathing and slight movements around me there are other people here, and maybe this space is the size of a bus. Unless I want to take on a group of unknown EDF troopers bound and blindfolded, I better sit tight - so I do, and open up my notifications and Status to make sure I haven’t missed allocating any Soul Sparks.
Soul Sparks Allocated
Strength +120 (200)
Constitution +36 (530)
Agility +119 (200)
Perception +120 (200)
Luck +179 (200)
Mana +174 (200)
Aura +52 (200)
Damage Reduction Index +0.4 (5.3)
Health Regeneration Index +3600 (53,000)
Stamina +360 (5300)
Stamina regeneration +156 (730 /min)
Mana +1740 (2000)
Mana regeneration +52 (200/min)
Soul Spark Reclamation range +52m (202m)
Level Up! +4 (13)
It’s a massive increase, like slaying hundreds of powerful creatures, and yet… it doesn’t seem like my increased Luck has kicked in yet. I strain a bit at my bonds and I feel them move slightly, but then they tighten inextricorably. Definitely meant to contain Heroes. I try to focus and stay calm, but it’s tough. I have no idea where we’re going and what’s going to happen. My breath is hot inside my hood.
Suddenly, the hood is whipped off me with force and no warning, but I’m ready to react immediately and even bound I’m not helpless. In front of a group of high Ranking EDF troops I see a woman’s face appear in front of me while she squats down, elbows on her knees. I pull her information since it seems like she’s going to be calling the shots, and all the EDF troops behind her too. They’re all high Level with strong Powers, probably at least C Ranked and most of them are probably higher.
Carlotta Arnold (Psychic)
Level: 113
Redux: 0%
Power: Mind Manipulation (Tier 2 Major)
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Conditions: Boosted
Fuck, it’s going from bad to worse.
Carlotta tilts her head and bends down then fixes her eyes on mine, capturing my gaze. I can feel whatever her Power is rooting around in my mind. It’s fucking scary and something surges up inside me in rebellion. I start to thrash around, trying to push her out so my head by shoving with my mind, and wishing I’d dumped all my Attributes in something that defends against Psychic mind control fuckers.
Someone kicks me hard in the guts and I’m lifted off the ground then slam against whatever’s behind me, unharmed. It’s broken Carlotta’s eye contact though and I clench my eyes shut, only to have them opened for me for a few more seconds by a trio of EDF troopers while she finishes whatever mind fuckery she’s doing on me. This time my head feels thick and slow. It’s hard to concentrate until she breaks our eye contact and my thinking returns to normal.
“I can’t comment on whether it’s inside of him, but there’s absolutely no evidence it’s controlling him,” Carlotta says, and for a moment I think maybe she’s my friend even though she’s just somehow rooted around in my mind without my permission.
“We need to be sure!” A voice from behind the EDF troops holding me down sounds frustrated.
Suddenly everything lurches and our transport slams to a halt. Momentum is even killed for everyone inside the vehicle after the first split second; two of the EDF troopers strike the front metal wall and dent it, but the rest of us are suspended in mid air or on the ground until we’re released from whatever held us and gravity reasserts itself. There’s some serious Power at play. I’m on high alert and ready to take advantage of the situation if there’s an opportunity. The EDF troops are unharmed as far as I can tell.
Metal screeches behind me and I roll to see a gaping hole in the side of the transport wall. All the EDF troops move at lightning speed with their Powers and their enhanced armor, but at a speed I can’t even follow they’re all thrown back and pinned against the interior surfaces of the transport.
A powerful, massively muscled man in his fifties with silver streaked shoulder length hair and a thick beard leaps through the hole and lands with a thump in the middle of us. He’s wearing an ESF officer’s armored jumpsuit and then I realize who it is, and pull his Status - again. This time with a substantially different Level.
Kaltor Deane (???)
Level: 429
Power: Adaptation, Kinetic Manipulation
Conditions: Field Command, Absolute Authority, ???, ???, more…
The speed and complete domination of his entrance has put the EDF troops on the back foot, though no doubt they’re communicating with backup already. They’re highly trained and react quickly, three of them jumping across me with their weapons out, but Kaltor’s Level and ESF Rank stops them from taking any other immediate action.
“I’m here for Calrik Corvin,” Kaltor thunders. This time his voice and his eyes are not calm at all. His presence reverberates through everyone, backed by Power and authority.
“Strike Leader!” exclaims one of the men. I recognise his voice as the one who said they need to be sure I’m not harbouring a monster. “This is EDF business. Corvin may be infected by a dangerous alien creature. Release us!”
Kaltor doesn’t seem impressed, and instead looks around. Everything about him screams threat and intimidation without him even trying.
“Anyone found evidence of the creature? Something you can put forward right now?”
Everyone in the smashed transport is silent. Kaltor looks around for quite a while, and not a word is said. When he’s satisfied that he’s given more than enough time for someone to produce some evidence, he gives a snarl and the restraints holding me snap apart, freeing me.
A streak of white hot plasma slices across the transport, and strikes Kaltor. His armored jumpsuit starts to melt before he casually deflects the remainder of the beam with the palm of his hand. The physical temperature and tension both skyrocket.
Against my well honed instincts from a lifetime of being weaker than everyone else that tell me to stay out of this, I get up and look around. All eyes are on me and so are some weapons. Still thrown off and uncertain about everything, but feeling maybe I can trust Kaltor, I eye the tear in the metal wall he’s standing in front of.
“Come on,” he says to me, and then hops backward through the transport to the ground and waves me through.
“Don’t do this, Strike Leader!” the leader of my abductors calls out. Through the hole in the wall I can see ripples in the air as gravity bends and shrapnel shoots up around Kaltor, then hovers around him as if to strike. Kaltor shakes his head in amusement and the shrapnel shoots down into the ground as if fired from a cannon. Inside the transport one of the EDF troops goes completely limp, Power overtaxed. Kaltor waves his hand and all of the EDF troops are suddenly thrown up and pinned against the walls and ceiling of the transport.
When I jump down out of the transport, everyone inside of it is released simultaneously. Kaltor doesn't look drained or affected at all as a dozen EDF troops slam unceremoniously back onto their feet in the military transport. Most are in combat positions, weapons out and trained on us. Kaltor ignores them.
“Hey Calrik,” he greets me instead with a nod and a gruff acknowledgement, his long hair swaying. Now that I’ve got a better look and I’m on my feet, his presence is even more intimidating and I wonder how he was able to contain it at Saint Marianne’s. “Vitalis asked me for this favor and there’s no way in the Universe she would have let that thing infect you… but we’ve got to get you tested to confirm it.”
“Gladly,” I agree.
