Ladies and Gentlemen, I got it!
Your homeboy is a PhD holder, and from now on, it's Dr. Don.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Twenty-two hours after the battle, Adam finally had time to get some rest in his residence. The situation was somehow stable, and the Children of Jotnar learned their lesson and didn't dare climb the hill and face the wrath of the defense turrets.
Other Bigfoots emerged during the attacks, but as they were detected, the turrets were set to maximum power, and they were blown apart by high-charged blasts, without the need for intervention from Captain Creed.
That night, Adam started assembling and painting miniatures for more soldiers, faster and more skillfully than ever before, finishing almost six of them before Megan pulled him from his focused state to alert him of the guest at their doorstep.
He put his last miniature to dry before checking on how many pieces he still had, realizing that six more soldiers wouldn't make much difference anyway.
The losses they suffered were immense; the troopers he painted and named and thought of their names, lore, and lives were simply returning to his memory every time he closed his eyes to rest, and it made him more miserable than he could have imagined.
Aside from them, he had different types of units he had been sitting on for a while, trying not to summon them in particular, so as not to affect the relationship between the Earthlings and the Wartopians too much, but it seemed there was no way out of this.
He had to start summoning more Script Monks and Nuns, not just for their combat prowess or technical ability, but because Solana and Creed alone couldn't keep the Holy Furnace operational, and with more zealots praying under the holy flame, the further it could push back the Frost.
This brought Adam to his late-night guest: Kahori.
Adam hadn't invited anyone else; just the Alfari envoy and Megan would be in the room. However, Elena would be stationed outside, and Yuki would be stationed upstairs in secret; that way, the place would be secure enough for the meeting Adam was hoping to have, without much objection from his closest subordinates.
He tidied up the place and put away his tools. His workspace was usually easy to clean since he always lived by a strict anti-mess policy, which was exclusive to his miniatures only. Still, Megan had checked most of the place after him, so that no clue on his powers or activities would be leaked.
He then personally opened the door, and the Alfari envoy was there, accompanied by Elena. Adam merely nodded for Elena to stand back and invited Kahori in with a smile. The alien woman walked in, eyes scanning the interior that was slightly nicer than most of the places she saw inside the base.
"It is your abode, I assume." She spoke, finding a few things interesting as she walked, especially the work setup with multiple screens, a workbench, and a central chair.
"I do live and work here." Adam replied and pointed to Megan, "Any womanly touch you see is naturally her doing."
"I believe this entire place needs more of a woman's touch." Kahori said, before turning to Adam and making a gesture of respect, "I don't mean to offend or cause any cultural misunderstanding."
"Not at all." Megan replied with a smile, "I think just the same. Please, have a seat."
"I thank you." Kahori accepted the seat, which was positioned opposite Adam across his workbench, before commenting, "I sense a rather friendly attitude considering the times we met before."
"Excuse my inflexibility from baby then, Envoy Kahori." Adam sat opposite her, wearing a smile, "I am as fascinated as dear old Professor Hendrick by meeting non-human lifeforms that speak to us. Though my chance came with the Wartopians, and I've cast my lot with them. It is safe to say that I had to adopt their attitude regarding the non-human races."
"I see your situation, Vindicator." Kahori nodded, then put on a smile; both gestures seemed forced, as she was mimicking human actions rather than displaying her own race's. "So is it safe to say that I am speaking to the real you?"
Adam paused for a while before simply shrugging.
"I don't know." He replied before leaning forward, "Am I speaking to the real you, Envoy?"
"Pardon me?" Kahori tensed at what he said, but it felt rather natural and not forced, unlike her earlier gestures.
"Say, I clearly remember that you and your sister were banned by your leader from ever interacting with us again. Yet you were out there, probably surveilling us from a hiding place, and you only intervened when the..." He paused, making air quotes with his hands. "...Sage was in danger."
