Virus: Origin of Blood

"Never again," Isaac grumbled, cradling his almost numb arm. In the past hour, he had shaken more hands than he had during his whole life. Granted, he was still young, but still…

"That's the price of fame," Carmela stated, walking beside him. "Besides, it worked, didn't it? They left us alone."

Isaac glanced over his shoulder at the dozens still trailing them in the distance. He snorted and turned back to the woman, one eyebrow raised.

"Alone?"

She offered him a light shrug. "As long as they're not bothering us, they're not a problem. Just try to ignore them and focus on what's important."

"Right…" he muttered. "So I take it you've been dealing with this kind of thing your whole life."

Carmela hummed. "You could say that. Maybe just not on this scale. By all means, my family was nowhere near as popular as some of the old world's celebrities. But we had our fair share of paparazzi and strange people to deal with. You never really stop noticing them, but you definitely grow more… desensitized to their presence with time."

"I would rather not deal with them at all." Isaac crossed his arms. "We wasted almost an hour on useless chit-chat when we got a war to win."

Carmela didn't answer this time around. She only smiled, like she knew something he didn't, and kept walking.

He let out a sigh. "Whatever. Just… let's not do that again."

"I promise nothing."

Of course you don't, Isaac thought, rolling his eyes. Slowly, he was getting a clearer picture of Carmela's personality. Guarded and serious, yet playful and cunning once you got past the surface. A strange combination, one that had already given him a whiplash.

They walked the rest of the way to his home in complete silence. Once they arrived at the door, he stepped aside and allowed the woman inside first. Then, after one last look at the crowd that followed them even here, he resisted the urge to flip them off and also entered the building.

As expected, everybody was already there.

James, Daryl, Elaine, Harry, and even Marie. All of them stared in silence at him and the woman beside him.

Way to make it awkward, people. And I thought I was the antisocial one here. Isaac cleared his throat and stepped forward. "All right, enough of this. Everyone, this is Carmela Lorenzo, another Pioneer and all that."

The woman in question took it as a cue and tipped her head lightly. "A pleasure to meet you all."

Just like that, whatever spell had a hold over his friends was broken. Marie and Elaine stepped forward first, introducing themselves and exchanging a few words. James was next, and with him, the formal setting of this meeting went to hell the moment he opened his mouth.

"Happy to meet ya, princess No. 2. Big fan of that gun of yours."

Carmela's eyebrows lifted a bit. "Princess no. 2?" she echoed.

James shrugged and jabbed a finger at Elaine. "She is No. 1. Sorry. I'm gonna find ya another nickname soon, no worries. This is just a placeholder."

"I…" Carmela started, then faltered. "Thank you?"

James gave her a thumbs-up. "It's nothing! You're part of the team now. Though I gotta ask. What's your Origin? We all got the sun-and-moon vibes, but that can't be it."

Carmela swallowed, her eyes darting around the room for a brief moment. When she didn't find what she was looking for, her gaze returned to James.

"It's Eclipse. Just Eclipse," she muttered.

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The man snapped his fingers. "Thought so! Or well, that was my second guess. Say, can you do more than just use both aspects of Eclipse at the same time? Like, you know, combine them into something mo—"

"And that's enough from you," Marie cut in, clamping a hand over James' mouth. "Sorry about him. He gets… easily excited about new stuff."

Carmela blinked before schooling her expression into an awkward smile. "It's… it's fine. I don't mind, really."

Marie nodded but kept her hand in place until James finally relented and let her steer him back toward their earlier spot near the kitchenette. That just left Harry and Daryl.

The latter simply introduced himself and thanked Carmela for her contribution to the war. Quick and simple.

Finally, Harry stepped forward.

Here, Isaac had hoped for more. For Harry to greet her in his own strange way or to say something cryptic that didn't quite make sense. Similarly, based on how much Carmela wanted to meet their fellow Pioneer, an exchange of some questions should have been the least that happened here.

Yet, it didn't.

The two of them just nodded at each other, said their names, and left it at that. Disappointing, but not really that unexpected. By now, Harry had shown that he preferred to stay silent in the presence of more people. As for Carmela? She could be just saving her questions for later. That or James' overeager introduction had thrown her off.

Isaac chuckled under his breath at the thought, then shook his head.

Time to get to work.

After all, they all came here to hammer out the details of his plan. Even Marie appointed someone in Silent Oasis to take over for a time, so she could come here and make sure they didn't end up with something downright suicidal. Half an hour into the meeting, and she still hadn't interrupted yet. They were on the right track then.

Or so it seemed until Carmela spoke up for the first time since the introductions.

"If I may, Isaac."

He gestured for her to go on. She smiled faintly and stood.

"Your plan, I like it. A lot even. It's exactly the kind of initiative we need to win," she stated. "But it could be better. Much better."

Isaac frowned. "Better how?"

Carmela pointed toward the stack of papers on the table, filled with names of potential fighters Harry, Elaine, and James had already found. Roughly a hundred so far.

"Instead of a few hundred participants, why not make it a few thousand? Instead of just charging almost blindly in search of Warp Portals, why not split into dozens of smaller teams with specific tasks? Guerrilla warfare. Bombing squads. Stealth teams that could push deeper when we invade."

A sigh slipped past his lips once the woman finished. He could feel her eyes burning into his skull.

"We have already considered that," Isaac admitted, meeting her gaze. "There is simply no way we can recruit that many people before the war ends. Just look at this." He nodded toward the papers on the table. "Almost two days and barely a hundred volunteers. Half of them probably won't even be able to join because they are too weak or can't fly. It's just better this way. Keep it smaller so we can strike faster."

For a moment, the two of them stared at each other, neither willing to give in. Then, Carmela turned away.

"Three days," she said. "Give me three days and some of your time, Isaac. I don't think you realize just how powerful names can be. And ours, especially yours, carry a lot of weight. We can use that for recruitment."

Isaac narrowed his eyes, ready to protest. Yet, before he could even open his mouth, another voice stopped him.

"She is right," Elaine agreed, to his surprise. "I didn't want to bring this up because I know you hate your newfound popularity, but if it helps the war, would it really be so bad to lean into it? You saw how people react when they see you."

Isaac swallowed as he looked down at his hands. Could they really be right? Could a word from some random guy from Galt make people risk their lives for this insane plan? There was no way that would work… right?

Yet the longer he thought about it, the more doubt crept in. Elaine wasn't lying. He saw how people reacted when they recognized him on the streets. Sure, not everyone was a rabid fan ready to follow him anywhere, but most at least stopped to give him a curious look.

And then there was the situation after today's spar.

Isaac looked up, right at Carmela. "You planned this… That's why you dragged me out to meet the crowd."

She nodded without hesitation. "It was my way of showing you some of the impact our invasions had on others. Fame, Isaac, it's just another resource. One you have to know how to use."

"And you do?" he challenged.

Carmela shrugged lightly, still wearing that smile of hers. "Guess we will find out, won't we?"

Isaac snorted. Adding 'overly confident' to the woman's file was probably a good idea. Either way, he had to decide whether he wanted to lean into his fame, as Elaine had put it, or to continue with the old plan.

Not much of a choice, huh?

In the end, winning the war was the number one priority. And if suffering through a few crowd interactions would help, then who was he to complain? Maybe he didn't really believe that Carmela's plan would work, but trying it wouldn't hurt anyone. Well, aside from his dignity.

"Fine," he said. "Let's do it. But you only get three days. No more. If it doesn't work, we strike with what we have. Deal?"

Carmela's smile widened. "Deal."