NOVEL NEXT Chapter 167: Evacuation Part 2
Carl studied the structure he made and let Sis know, he could indeed now create structures wherever he wanted, but it cost about twice as much as it had when Sis' tutorial ended.
Not long after. people started arriving, most of the first twelve to arrive were hybrid children.
"Carl, I don't know if you remember me, but I'm one of the new starters. I phoned my parents... They told me to go with you." Carl focused, then realised it was the child that asked if he only accepted hybrids.
"Hey kid, I don't think you introduced yourself before, but yeah I remember you. Are your parents coming?"
The child's eyes were a bit puffy, but when Carl asked the question, his eyes turned glassy. "No, they're on a distant world, an announcement has been made that SATS is off-limits for the rest of the day,"
[ EMERGENCY MESSAGE SENT FROM CARL : SHIT, GUYS, WE HAVE MINORS ON THEIR OWN. I WANT A SEPERATE BUILDING FOR UNACCOMPANIED MINORS. VOLUNTEERS TO STAFF IT AROUND THE CLOCK AND ANYONE WITH COUNSELING TRAINING ON HAND FOR THEM TO TALK TO. ]
[ EMERGENCY MESSAGE RECEIVED : BASTARDS! WE'RE ON IT, SIS IS SEARCHING FOR VOLUNTEERS AND COUNSELORS NOW. ]
"I know it's scary, when I first came to SATS, I didn't know anyone and it all happened in a couple of hours. I have a special place for children under fifteen. In the meantime, I'm gonna make a special friend to help you all stay calm and help you..." Carl mixed a few creatures he had banked together, creating yet another spectacle of light which coalesced.
"Aww! He's so cute!" A girl in the group shouted.
"He is a creature I made just to be a friend for you guys, he's an emotional-support mega-fluff and his name is Floof. Stay close to him and he'll make you feel better, just remember to pet him gently." Carl picked him up and handed him to the boy.
"Sure! We'll take good care of him." The boy bounced him in his arms, then the group disappeared through the portal.
Carl tried to hide his frustration, he realised this was Gilgamesh pushing him. He activated farsight and locked eyes with the smirking demigod, standing beneath his fiery halo that caused ominous shadows to dance across his face.
"Gilgamesh, you want to test me fine, but you really want to drag others into it? What will you do if I draw unwanted attention? You don't spend all that time in your own realm for fun do you?"
Gilgamesh didn't realise Carl was looking at him until he spoke, but his words rang undeniably true and Gilgamesh looked around before making a quick exit to his own realm.
'Tiamutael, do me a favour and stare at Venusiah a bit...'
The woman's eyes grew wide for a moment, she tried to throw up an aura barrier to block the oppressive gaze, but in the end she stood and left.
'Haunt her for me until she does something to help or someone says otherwise.'
'No need, the moment she left, she started contacting her troops and mobilising them, she seems to be studying a list of residents on SATS. I think she's going to gather as many families as possible.'
'If she tries anything, lean into it.'
More and more people arrived, some simply made passing nods and gave semi-hopeful looks. Some were visibly distraught, some were visibly shaking and some were staring defeatedly at the floor.
Carl had watched roughly a thousand walk past him, then came the first one to try something.
A man that looked about the same age, lunged at him as he produced a weapon, only for Squidge to appear and flick him across the massive hall. His body skipping across the floor like a pebble across a lake.
Carl wasn't in the mood to listen to any wailing, and Carl closed the portal so that he and the guard could deal with the man, whose screaming was causing infectious fear to spread.
When they reached him however Carl leaned down and examined him. "You're in luck, I don't use magic very often, but I do have a spell to do the job."
Carl activated the spell, then the guard withdrew something that looked like an enamel pin and stuck it to the man's forehead before he crumpled. "Do.. not... panic... I simply... incapacitated him..."
"Everyone else, I'll make this clear, try to kill me... Whatever, don't care, but try to kill anyone else and I'll make sure you can't hurt anyone again. Why would anyone even try to kill us? I'm not an enemy, I have no intention of starting a war or anything."
Carl didn't speak confidently, his tone was that of someone who was truly confused, desperate to understand how things got to this point.
"Any who... interfere... will be... incapacitated." The guard said, before staring at a slate after a beep, followed quickly by an announcement.
"Attention everyone. I am Warrant Officer, First-class. Julius Lendro of the Venus-corps. We have come to reinforce station security and ensure the deportation of all who wish to defect progresses safely and efficiently.
Any who engage in violence shall be subdued and detained.
This is no farce, the committee's decision to allow their departure is absolute. Any who require assistance should ask a member of the corps to assist.
Any who have already been detained should be moved to the gate room."
