CH30: Preparing To Leave

September 20th

Atom PL 9,800

Jason PL 10,100

Breakfast was relaxing with piles of steak, roasted emu legs, and a mountain of bacon. Captured farms were much easier to fence and add to the fold with our ranch hands. One of the men was in our kitchen working the stove diligently under Jason’s watchful gave. My brother had gained control and shot forward while I filled my time with my newest addiction.

“This can’t end well,” Jason said.

Screens appeared and shifted under my rotating cube. Statistics from over 20 system users showed me the results of this new profession. I found this new specialization in a hidden research lab in Tishomingo, and after trying it out, I was hooked. This was a way to spread our culture effectively. All it took was a little seal work, and my system users wanted to learn more about my culture.

The fortune seekers trying to fill in the power vacuum from the demon outbreak made excellent test subjects. While our land grew, trucks filled with cloned guards threw themselves into the wild frontier with papers of ownership.

It was said that the Megacities had facilities devoted to growing their population. Skyscrapers filled with floors of cloning vats kept the population large despite crime and aggressive peacekeeping. Fortune seekers purchased men with prepackaged memories to throw their lives away for them. Automatons would have been a better choice, but I suspected someone was subsidizing the expensive clones to make them affordable. In other words, someone wanted easily possessed clones to wander into the territory of a recent demon outbreak.

“My survival rate has increased to 1 in 4. Perhaps we should buy a shipment of clones from wherever the fortune seekers purchase them. Have you seen one of their farms?” I asked.

Emily stumbled into the kitchen and let our cook pour her a shake. We still had some artificial drink mix, but it had gone sour.

“I don’t understand how some plebian farmers matter. You could punch mage killers to death with your bare hands. How do normals matter?” Emily asked.

Her attitude changed since her failure to control Jason. I didn’t know what my brother said to her to change her attitude, but it worked. Emily wasn’t a ray of sunshine or a nice person. Emily’s way of looking down on people, down on their luck, was cathartic in its irony.

Maybe it was yet another defense mechanism, a layer of protection to protect her psyche from her loss of status, wealth, and power. Though, after she marries Jason, power won’t really be a problem. According to Ember, my brother has been doting since Emily gave Jason access to her vagina.

We had to talk about it, but not with Emily around. This was the best way to get out of the house and far away.

“They live on the edge of our territory and promote World Gov’s agenda. Except many of them have been possessed. There are some sightings of vampires, according to refugees.” I said.

Emily scoffed while Jason piled his plate high.

I made some adjustments to the concealment skill. The seals would impart the knowledge directly into a subject’s mind, slowly requiring them to go through several levels from novice to master. Once they were undetectable, they will have theoretically mastered the skill, rewarding them with knowledge of either the Construct or Manifestation skill.

Too much knowledge imparted at a time through seals caused mental degradation, leading to dimension, strokes, and brain tumors. I had to adjust the seals several times to keep the users alive. Self-study helped decrease the degradation, but I needed more test subjects to practice on.

“Say there are demon incursions all around our territory. What does World Gov gain from that? I assume the vampires are remnants of the old order still working for World Gov handlers.” Jason said.

“Perhaps it’s a reason to throw more mage killer drones into the area. They could be there to force mages out of hiding to fight the demons before the problem develops worse. Or this could be the opening move to betray the VHA after the organization gave up its grand inquisitor.” I said.

Jason nodded along with my points and sipped his protein shake. My brother brushed back the mustache he had been growing since he was 13. The bushy thing twisted up thanks to lots of wax. My own mustache followed a similar path of growth.

“We need to see it with our own eyes, record the experience, and post it on the mage net,” Jason said.

My brother enjoyed posting videos with his old Oz 306. Seals and runes could transfer files from cubes to the old magitech computer. The mage net was an alternate internet using magitech instead of mundane quantum computers. Posting what we saw would probably earn Jason views and possibly an increased reputation when he joined the college.

“Keep me out of the video, and we’ll be fine,” I said.

I planned to spread our culture far and wide using my black rings. This new specialized form of artifact creation combining seals, constructs, and information from the Trans AM allowed me to spread our culture quickly and easily. People would become loyal to my culture with a carrot-and-stick approach without knowing me. Once someone reached a certain level with a black ring, I planned to add the skill to create a black ring.

