A few hours later….. .. .. .. .. ..
"Okay! Sh-s.h.i.+n, hold on! Don"t just go in!" Sophia"s voice was an odd mix between a yell and a hushed whisper, neither quiet nor too loud as she waved frantically at a distant figure.
After heading out, Sophia and s.h.i.+n had made fast progress. Both of them possessed Abilities that allowed them to travel extremely quickly, though s.h.i.+n required a couple of breaks due to the repeated number of teleports. Each time he teleported stressed his Soul a bit, something that quickly added up when he teleported over and over.
It was now mid-afternoon and they"d finally arrived near their location.
"Yo, I"m here." s.h.i.+n vanished from the distance and then reappeared right in front of Sophia, causing her to stumble backwards at his abrupt entrance. She flicked her wrist slightly, a stiff breeze of wind swooping up to stabilize her as she activated her Wind Sweeper Ability.
They were currently standing on the roof of a skysc.r.a.per that was mostly empty. Just a few skysc.r.a.pers away, a number of armed men could be seen, standing guard. Multiple skysc.r.a.pers had armed guards on their rooftops, forming a large perimeter of more than 10 skysc.r.a.pers.
When the Old Airwing Alliance patrolled, they brought more than 3,000 powerful fighters with them, leaving the rest of their forces back within their stationary territory. They were a huge force that routinely saved lives and brought about order. They also helped pick up those in need and transport them to the care of the G.o.dfather Organization.
Their big team would split up into much smaller patrols and rotate in and out, sweeping through new areas each day. They would then move on after a few days, gradually making their way through the Main Cl.u.s.ter.
Sophia knew from the intelligence report that the Brigadier General of the group was currently stationed with this force. The Lieutenant General, Hou s.h.i.+, was here as well, operating as the active commander. Pedro was the second-in-command.
"Alright. So… Let"s do it how we talked it up." Sophia nodded at s.h.i.+n, her voice filled with a hint of tension and nervousness. This was her first real time ever doing something like this without Micheal.
"Gotcha. So you take the lead, and I"ll sneak in as backup if I"m needed." The plan they came up with was simple.
Sophia would go in alone. She was a woman, and women were traditionally looked at as less of a threat. Further, going in alone would make her appear even more unthreatening.
She had to at least talk to Pedro, if nothing else. If they got held up or they refused to let her talk to the man, their whole mission would take a dour turn. She didn"t think they would try to keep her here, but it was quite possible they wouldn"t let her see him.
If their first attempt failed, she had a backup plan involving s.h.i.+n simply teleporting to where the man was, but she wanted to avoid that at all costs.
They talked for a few more seconds as they solidified their plan, going over everything one last time.
They then parted ways. s.h.i.+n teleported, vanis.h.i.+ng with almost infuriating ease, while Sophia made sure she was unarmed and then began to walk towards the region controlled by the Old Airwing Alliance.
The closer she got, the more she could see of the armed men and women. They were dressed, unsurprisingly, as soldiers, geared up in full, urban camouflage. The only thing setting the scene apart from some type of apocalyptic military movie was the fact that most of them were armed with swords, axes, and other medieval weapons, in addition to guns.
Sophia approached them directly. She walked across several bridges, strolling through the roofs of several skysc.r.a.pers till she reached the last unoccupied and unguarded rooftop.
The moment she stepped onto the rooftop, several of the soldiers perked up, many of them staring over at her. When she walked over to the edge where a long, wooden bridge connected her skysc.r.a.per to theirs, one of the men on the other side began to walk towards her.
"Hi! He-hey!" Sophia stuttered slightly as she walked forward across the bridge to meet him. She took a deep breath, steadying herself as she began to project a facade of absolute confidence.
"Good afternoon, ma"am. How can we help you?" The soldier that greeted her had tan skin and wore a set of military fatigues, like everyone else visible. He looked young, in his late 20s at most, with a large axe slung across his back.
At the same time that he was greeting her, a few of the other veterans turned and studied her. None of them reached for any weapons, but they all remained on guard and vigilant.
"I"m here to meet with Brigadier General Almaraz." She opened up directly, hiding nothing.
"Oh?" The guard"s eyes twitched as he stared at her anew, scanning her up and down.
"Wait here one moment for me if you will, ma"am." He turned and walked away from her, over towards another guard. This one had several badges, or pins, or whatever they were called, Sophia wasn"t really sure, decorating his gear, and was older, in his mid-40s. He was also white, with greying hair and a rather blocky face.