The announcement was welcome support and caused several who apparently harboured ill intent to depart and make their way back to their suites.
"I will... escort this one... farewell." The guard lifted the incapacitated man with ease and carried him off.
The whole time, more and more people had been filing in. "Sorry everyone, I'll get the portal back open!"
Carl dashed over to the stage again and reopened the portal.
As people kept filing through the Venus-corps eventually made their way to him. "Lord Carl Bashe-Reaga, we apologise sincerely on behalf of our commander for anyone who has caused issues during this difficult time of transition."
"I don't believe in titles, I have a bad record with them. Please be sure to pass along my thanks to your commander, I'd hate to bring suspicion upon them by contacting them directly."
The guard saluted, then he fell in line with his troops to assist with the "transition", though excommunication or exile would have been more apt in Carl's opinion.
[ GROUP MESSAGE SENT FROM CARL : KYUBI, KLAIRE, THIS ISN'T SOMETHING I'LL FORGET, BUT WE NEED TO TALK LATER. AWAY FROM EVERYONE... ]
[ GROUP MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM KLAIRE : WHAT'S THIS ABOUT CARL? THAT WAS A CONCERNINGLY VAGUE... ]
[ GROUP MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM KYUBI : I AGREE... ]
[ GROUP MESSAGE SENT FROM CARL : IT'S ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE FOX-SPIRITS. ]
The moment Carl sent the message, he felt Kyubi and Klaire's auras surge, followed by the other's auras reaching out to help suppress them.
[ GROUP MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM KYUBI : SORRY EVERYONE. GOT ANNOYED FOR A SECOND. ]
[ GROUP MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM KLAIRE : SORRY EVERYONE. GOT ANNOYED FOR A SEC. ]
The messages came through simultaneously, received by every faction member on the SAT-Station.
[ GROUP MESSAGE RECEIVED BY LILLIM : CHILDREN, PLEASE KEEP SAVE THE RELATIONSHIP DRAMA FOR LATER, THAT LITTLE DISPLAY NEARLY CAUSED A PANIC. ]
The three of them apologised, then Kyubi and Klaire both admitted that Carl was right to tell them and say it should wait.
An hour later Carl received a message that shook him to no small extent.
[ EMERGENCY MESSAGE RECEIVED : CARL, MATE. THIS IS INSANE, WE HAVE REACHED FIVE THOUSAND TRANSFERS. WE CAN'T KEEP UP, NEED YOU PLANETSIDE MATE. ]
[ EMERGENCY MESSAGE SENT : FUCK! EVERYONE ON SATS, SORRY I NEED TO GO PUT ON A SHOW. A DEMONSTRATION MIGHT HELP DISTRACT PEOPLE, SO IT COULD BE FORE THE BEST, HAVE GAIA MEET ME. ]
"Venus-corps! Please direct everyone to the other extraction spots for a while, I'll take everyone in here and then be returning."
The guards saluted and sealed the hall, then Carl led everyone through the portal.
As he stepped through, he could see the overcrowding was getting bad. "Carl! I look forward to hearing the story that led to this, but you need to do something." Gaia said, perfectly conveying the fact that the transfer housing was essentially a powder key of negative emotion.
"I know, right you stay here and make your aura clear for me to sense. I'm still not great at freelooking farsight. I'm going off world to get a birds eye view for a sec."
'Majesty, Get yourself and all your offspring into the vicinity of the transfer housing. I don't want any of you getting caught in the demonstration.'
[ PRIVATE MESSAGE SENT FROM CARL : ALYSSE, IS THAT ANNOUNCEMENT SYSTEM WE SPOKE ABOUT READY FOR DEPLOYMENT? ]
[ PRIVATE MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM ALYSSE : GUESSING THAT MEANS YOU WANT IT LIVE? JUST ACTIVATED IT, HAVE TIAMUTAEL SEND ME TO YOU AND I'LL GIVE YOU THE TRANSMITTER. ]
A second later, it was in his possession whilst hundreds of tiny floating speakers were spreading out through the facility.
Alysse was studying a slate and then gave a thumbs-up when they reached full coverage.
"Just speak at normal volume, if you shout, people will likely panic."
Carl nodded then activated the transmitter. "Hello everyone, it's me Carl, just wanted to invite you all to see a little show. I hope it helps you feel a little safer, we've already said it, but sorry for the abrupt way this happened. Hopefully this helps you all feel like you made the right choice as well."
Carl returned the transmitter and then Tiamutael pulled him to Haven and Gaia's aura flared like a beacon. He focused his eyes and zoomed in until he could see Gaia waving at him and he waved back so she knew he had seen her, then eased off on the divinity to get a better view of the planets various land masses.
"That spot looks good..." He waited for Majesty to confirm that they were free and then began....