The less people recognized me, the better when I started experimenting on mages. Even if all of my users died, I could start over if there wasn’t a cabal of mages gunning for my head. I wouldn’t bet against death curses and grand spells, no matter how strong I became. There was a wizard king back half a century ago who could stop time in a localized area.

“You’re no fun. Will Ember come along as well?” Jason asked.

“No, it will only be the two of us. I doubt anyone else could keep up.” I said.

“Do you want my help with your experiment? I don’t agree with spreading our culture, but if you do something, you might as well do it right. How is your rune work?” Jason asked.

“I understand them enough to replace their function with seals,” I said.

Emily snorted. “The artifact is a work of art and rune-based for a reason,” Emily said.

“He believes it’s because mana was the only source the enchanters, engineers, biochemists, and Magi physicists had to work with. I suspect a biomancer at work communicated with life itself on a molecular level. How far along is your research on pathogen seals?” Jason asked.

I winced at each statement. I have grown fond of this research path over the last few weeks. It spoke to me in ways not even seals had, and I wanted to continue pursuing it.

“I can speak to blood on a molecular level, and trust me, it isn’t enough to create rune organelles in white or red blood cells. While I am specialized compared to a true biomancer, our skills are similar enough to compare.” Ember finished her statement with a loud yawn, exposing her fangs. “I suspect we are missing technologies that came from another facility. All we need to do is find who a lab we never knew existed partnered with.” Ember said.

An AI on the mage networked to put together something to design the organelles of single-cell organisms but was spinning its wheels. The tech was there, but the resources and technology needed to help it work were monitored heavily. Free form bio forge nanites with no World Gov implemented back doors were few and far between. I would have to make them myself to have a chance at doing this right. I didn’t have the medical information needed to do them justice. Ember might, but she didn’t have the background in seals needed to make them work.

So, I had to come up with a workaround. Fortunately, the tools were already at hand. The black ring was a work of art and could be altered to get the effects I needed. Only pathogens weren’t really viable targets for black rings. Microscopic lifeforms were too small to target effectively. Even if I hit one, I chose as a target, what then? I needed to alter generations of single-celled organisms into living seals.

It wasn’t possible with my current access to technology and sealing knowledge. So what could I do? The answer was obvious.

If I couldn’t use pathogens as a carrier, I would use parasites instead.

…

Every source was a little different in its own funny way. Jason liked to think energy had an old-world mental disorder like ADHD and couldn’t decide what it wanted to be. So it was a little bit of everything, and somehow managed to specialize in going from one field of study to another. While mana was OCD, it liked everything to be in its place, and move a hair, and it would destroy everything. Chi turned people bipolar kind one moment and into shit heels the next.

Jason stopped as Atom waved a hand before him, stopping their progress in front of a broken gate. Miasma flowed through the air only to be sucked into Atom’s artifact. For someone who despises mages and all they stand for, the man wasn’t shy about appropriating mage concepts. Cultural appropriation was something their culture was incredibly efficient at. Sometimes, Jason thought the name of their original culture was spy or rogue. It would at least make sense if they were thieves or assassins focused on concealment.

Atom opened his mouth. Jason was sure his brother would say something like focus, this is serious.

“How does it feel to finally sink Emily’s pink?” Atom asked.

Atom smiled, spreading his mustache wide. “You know I have quite a lot of experience in sex if you need any advice. Of the two of us, my body count is the highest.”

Did his brother take him out to measure dicks, discuss marks on the headboard, and let loose? Of course, what else would this be? Possessed aren’t a threat to them.

“Aqua Jet,” Jason called as miasma-empowered bones ripped from the ground. The spell took form, concentrating aura into liquid before blasting a tight stream. Water pressure alone shattered bones, but those that remained froze over from his aura.

“That looked like a spell.” Atom said.

“Yes, it did. I even spoke an aria to push the envelope.” Jason said.

“Miasma doesn’t raise the dead by itself. It needs a necromancer to guide it with mana to shape it into something functional. What does that tell us?” Atom asked.

The relaxed air hadn’t vanished. Neither Jason nor Atom felt threatened by anything in their vast sensory ranges. That included the forces waiting within the homestead.

