World Filter

When Mark and Jonathan arrived at Major Dureal's tent they had to wait as the man was neck-deep in meetings. Even after that they only had a short window to explain what was going on down near the gate.

“I’m meeting with Major Liam next, I’ll speak with him and have the documentation sent over to over to them. If they want out, fine. Now releasing the news is going to be more difficult. These types of situations have to be handled in the right manner. The earliest I can possibly make it is tomorrow morning, and even then I’m going to have to force Mayor Liam's hand with this incident.”

Mark understood where the guy was coming from. With Mayor Liam in charge, anything relating to the retreat had to be run by him, and right now that was almost everything.

Getting up from his seat he said.

“Now listen you two, don’t go mentioning this to anyone but tonight is going to be a tough one. He’s pulling a small percentage of men from the walls to begin packing up in earnest. It shouldn’t be noticeable but I wanted you to know”

Jonathan stood up rapidly and started protesting. Mark wasn’t far behind.

Raising a hand he stopped both of them in their tracks.

“Spare me the lecture. I’m well aware of the situation but he wants to move our timetable up even further. I tried to dissuade him but no dice. He wants to leave by the fourth morning. The best I can do right now is make preparations. I’m gathering the volunteers to see what numbers we have to work with when they leave-”

Sam burst into the tent, the wind whipping around her, she was tapping on her tablet as she moved deeper into the room. Looking up she said.

“Good, I caught you guys. I’ve got some more bad news, but maybe a solution too”

The Major's face dropped just slightly which Mark was beginning to realize was his unhappy face.

“Jon, you got those enemy projections for me?”

Jonathan took the thick file out of his inventory and handed it over without questions.

Sam went over to one of the open spaces and plopped it down.

“So yesterday when we were resting, I got a message from Cara. She’s doing good by the way. But during that time she told me that The Prophet wanted to speak with me directly. So we exchanged a couple of messages.”

Sam was flipping through the stacks of pages. As Mark got closer he saw each one held lines of numbers and mathematical jargon that completely went over Mark's head.

“At first I was suspicious but then she said she’d prove herself in any way I want. So I had her make some predictions of the Corruteds movements in our area because the research department can estimate that to a certain extent.”

Jonathan made a slow-down motion.

“Wait the Prophet is a woman?”

“Yes. Of course, that's the detail you stick on, her name is Chloe, and as near as I can tell…”

She paused, reading one particular page in detail.

“She’s the real deal. Unfortunately, that is where the bad news comes in. Right now we are surrounded by what I’m terming three ‘gestating’ dungeons. Similar to what we have already dealt with, just not as far along. We can’t seem to pinpoint them but that's not the problem. Pretty soon this place is going to be overrun. The Influx was actually a sign of the forming dungeons. Almost like when the sea level goes out before coming back as a tidal wave. It showed a similar pattern to the last one and we don’t have the personnel to deal with them right now”

The Major interrupted

“Wait, are you saying that staying here is impossible with our weakened numbers?”

Sam shook her head.

“I’m saying that even if everyone stayed, we’d still be overwhelmed”

The room fell silent as their only plan left fell apart.

“There is a silver lining… During the next ten days or so, the level of Corrupted should be pretty stable, if not restrained. Chole has offered to help us guide the non-combatants to Manhattan. She has a group of fighters that could help us, on top of which it seems they wander a lot, and having someone that can predict what’s to come allows them to avoid the worst Corrupted and pick the best crossing times.”

The Major was frowning deeply now.

“That’s not a long shot, it’s a Hail Mary. Why would she even help us, I’m weary of putting this much trust in someone we don’t even know. Not the least of which we can’t tell her intentions”

Mark knew what he said made sense but at this stage, he’d take any chance they could get their hands on—even one of questionable origin.

“That's the best part she wants something in exchange but rather than wanting anything now she wants it later.”

Jonathan's brow rose.

“Wait, she wants us to owe her?”

Sam nodded.

“Sort of, she wants to borrow one of the items from the Guardians.”

The fact that she knew of the items was a point to the credibility of her story.

“Which one?” Mark asked.

His thoughts immediately moved to the staff on his back, but Sam shook her head.