The two spoke for a few seconds and then both turned to look at her. Both of them then approached Sophia as she waited patiently, nodding at them as they arrived.
"I am Captain Sheffer, a.s.signed to supervise this block." The Captain introduced himself as he waved the first guard away.
"You have an appointment with General Almaraz?" His voice was full of respect when he mentioned the general.
"I don"t have a prior appointment…" Sophia shook her head, but didn"t drop any of her confidence,
"But I do have something he put out a request for a long time ago."
Captain Sheffer looked at her questioningly, motioning for her to continue after she paused.
"It concerns his wife and daughter." She gave a slow, solemn nod,
"And it concerns a cure for their condition."
Captain Sheffer"s eyes widened in shock. Immediately as he registered what she said, his entire att.i.tude changed.
"You should"ve said so! Here, James, Hansu!" The Captain turned to the side, waving over two other decorated men.
"Take charge while I"m gone. I will escort Miss…" Captain Sheffer paused and then glanced back at her,
"Call me K." She went with a random abbreviation, opting to not give out her real name, just in case.
"I will escort Miss K inside." The Captain was practically dancing with excitement as he grabbed her arm and pulled her forward,
"This is the best news I"ve heard all week!"
.. .. .. .. .. ..
"Well… that was easy." The thought fluttered in Sophia"s mind as she sat down, staring across the desk at a latino man with short black hair and a well-maintained mustache. He had dark green eyes and a handsome, mid-30s appearance, making him look like a suave gentleman. She couldn"t see his stature since he was sitting down, but could tell that he was both fit and tall.
He was none other than Pedro Almaraz, the Brigadier General of the Old Airwing Alliance.
After she told Captain Sheffer why she was here, the man had taken her inside. He"d continued to be almost jumping with excitement, launching into an explosion of questions about her plans.
She"d remained mostly silently, simply requesting to talk to General Almaraz about her "findings."
She was searched briefly for weapons and then had her Spatial Ring temporarily confiscated, to her great disappointment. She hadn"t even considered hiding the ring. The ring itself was still bonded to her and, until she died, it couldn"t be opened by other people without at least a large amount of effort but…
If she had to leave without it, it would prove a troublesome problem. A lot of the stuff she needed was in there.
She withdrew a small pouch of pills before handing it over.
And, right after that…
She was led directly into the office of Pedro Almaraz. The Brigadier General was present on base and unoccupied at the current moment, having just returned a few hours ago from an expedition.
It felt almost too easy, but she had no intentions of pa.s.sing up on the lucky break she got. Apparently her request for a meeting was not that out of the ordinary.
The man"s office was an actual office, a unique room in this skysc.r.a.per. It wasn"t cluttered, with only a couple small stacks of papers sitting on a long desk, a couple of metal chairs, a desk lamp, and what looked like a modern telescope set near the window.
"Miss K." Pedro didn"t wait as he greeted her, giving her a friendly nod as he introduced himself. He held a stack of papers in his hands. Behind Sophia, Captain Sheffer exited and left them in private.
"Are you with the Pent Gallens Group I commissioned to help me look for a cure? Or the Talbery Research Organization. Or, well, I"m afraid I"ve hired so many groups, I don"t remember all of them." The latino man smiled as he spoke, but carried himself with a heavy, soul-crus.h.i.+ng air, as if he was constantly having a bad day.
"No, I"m with an independent group that heard of your troubles and wanted to honestly help you out." Sophia returned as she got comfortable, s.h.i.+fting slightly in the chair. There was a thin cus.h.i.+on on it, but she could feel the metal bars pressing up through its base.
The Brigadier General blinked slowly as he leaned back in his chair, staring at her with a slightly confused look.
"You want to help me out… out of altruism? What?" He muttered slowly in disbelief, gazing at her doubtfully.
"Well, not quite." Sophia gave a small, prim smile,
"The man I work for needs your help. However, he knows he can"t just ask for help and expect to get it." Her eyes gleamed as she continued,
"Therefore, he wanted to set the tone for our meeting and wants me to give you these, free of charge." Sophia raised up the plain leather pouch and set it on the man"s desk. She then opened it up, revealing a set of 8, faintly glowing pills.
"These are Chrysorium Pills." She looked back up at the man, meeting his strong, curious gaze with a relaxed, calm nod.
"They will completely, and permanently, heal your wife and daughter."