“Nothing concrete, but it leads us to suspect a great deal. World Gov could be working with an established necromancer coven, a rogue group could have taken up residence in the chaos, or the black hand has interests it wishes to defend here. Perhaps there is a tomb belonging to an old undead necromancer. You know they are like cultivators with their ancestors.” Jason said.

“No, I didn’t know they looted their elders, but it makes sense. The pot has been stirred opportunists see a chance to profit in the chaos. Events that might not have happened for decades have been pushed forward to recover losses. According to the inquisitors brave enough to speak out on anonymous forums, this is only from losing a gambling den, a step from falling into hell anyway. So, what do you think will happen when we bloody World Gov’s nose.” Atom said.

His brother wanted to back out. Pure rage flooded his veins. These were fighting words he hoped his brother would take back.

Mounted machine guns fired with hypersonic rounds flattened against their barriers without affecting their energy reserves. Neither of them was strained by mere small arms fire anymore. He didn’t feel the impacts only heard the fire, saw the rounds, and followed their trajectory back to the sources.

Atom was gone for a moment, then the firing stopped. Jason’s brother returned moments later with the platforms deactivated, ready to be repurposed. Their people were very good at repurposing the techniques and technology of others. Jason felt his world had fallen apart when Father told him they possessed a culture without a name. He took better care of his looks and sought after people of status and position to fill that void. Atom filled it with denial instead. There was no problem if he didn’t see it. Like an engineer told, his nanites had become rampant, and he refused to believe it until his body started turning into grey goo to Atom; nothing was wrong.

“It’s an important question. If we’re doing this, we should be ready for the consequences. So, what should we expect to happen when the unstoppable behemoth loses to two bros with a nameless culture?” Atom asked.

Jason threw a fist, and Atom blocked it; despite their power disparity, Atom kept up with him. They traded blows as a group of black robe-clad necromancers with the Roman symbol for Saturn on their robes raised staves, and Atom glanced their way. Jason withdrew his aura as a massive heat wave slammed into the robed men.

Hastily erected shields shattered, and men burst into flames. “Arenae,” mana surged, taking form as sand lifted from the ground and spun into a quickly forming tornado. Jason lifted his hand and slapped it down, dispersing the spell. White light appeared at the tip of Atom’s finger, and mages felt their blood boiling in their veins. A mage with a scythe in one hand and an hourglass in another rose from the farm's homestead. Four rune blades stood at his sides with dozens of weak mages. The old man seemed to be a high-level wizard.

“I see Augustus sent his assassins after all. A pity to have to spill mage blood for a fearful man.” The wizard said.

“Black rings,” Atom said, and black rings appeared and raced for the mages.

“Zing,” The old mage said.

A massive electricity wall appeared, blasting apart the rings as they passed. They moved the second visibility vanished, lowering their perceived power to undetectable levels. He turned in time to catch the flat of a rune blade’s sword with the tips of his fingers coated in aura. Parts of the blade froze before runes lit up as the rune blade struggled to overpower Jason.

White light flashed, ending mages left and right as Atom hit anyone inattentive. His opponent spoke an aria to summon a barrier before a rush of superheated aura could burn his brain out of his head.

A rune blade fell to his knees when a ring hit him. His brother scattered them, and any mage without a barrier or elemental spells to destroy them fell quickly. Even this was a test for his brother’s newest hoppy.

“This is blaspheme.” The wizard slashed down with his scythe, scoring a wound on Atom that healed with barely a drop of blood. “Are you cultivators from Florida?”

“Yes, and you have stepped upon the interests of the Xia clan.” Atom said.

“Could you not implicate our Mother’s clan in a conspiracy?” Jason asked.

“What are they going to do? They’re obviously radical elements of the mage faction; everyone is used to them spouting insane conspiracy theories.” Atom shook his head. “You’re the one who told them our Mother has connections to the Xia clan, indicating we may be potentially valuable hostages.” Atom said.

“Your lack of concern for your lives will be your undoing.” The wizard said.

Atom stabbed forward with an energy blade. The wizard’s barrier held until Atom moved his hand forward. Suddenly, the barrier warped, and Jason’s own opponent lost focus and flinched to disengage. A blow to the rune blade’s chest struck a barrier, but the man’s body shrugged off the force.

Jason was reminded then that wizards and rune blades were conduits of power. While they weren’t much stronger overall, they could handle a beating.