“We haven’t gotten it… yet. She wants our help to retrieve it from one of the living Guardians”

Now it was Mark's turn to frown. Jonathan had already told them that one of the other pieces was taken by someone else. If they did get hold of this item and had to give it away then they’d be one step further from their goal.

While that seemed counter-productive Mark still couldn’t see it as a downside. Trade it later to save everyone now.

Sam seemed to hesitate before saying her next words carefully.

“There is however one more caveat to her help. To prove that we can trust each other she wants to meet in person. She said to send a strong team so that they could help her deal with a problem in the area.”

After hearing that The Major shook his head.

“Forget it, I’m not dedicating our very limited resources, on the whims of some ‘Prophet’!”

Jonathan didn’t look too convinced either.

“I mean, if she a Prophet wouldn’t she already know that she can trust us? Why does she need proof”

Mark thought it through for a moment and then asked.

“What problem?”

Sam chose to grab onto Mark’s question like a liferaft.

“She said that when the team got there she would explain it and that we then had the option of turning it down. Dad, please listen. I know that this may seem like a fool's errand but I’ve triple-checked the proof. I truly believe that this person can help us. Let me go and bring them here, let me help you.”

The Major looked at Sam’s pleading expression as she held the pages up in front of him. His face went through a series of emotions, ranging from dismissal to warmth, finally settling on resignation.

“What would you need for a mission like this?”

When Sam saw this she swallowed the lump in her throat and said.

“A small team-”

The fact that she glanced at Mark and Jonathan quickly, spoke volumes.

“-and… a ride, as close as you can get us to the meet-up point it’s close by. I’m hoping for a round trip in a day and a half”

He seemed to mull this over.

“It's already too late for the choppers to go out, even if I could wrestle one away from Major Liam but…”

He seemed to pause.

“If we time it with the announcement tomorrow morning, I might be able to use that as a cover to get you out. Your team would have to be fast, how many men are you thinking?”

Sam looked at both of them now, asking the question with her eyes.

Jonathan simply grinned, his previous hesitation gone.

“Sam. I’ve learned to trust your hunches if you think this is the way forward then I’m in”

Mark thought this through to see if there was any reason to hesitate and to be honest there wasn’t. Yes, this had a slim chance of not blowing up in their faces. Yes, their time frame was short, but he couldn’t see a single reason not to try.

If their main survival plan wasn’t even viable, this was well and truly their only window. Even if it turned out to be a waste of time, at least he could say he tried. The army retreating was non-negotiable but just maybe they could use this. Perhaps with the Corrupted heading this way, it was the perfect time for a retreat.

“I trust you, Sam. Plus spending our last two days twiddling our thumbs feels like a waste when we could be trying to do something about this shit show”

Mark had since given up on the idea that he could rest. The apocalypse was going to keep moving forward, and if he was going to keep up, so did he. Maybe he should be grateful he got to rest for a full day before it wound up for another hit.

The Major looked at each of them.

“There's no way Major Liam will authorize a mission like this right now, meaning this will be an unsanctioned mission, if anyone catches wind of this before you leave it’ll fall apart, it might even be for the best that it’s just the three of you.”

When he got to Mark he said.

"I can’t afford to pay you, Mark."

‘Again?’ Mark thought. He might have to do some rebranding after this

“I can live with that Major”

He nodded and turned to Sam.

“Samantha, if this is what you want to do then I will support you. However, it comes with a condition”

Sam seemed to sit up and focus on the man.

“Whether you succeed or fail on this mission, I want you back here by the time Major Liam leaves. You will then leave with the soldiers, no fighting or going back on your word. If you can’t make me this promise then no deal.”

Mark understood the implications of what the man was saying. If what Sam said was true and they would be overwhelmed, then staying was suicide, he was making sure she would leave when the time came.

Sam swallowed and looked like she wanted to fight him on this but he shut her down.

“If you want to do the right thing by doing your very best for this camp, then I want to do the right thing as a father. You promise me that you’ll leave when the time comes and I’ll do everything in my power to help you succeed on this mission”

Sam’s eyes were wide and she stuck out her jaw in an effort to remain strong but this had to add another level of urgency to her decision. After what felt like minutes, the silence in the tent was broken by two words.

“Okay Dad”

Like that, the spell was broken and they continued to go over the details of their little defiant plan. All too quickly The Major had to leave, as he was already late for his meeting and the rest of them had to get ready for the wall.