When the Brigadier General heard her words, the man froze, the papers he was holding falling from his hands. His hands trembled as his gaze sharpened, still in complete shock. The air around him trembled as his Ki fluctuated, causing the desk he was at to slide forward several inches.
"What?!"
When Sophia saw the man"s reaction, she instantly knew Micheal had been right.
Pedro Almaraz was a member of the First Wave.
By coincidence, so, too, was his immediate family, both his 16-year-old daughter and his wife. All three of them were transported away at the same time. All three of them eventually made Ability purchases and, eventually, were reunited.
Micheal hadn"t been sure which Cl.u.s.ters they sp.a.w.ned in at, but knew for a fact that Pedro"s wife, Isabella Almaraz, found their daughter, Maria first.
Pedro later went on to successfully find them after helping put together the Old Military Airwing, becoming a very powerful A Ranker in his own right. Stories like his were rare, but not unheard of, largely thanks to the efforts of the G.o.dfather Organization.
Unfortunately for Pedro… his wife and daughter had been afflicted with a very unique and rare disease. The historical records didn"t know how or why they were afflicted, except to say that it was caused by someone with the Contagion Curse Type Ability.
These types of diseases were very easy for anyone with the Ki Cultivator Ability to resist catching, at least down on the First Layer. Unfortunately, neither Isabella nor Maria had purchased that Ability at the time.
The disease was known as Whittling Light Disease. It was a magical disposition that caused one"s lifespan to whittle away when exposed to light of any kind.
As a result, the two had been forced to cover themselves up and hide in darkness whenever possible. Even the slightest exposure would physically cause them to die sooner. Pedro himself hadn"t seen the face of his daughter or his wife in years.
Even with all of that… their lifespans were still slowly being whittled away. It wasn"t possible to block out all light forever, even if they hid themselves away in a guarded but stationary safe room while Pedro went on patrol. Human beings needed sunlight to flourish, living in darkness for so long was unhealthy.
Both girls lived a torturous existence.
Whittling Light Disease, at this time, had no known cure on the First Layer. In the future, however, it was discovered that Whittling Light Disease could be defeated, and the whittled away lifespan restored, simply by ingesting a purified Chrysorium Leaf, otherwise known as a Chrysorium Pill.
Chrysorium Leaves were a type of magical plant that grew naturally on certain mythical mountain ranges, and could also be purchased in the Shop for several thousand Points. They gave off a magical glow and were commonly used to help cleanse one"s body.
These pills were a project Micheal spent weeks creating back when he was waiting for the Great Bridge to appear. Each one contained a concentrated amount of purified Chrysorium Leaves.
It had taken a great deal of experimentation to figure out how to actually purify the leaves without destroying them, but he managed it in the end. He hadn"t actually ever read up on the recipe for Chrysorium Pills before he died and was winging it. At the bare minimum, their Whittling Light Disease would be cured with certainty.
Pedro Almaraz"s story wasn"t all that uncommon. Things like this happened to families, or groups of people, all the time in the First Layer. Life had become rather treacherous, with danger lurking at every corner.
There wasn"t much reason Micheal would even be aware of any random story like this, or know the cures to obscure and extremely rare magical diseases.
However…
In the books of history, Pedro Almaraz was no ordinary man.
In the ma.s.sive war between the Nightrunners and virtually the entirety of the Main Cl.u.s.ter, the huge battle that lasted for weeks and dragged the conflict on for months, at the very peak of this epic war…
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Pedro Almaraz was the man that killed Director Prime.
.. .. .. .. .. ..
While this conversation was happening, around 1,000 meters to the south, a masked figure could be seen crouching down and staring at an excited, barking dog. The figure was clearly male, a man of small, but lean stature.
The number 6 was carved into his white, enamel mask, in a fancy, golden color.
"Ruff! Ruff! Ruuuufff!" The Golden Dog jumped back and forth in excitement as it looked in a direct line at Sophia"s location, shaking its tiny tail. It b.u.mped up against the masked figure, as if trying to urge him to move forward.
The masked figure stood crouched for a moment before patting the dog on the head and then reaching over to a Spatial Ring he wore on his right hand.
Instantly, a small smartphone appeared in his hand. He turned it on, scrolling over to a particular forum post on the G.o.dfather Organization"s closed network. He typed in a quick message and then reached down, resting his hand on the small dog.
He scooped the puppy up, setting the eager creature on his shoulder as he spoke out loud, in a hoa.r.s.e, rough voice.
"I"ve found her."
.