Psycher Chronicles

The Monster Vigil

(Misha Tulley)

Rain.

Almost as if the sky itself was protesting the loss that everyone on campus was feeling, the sky too wept. In the wake of the findings, campus life had been suspended for three days, while everyone came to terms with what was happening. There were talks of closing down campus, but that would all but allow the attackers to leave and hide evidence.

Evidence that the department desperately needed. That was why, rather than sending everyone home, the University decided to rally together. In one act of defiance, the campus decided to host a vigil for the dead, and those that were still missing.

While more bodies had been found, the police and FBI were keeping their findings close. The official excuse was that the FBI was trying to positively identify the victims and their families before going public with the information. While that was a part of their overall goal, the real reason was because the powers that be needed to find more evidence of who was involved in the various crimes.

Intense rain.

Despite the nearly biting cold rain of winter, everyone gathered to mourn the loss of life and to come together as a community.

This was when Misha realized that there were two primary ways that people in a society can deal with tragedy. The first main way is to fall apart, to have it so fear of tragic events is too much for people to overcome. Under this first method, people remain indoors, hiding from their shadows, as if waiting for death to walk the streets without fear of reprisals. The second way that people of a community can deal with tragedy is to unite as one. To use that common loss as a building block for a better future.

"You cannot change the past, but you can fix the future so the past will never happen again!" A hooded voice cries out, her face hidden from the relentless rain, pain clear in her voice as she is not quite accustomed to public speaking. Yet, over the past few days the girl has taken this moment to shine.

Watching her speak, Misha felt a sense of pride watching her friend truly find her inner light. At first Misha had been hesitant at the idea of a Ruler class, thinking that there was truly no difference between an initial Warrior, Worker, or Ruler. Yet, she was wrong, and had continually been proven to be wrong in her thought process by her own friend.

Over the past week, as details of the tragedies around campus came to life, Misha saw something truly amazing happen. She began to witness the forced awakening of her friend. Not just any awakening either, but a perfect awakening as Misha had been pushing her friend back to a Tier 0 state each time she came close. The idea was to create a perfect ruler in her friend.

While Misha had many reasons for such a trial, the main reason was that she felt her friend was not ready for the power and purpose that a Ruler class would wield. Yet, she was wrong.

As it turns out, her friend just needed a moment to find her voice. Opting to avoid the Elemental paths entirely and focus on the actual Leadership portion of what it meant to be a Ruler. It was Darcy who broke out from her shell and began to form these rallies around campus.

Only by following Darcy did Misha even realize that there was a second way that people could deal with grief. One that sought to forge not just people, but an entire community to be stronger. But the only way strength could be forged from the fires of trials and tribulations was through working together.

It took Darcy to show the true purpose of why the Ruler class existed. Not to enslave the others, though that could very well happen, but their true purpose was to rally and unite the people when tragedy struck.

In her mind, Misha saw the military opportunities that this type of class would provide. Tragedy struck, a battle costing dozens of lives, one where friends and family alike were cut down. Only to then have Rulers come back and galvanize the people, reforging them and filling their resolve to go out and learn from this experience.

While it was clear that there were too many people designated for Rulers, at least for the moment, Misha could not refute their necessity.

This was the first revelation that Misha had about how the Bakshee managed to create a society that could sustain itself and ultimately fit in seamlessly to the galactic network of planets, once a critical mass was reached.

Of course, this also led Misha to her second major discovery. A discovery that was far more sinister than she had been expecting to realize. One that spoke to the very nature of how humans, a few of the at least, were but one step away from being true monsters.

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That was the real reason Misha found herself with her friends, for Jasmine was also here for support. Together with other members of the basketball team they all stood from the side and watched as Darcy continued to rally the people behind her.

"We can do better, as people, as a society…" Darcy spoke with passion and a fervor that was nearly undeniable. She wasn't polished, her voice still cracked due to the weight of emotion behind her words and her response, but that didn't matter. Right now, everyone was fully engaged with her and her message.

Well, almost everyone, for this was where Misha made her second major discovery about humans. The fact that there were a few humans that were true monsters made flesh. For her at the vigil for the lost, Misha could see the masked faces of the very killers that caused this event.

It took her a moment to understand why the monsters were here, hiding in plain sight amongst the victims that they had riled up and killed.

At first, Misha thought it was to find a next target, another victim. But after a few quick communications with the phones and hidden media files that they held in encrypted portions of their electronic devices that covered their bodies, Misha realized something far worse.

These people, no, the monsters that caused this chain of events to unfold were not here to find victims. They were here solely to feel the power of their actions. For monsters walked amongst the crowd. These monsters were also Rulers, but they were the worst kind, for they all relished in the misery they caused to others. Feeding off of the fear they generated.

Misha could understand the cause for their malevolence. It was a symptom of their system that was forced upon them, a misfire and miscalculation of the root programming. Rulers enjoyed ruling, that was a given. The way to show a Ruler was successful in their actions as a Ruler was to get others to act and better still react the way they wanted.

