Pandora Unchained - a Cultivation Progression Fantasy

Location four was at the intersection of Chancery Street and Hodge Trail located in the southeast corner of Mildred. The once-vibrant neighborhood was deserted, and the only human traffic that could be seen were carts laden with emergency goods and men and women in protective gear.

Most of the time, all they did was drop off food bundles, but occasionally, they identified hotspots that were quickly handed off to overworked physicians and their assistants from the city guard. But it wasn't these 'new discoveries' that Sorin was interested in. Instead, he focused on the web of karma that connected all existing cases to focus on what he called a plague node.

Finding the general location of a plague node was easy, but narrowing it down was much harder. Sorin's current level of assimilation with Strife was only sufficient to narrow it down to four city blocks of apartment-style housing.

You can't do it with your current senses, can you? Might as well take another step. What's the worst that could happen? Don't let your pride get in the way.

Tempting as it was to increase his assimilation with Strife, he first inspected the area for a half hour and determined there was nothing special about the place. It was a residential area containing four apartment buildings per block that wrapped around a central courtyard. A small market was located at the center, but due to the ongoing epidemic, it had been temporarily shut down.

Their adherence to restrictions is admirable, thought Sorin. Maybe it has something to do with the outbreak fifteen years ago? According to the case history he'd studied, the outbreak had infected 3,000 people in the area and killed 1200. The cause was an Agent of Disease, and the outbreak fizzled out shortly after he was slain.

Their strict adherence to quarantine protocols was beneficial to Sorin's investigation. Since cheating to interact with your neighbors was frowned upon, the natural spread of the illness would be greatly limited. Isolating the 'hopping' infection mechanism, whereby the disease spreads from one pocket to a nearby location, would be much easier.

Observing four entire blocks would not be efficient, so Sorin reluctantly reached out to the mass of corruption sealed in his body. Strife filled his veins and merged with his blood. The balance between forces in his body was disrupted, but he quickly balanced them again and focused on assimilating the foreign power.

Since Strife dealt with karma, his increased assimilation further fleshed out the karmic web covering the city. By combining what he knew of the disease and the case data he'd memorized, he was able to further narrow down the disease to a single block of four apartment buildings.

As usual, there's nothing special about the location. I see nothing that would promote hopping across physical obstructions. I detected twenty cases in these four buildings. The emergency response team has accounted for and isolated all cases.

While narrowing down the plague node's location was helpful, knowing the precise location would enable Sorin to extract maximum information. A dose of Strife entered his veins before he realized what he was doing. The web grew more detailed until, finally, he crossed a threshold. Key details came to his attention, including the potential location of the next outbreak and the location of the node, a single individual.

Were we wrong? Was it an agent all along? The individual in question was a sixty or so-year-old mortal woman with graying hair. Despite the advanced state of her disease, she had refused her dose of Six-Foot Slumber and was currently taking care of a small garden on her apartment balcony.

Sorin flew onto an adjacent rooftop and observed the patient from afar. Symptoms are normal. Vital functions are degenerating predictably. Without live samples, it will be difficult to understand what makes this patient different. Should vivisection be considered?

He dismissed the thought as quickly as it came. Simple tests were one thing, but vivisection had been banned for a reason, greater good be damned.

The patient continued watering her plants for the next half hour before returning to her residence. Sorin's spirit was strong, but not to the point of seeing through walls.

That's where Lorimer came in. After reaching the three-star level, the rebellious rat gained the ability to remotely control lesser rats and see through their eyes. By using their bond, the rat was able to share this vision with Sorin to some extent.

Sorin noted as he watched through a single rat's eyes that the patient's behavior was normal. Corruption levels were also normal. This person was not an agent of disease.

Though the patient's symptoms were getting worse, she was determined to continue living her life as before. After watering her plants, she cleaned up her living space and cooked an unappetizing dinner of boiled rice and unseasoned meat.

After dinner, the patient cleaned up and retired to their room, where Sorin noticed an alcove in the wall along with a small shrine. White wish-fire emerged to envelop the patient's cash offering white wish-fire emerged to envelop the patient's cash offering.

Once the lights were out, Sorin reached out to his companions via transmission jade." Are there any updates on your ends?" asked Sorin. "Please inform me of any interesting developments."

"There's nothing to see here," answered Gareth. "Two new cases were discovered today, but judging by the proximity to other cases, this was due to normal contagious spread."

"I have detected nothing unusual here," said Fenrig. "And my search for a Face Stealer has not produced any results either. I will let you know as soon as I make progress on either front."

Though controlling the rat swarm in the city required most of Lorimer's attention, the rat had personally gone to monitor another plague node. To date, he had discovered nothing of interest.

"What about you, Lawrence?" said Sorin.

Silence.

"Lawrence, are you there?" asked Sorin. Once again, no one answered.

"Lawrence, please answer the question," said Gareth. "If we don't receive one soon, we're going to assume you encountered trouble and abort the observation mission."

There was another long silence before Lawrence finally whispered back. "I'm kind of busy. Can't talk."

"Are you tailing an enemy?" asked Gareth.

"In a sense?" said Lawrence.

Sorin sighed. "You're peeping again, aren't you?"

"Correction, I was peeping," said Lawrence. "On the entire neighborhood. At the same time. Please tell me you're impressed."

"I'm impressed," said Sorin. "What did you see?"

"As we speak, roughly ten people are growing pale, developing a fever, coughing up fluid, and going to the bathroom where they're not supposed to."

"Location?" asked Sorin.

"Four blocks away from the nearest infect infected," answered Lawrence. "Those falling ill are members of a multigenerational family. Regardless of age and cultivation level, they're falling ill at exactly the same rate."