Before they left Mark took a look at his Cv and found it to be at 14.84%, he’d been working at it whenever he had a free moment and allowing his regen to take care of the rest. Because he could hang onto the staff he offered to take on their Corruption, for a price of course. Though at a significant markdown after the ‘friends and family discount’.

He paused for the shortest of times to wonder if maybe all the bigwigs had a point when they said he was money-grubbing, but after the Sp came rolling in, he couldn't bring himself to care.

Sam had 42.3% and Jonathan had 24.49% Seeing this was the case Mark didn’t want to push it, even if he did have the staff. So he took 30% from Sam and 20% from Jonathan. The funny thing was even though he had the staff he could still feel it there. It was behind a wall, but it was there, in the corners of his body, waiting.

As he was finishing up using [Draw Corruption] on them, Sam asked with a fascinated look.

“So you can’t do that one at range?”

Mark realized that while she knew he was capable of drawing off Corruption, she’d never actually watched the process in detail. Even in a situation like this she never lost her interest in new things.

“Aaa, well I’ve never tried” he replied.

Drawing it through his Resistance had never crossed his mind, but it should work the same and allow him to draw Corruption off at a range. Though the thought creeped him out and felt wrong in an unnerving way.

“Well, is it even possible?”

Mark thought it through and perhaps she was right. Drawing in Corruption from a range wasn’t a particularly useful technique but maybe it would be useful in other ways.

Shrugging he went to stand across from Sam, expanding his construct over to her. Using his Resistance like a bridge he activated [Draw Corruption] once more. He narrowed down the bridge, similar to how he blocked out the information his Mana returned under his construct.

To date, this turned out to be one of the biggest and life-changing mistakes Mark had ever made.

The second the spell began to draw in the Corruption, Mark experienced the most soul-destroying pain he’d ever felt. Not a single thing in his twenty-two years of life had ever even come close to what he was experiencing right now.

Not when he’d fallen from a tree and broken his arm in two places, nor when he’d torn his back up by falling against a rock face while rock climbing.

It left him without even the ability to scream as his body burned, his mind was crushed, and his spirit was ripped to shreds.

Blood filled his mouth as he bit right through his cheeks, every muscle tensing to the point of breaking.

Words failed to describe this pain, as time became irrelevant. Madness chased his heels.

His only saving grace was the fact that his mind was unable to sustain the spell, causing it to collapse. Mark's whole body crumpled as the world unfocused.

To Mark, it had felt like hours of pain but his mind knew [Draw Corruption] could not have been running for more than a second. He could feel himself shaking and the distant voices of Sam and Jonathan murmured without purpose. After what felt like neither a short nor long time, Mark's eyes focused back into the room.

Both Jonathan and Sam were leaning over him with looks of shock.

Nausea hit as the memory of the pain rebounded back on him. This time he was able to grunt as he made out Sam’s words.

“Mark come on, I’m so sorry, please speak to us”

Something about seeing the two of them grounded him, calling his Prana forth, he churned it around his body. It helped a bit but Mark was able to use the sensation to further push back the experience. Slowly he got ahold of himself.

Nodding he said softly.

“I’m… okay. I’m good.”

The second sentence came out better as he settled.

He explained what had happened, they told him it looked like he had a seizure. He was curious about one thing though.

“How much Cv did that take?” he asked.

Sam looked at him as if scared to take her eyes off him but eventually looked down at her system interface.

Looking back up at him she said.

“0.01%, I think”

Mark just let out a chuckle, figures. His strength was quickly returning and soon enough he was able to stand on his own. Within half an hour he was almost back to normal, after assuring the two of them he could handle the wall, they moved to the wall.

Mark fought robotically, sending out spells freely. He did notice there was more strain on the wall than usual but Mark expected that because of what the Major said. Time flitted by and even that came to an end.

As he was laying in Daphne's bed for the evening Mark stared up at the material ceiling. They’d long since finished discussing him leaving tomorrow, now they were just making the best of the time they had together.

It was in that quiet that the memory resurfaced for the hundredth time. The experience was altogether unpleasant, but from that memory, something stood out to him. Something he couldn’t describe even if a gun were at his temple, amongst all that pain there was something he could use. An idea began to take shape.