This flawed logic chain was how monsters went and killed innocent people. First, they gained energy from killing off already converted members of other classes. Then they gained even more power from getting others to react the way they wanted, in fear. People that were frightened were more controllable, especially at first.

"This is for Sarah, we are all here to mourn her passing and the others, and to never forget," Darcy continued her impassioned speech.

As she spoke the killers, like a school of sharks casually moved through the crowd. Their faces covered by hoodies and other rain gear as they relentlessly lurked their way forward. For a moment, Misha thought about leaving them alone, for the moment. There was a place and time for everything, and everything had its place and time, at least that is what Phil would say.

Realizing that this would not be the best time to react to the killers being in plain sight and all but seeming to revel in the despair that was going on, Misha waited. That said, just because she waited, didn't mean that she wasn't busy.

Terabytes of data flooded into Misha's mind. Terabytes that were easily filtered through and mostly dismissed, until she found the double encrypted files on the killer's phones.

For a moment, she was confused, how a phone would have video that would not show metadata of the geolocation of the filming. Only after a quick scan did she realize that the attackers showed amazing electronic intelligence one moment, as apparently the kill videos were made using an old school camera. A camera that had no means to access the internet, local phone towers, or any other way of showing locational data. Even the date and time at the bottom right showed the default time of 00:01, indicating that the batteries had just been reapplied and a time had not been properly input. Still, the evidence was there, videos upon videos showing the last moments of how victims were led out, tortured, forced to turn into their beast forms, only to then be killed.

Worse, the videos were grainy enough, and depicted acts that were thought of as fantasy, indicating that even if the files were found and watched, the defense would have been that the victims were part of an independent film.

While the use of old school recorders was unique, especially as the attackers made sure to leave their cell phones away with a friend who drove around in a van to attend a concert far away, they still made a mistake by keeping the file on their phones. Even without truly knowing the victims, Misha knew that this type of blatant disregard for life was unacceptable and vowed then and there to enact justice for the victims.

These thoughts and more worked their way through her mind on this miserable and rainy night. A night that Misha would have easily avoided over two years ago, before her time being reintegrated with school and friends. Honestly, the whole idea of a vigil was a novel concept to Misha, for during her past lives she never had to worry about mourning the dead. As the dead would inevitably come back, if not directly with her and her section, then they would be reincarnated elsewhere.

Now though, now that she was here, on a Bakshee altered world, she could at least begin to understand part of the reason why the Bakshee were such a fierce opponent. As the Bakshee all knew that life was finite, that at any given time a loved one could be removed permanently from their lives.

This concept Misha now understood, thanks to her own grandmother's passing. A passing that would have meant nothing in her past lives, but now suddenly meant everything. Thinking back, she remembered how she felt hollow and empty after her death. How at the time, the only thing that could make her whole was revenge. While she had managed to enact revenge, there was still a hole left to fill, but it wasn't as bad. And if she relaxed her mind enough, she could momentarily forget her grandmother and her impact on Misha's life.

It was that moment, that memory of her grandmother that let Misha realize why she needed to do this, why she needed to out these killers. Not for her, not for the dead, but those that still lived in fear, for the family of the dead, and most importantly, to make sure monsters like these were not part of the world she was now a part of. Even if it meant she herself would have to become the one monster in the darkness. The monster that ended other monsters' lives.

Smirk.

Misha's blood ran cold, and not just from the cold water that relentlessly pelted her back and threatened to run down her spine. No, this time her blood became ice due to the way Darius Lowell, the main killer and person seen driving the final death blow into Sarah, one of the wolves, how he stared at Darcy and smiled a confident smile.

Seeing that knowing smirk, Misha didn't wait. She didn't hesitate. Didn't see the need to let everyone have this moment of reprieve before she worked in the darkness. Instead, she acted, going from plan A straight to scorched earth.

Ping.

Ping, ping, ping, ping.

"Huh?

"What?"

Voices in the crowd cried out as their phones suddenly all came to life as one, as everyone in the immediate area began receiving a mass message from one singular phone.

Then before anyone could protest, a few hundred phones all lit up as one and all began playing a video that was all synchronized to one key point.

Even Darius was confused for a moment, as he looked down to see his phone first light up from his pocket. Then upon extracting his phone, his eyes went wide as he saw the video that was now cued up and began to play in surround sound, echoed by hundreds of phones nearby. That's when he heard his own voice cry out in joyous exuberance.

"WHOOO! Take that! WHOOO!"

"Stop, please stop," the voice of a woman could be heard crying out.

"WHOO! Get her!" More voices cried out, this one coming from a female who was clearly holding the camera recording the incident could be heard.

Suddenly the killers that had been casually strolling through the crowd of mourners, stopped and as if realizing a greater predator had arrived all turned and ran as one. Drawing even more attention to them, as they all made to leave the vigil.

Their leaving while an admission of guilt was only circumstantial at best, but it was a start.

***

MEANWHILE, at the new field station a blip came live on a secretary's desk.

"Sir, remember that odd phone pulse you told me to monitor for?"

"Yes," the field lead replied.

"Well, we've just seen it again."

"Where?"

"At the same place…"