This was extremely strange. Diseases typically spread via individual carriers that interacted closely with everyone else. One person would fall ill, then a few more, until finally, the entire group fell ill. The only other way for the disease to spread was for the entire group to be exposed at the same time. Even then, there would be a delay between confirmed cases.

"Are you sure that no one else in the surrounding area has fallen ill?" asked Sorin.

"No one within a few hundred feet," confirmed Lawrence.

Sorin took another look at the old woman he was tracking and made his decision. "Let's all convene at Lawrence's location and find out exactly what's going on."

***

By the time they arrived, soldiers and government officials had already cordoned off the area. As part of the investigation team, they were allowed entry into the infection site where nurses and emergency response personnel in protective gear were administering first-stage treatment.

Sorin first checked on their condition. Once he confirmed that none of the patients were critically ill, he analyzed the karmic web to trace the origin of the disease.

They found a single dead patient four blocks away. "Estimated time of death is 37 minutes ago. Judging from the medical care log, the patient died from sudden aggravation of their symptoms."

Sorin instinctively reached out to Strife to stop himself. This is getting dangerous. I don't even hesitate anymore. If I push through it, there will be no going back.

There's already no going back. What are you hesitating for? You only live once!

This is a bad idea.

Define bad.

Define good.

You'll embrace it in the end.

No, I won't. I don't need this.

You don't, but your patients do.

"Do we continue monitoring the other points, or do we investigate this area?" asked Gareth.

Sorin shook his head. "Investigating here won't do any good. We need someone with senses that exceed mine to figure out what's going on."

"Maybe Astley could make a large offering?" said Gareth.

"The value of what she's offering would need to be astronomical," said Sorin. "Fortunately, I've already narrowed things down. All I need is an extra push."

There was only one person who could help him now, and that was Governor Loveless. Though not as skilled as Sorin in certain aspects, his power could not be denied. If he were willing to divert a part of his attention, it might be possible to avoid a catastrophe.

They returned to the Governor's Manor to make a report and received an update on the current situation. The infection count had spiked and was approaching ten thousand, and the casualty count had reached three thousand.

Only a single patient remained in the manor: Aeris Loveless. The other patients had either recovered or passed on.

As usual, Sorin paid a visit to the unfortunate girl to check on her condition. He was surprised to discover that Physician Olivander was nowhere to be found. The medical equipment had been taken away, and Aeris's mother and brother were in the room with her.

"May I?" said Sorin, approaching the bed. The mother and son parted and allowed Sorin to inspect Aeris's body. The poison within it had been purged, and her vital functions were back to normal. A very pure source of energy had entered her body and was slowly sanctifying it. As a result, her symptoms were receding.

"Sanctifying flesh artificially is extremely draining," said Governor Loveless as he appeared beside Sorin. His expression was stern as usual, but as a physician, Sorin was able to identify signs of spiritual depletion and exhaustion.

"You acted rashly," said Sorin, pulling back his hand from Aeris. "There are drawbacks to artificial sanctification."

"You think I don't know that?" snapped Governor Loveless. "I only did what I did because this situation is getting out of hand. Decisions need to be made—decisions I can't make without resolving Aeris's situation."

"As a blood relative, your mana is moderately compatible with Aeris's," said Sorin. "In the end, however, it's a foreign source of energy and will clash with her mana. Her body will instinctively reject your divinity. Her body won't be able to endure the constant clashing of energies for very long. I give her twenty years, maximum."

"I fully understand the implications of what I have done," said Governor Loveless. "Both she and I have paid the cost for her certain recovery. I cannot gamble her life on the discovery of an unlikely cure, and I cannot allow wishful thinking to hold me back from doing what must be done.

"I understand that you have expended no small amount of effort trying to cure this illness. I understand that you have a high success rate. But as I have decided with Aeris, I must so decide on this city. I cannot gamble any more lives on an uncertain outcome. "

"Wait," said Sorin. "There's still time. If you'll just lend me a hand and—"

"You think I have the energy to assist you with what I've just been through?" said Governor Loveless. "Severing divinity is the equivalent of a mortal cutting off a finger. It's not just my energy reserves that have fallen—my combat capabilities have taken a huge hit.

Sorin's heart fell. "Why don't you give me a day? At most, the number of infected individuals will increase by three thousand. If I succeed, we'll be able to save anywhere between five and seven thousand.

Governor Loveless considered Sorin's words. "How confident are you?"

"Less than fifty percent confident," Sorin admitted. "But at least these people would have a chance."

"You want me to gamble with so many lives with less than fifty percent odds?" scoffed Governor Loveless. "Just so you can satisfy your pride?"

"It's not about me," Sorin lashed out. "It's about those innocent people who are only in this situation because both you and I hesitated in the beginning. This isn't just on my conscience. It's on yours as well!"

"That's a fallacy, and you know it," said Governor Loveless. "Sunk costs don't matter. Only future outcomes."

"But it remains that we were the ones to endanger their lives in the first place," said Sorin. "Just give me a chance to set things right. They deserve at least that much."

Governor Loveless pursed his lips. "It will take me six hours to organize the purge in such a way that civil strife will be minimized. And it will be a painless purge, that I promise. You have until then to discover a cure, Sorin, and not a minute more. It's one thing to be confident, Sorin, but another thing entirely to let your ego get to your head."

Sorin opened his mouth to speak but discovered that he was already moving backward. The door to Aeris's bedroom slammed shut in his face.

"Has my ego really gotten so inflated?" muttered Sorin. If it was before, he'd have said no, but now, he wasn't so certain.