The counter came, and Jason caught the blade between his thumb and fingers. Really, all Jason had done was hold back a little less. Rune blades were used to fight vampires, that was true, but bodies could only take so many buffs.

“I heard you were trained to never drop your weapon,” Jason said before pummeling the rune blade.

The barrier shattered on his next hit, and his blow shattered the rune blade’s rib cage. Jason’s icy aura took the man’s breath away, and his lungs froze. The last remaining rune blade struggled to flee or charge into the fight. Jason tossed the rune blade from the dead man’s hand at supersonic speeds.

Sparks ran off the rune blade’s sword as he struggled to deflect it. “Aqua Jet,” a beam of water tore through the rune blade’s barrier and froze him from the inside out. Jason took both weapons from the corpse before picking off any remaining mages.

The old man's words caused mages' bodies to grow bones out of their corpses. Atom turned the scythe aside and snatched the old man by the throat. The aria the old man was chanting cut off.

“This is what I’m talking about: one little move, and we have a wizard and rune blades on our doorstep. Do we want to kick the hornet’s nest?” Atom said.

“We gained more than anyone else by my reckoning. By forcing these hidden monsters to move, we can catch them unaware. Our training might not have been for this, but it prepared us for exactly this scenario.” Jason said.

Miasma gathered around the bones until they turned black, crystalized from the source, and fired at Atom. Atom’s Black Halo appeared and sucked the miasma from the bone spears as they crashed into his brother’s barrier. A roaring sound erupted, and the dead bodies spoke an aria.

For the first time since coming here, Atom looked nervous. The mask of indifference cracked as more miasma gathered and condensed, filling the world with tiny black particles. With a final act of defiance, the wizard threw his hourglass on the ground, shattering it. Sand swirled around them, quickly blackening with miasma and becoming a demonic storm. The sands impacted the wizard, turning his skin black as demonic runes lit up over his flesh.

Still, Atom’s hand remained firm around the wizard’s throat and began to squeeze. A wellspring was opening centered around the wizard’s skin. If his spell succeeded, he would become a 5th-ranked demon. The energy sword from Atom’s fingers vanished, replaced with a black ring. Jason watched the wizard’s barrier crack before shattering under Atom’s grip. Then, the ring wrapped around the wizard’s neck.

The demon dropped his scythe and clawed at his face, and Atom released him to it. Jason could sense the wellspring preparing to open and blast lost souls across the landscape, but Atom looked excited.

“What an exciting opportunity. At this time, the wizard doesn’t have a culture. He’s transitioning between a mage and a demon. Mana is being replaced with miasma as the runes pull more of their preferred source from hell. In this time of transition, there is a gap waiting to be filled by the new culture. So what happens when I jam my culture in with not demonic runes designed to deal with energy in place. No better than that, there are demonic runes used to transform miasma into energy. I have been preparing but didn’t know for what opportunity.” Atom said.

Suddenly, Jason wasn’t sure about the raid. The wizard clawed deep gouges out of his face while black lines flickered across his body, falling into place faster than anyone hit by a black ring he had seen.

“Marie has taught you about demonic runes,” Jason said.

“They are easier to learn than mage runes. I think it’s my teacher. PDFs are a little dry, even if they help my goal. Marie has great titties; it’s a shame having sex with her is fatal.” Atom said.

“With this kind of opportunity from something we weren’t involved in, imagine the gains we would have from the raid itself,” Jason said.

“Do you know why I agreed to it in the first place?” That gave Jason pause before he sighed and shook his head. “I thought that the roadblocks would be enough at some point to convince you it wasn’t worth it. We didn’t beat that wizard because we were smarter or better equipped. We won because we showed up on his doorstep and killed him brutally. Shock and awe won us the fight before the mages could form a bulwark against us. They expected the vampires to be scattered and disorganized and the mage killers to focus on cleaning up. We opened the battle by killing over half their number and one of their elite rune blades. The wizard wasn’t ready to deal with someone who could regenerate.” Atom said.

“So, are you backing out now that we’re so close?” Jason asked.

Atom closed his eyes and rubbed them. “I’m saying words, but you aren’t listening to me. While I’m with you at the first sign of trouble, we’re withdrawing. Her family isn’t worth our lives.” Atom said and went to mercy kill the mages that awoke only to scream as their bodies immolated.