Kahori still seemed tense, but she then visibly eased with a clear, passive tone to her voice:
"It is natural that we take care of our allies. Sage Hendrick is a man of both economic and cultural importance. Last night, he showed resolution and a willingness to sacrifice himself just to save you, Vindicator. I assume you ought to be grateful for our saving him."
That was it! This is the opportunistic alien I expected. Adam thought to himself, and a clear smile appeared on his face.
"Grateful, I am." He immediately said, leaning back in his chair, "Don't get me wrong, if it were up to me, I would celebrate you as heroes, but the best I can do is keep the Wartopians from practicing their standard xenophobia. My authority is limited, as you can see."
"Well, I am glad that is resolved." Kahori said reservedly.
"Hardly," Adam interjected. "You haven't explained why you were surveilling us in the first place. And by that, you could have given us, or at least your allied Privateer Group, an early warning about the Jotnar movement."
Seeing as Adam was adamant for an explanation, Kahori decided to reveal things slowly.
"Truthfully, my master had ordered us to establish a lookout post near the exchange area where we trade food and spices." She said, carefully watching Adam's expressions.
"An outpost this close to us?" Adam asked, his tone passive. "Such a thing would surely trigger my Wartopian allies."
"It is merely a ruined building right at the border of the water near this land area. Only two individuals man it at a time." Kahori explained, trying her best to make it seem insignificant. "As for the fact that we didn't send a warning, it was for two reasons."
Adam decided to let go of the Alfari outpost problem for now, playing along with Kahori.
"Please, do tell."
"The first was simply that we detected it too late. We didn't have any tools to perform proper scouting, and so when it happened, we had to go dark and shut down our devices." Kahori explained, raising one finger before extending the next, "And as a consequence of the first, the second reason was the Frost. It is better to hide in the cold when the Jotnar and their children pass by than to resist them."
Adam heard that and made an understanding nod.
"So your deadly sister was simply underequipped to face those Children of Jotnar?" Adam asked.
"Yes, her assignment was to observe, so her equipped rune had been reassigned to Stealth rather than Bending. She doesn't have the same prowess from before, although her swordplay is excellent." Kahori explained.
"Pity!" Adam shrugged before getting to the important subject. "Those Children of Jotnar, would you kindly explain them to me?"
Kahori went silent for a bit, following Adam's request, but Megan moved from her corner, carrying a tray of three bowls.
"Food is ready. Bits of wolf meat on the side, if you don't mind, Ms. Envoy," Megan said politely, offering an assortment of sides along with the main bowls of food-bar gruel. The additives were three types of Alfari spices; salt, which was easy to make using the Refinery Rigs; and the wolf meat, shredded and ground as two separate options since it was particularly tough and chewy.
Kahori eyed the food with obvious dread, since this was her fourth meal in the base.
"The food not to your liking?" Megan asked.
"After knowing what you people put in these bars, I would say..." Kahori let out a breath, then made a nod, "Thank you for the gift of sustenance."
Adam picked up his bowl and addressed Kahori:
"I find people are more easily approachable over a hearty meal. Of course, this shames the definition of a hearty meal, but food is food at the end of the day, and this is the best we can offer."
Kahori showed a nod that conveyed appreciation, raising the hot bowl high enough before her face before placing it back.
"You must be bearing the mark of the Brewer, Vindicator." She said.
"Come again?" Adam frowned.
"She means the Brewer skill," Megan explained before turning to Kahori. "Yes, he has a skill called the Chef. Our Vindicator is quite proud of his culinary skills."
"He shares that with my father, then." Kahori showed a hint of brightness as the color of her eyes shifted, "I'm the daughter of a Brewer and a Grower. My childhood was blessed with hearty food."
"Sorry about this, then," Adam sighed before eating, clearly indicating the horrible food they were about to go through.
He ate it bland at first, getting the soul-crushing feeling of the raw gruel, before slowly adding additives. A practice he had developed to make himself feel better about what he ate, improving it with time as he went. Kahori and Megan, on the other hand, were quite the carnivores, adding meat and spices before they could even dig in.
After eating, Adam revisited his question about the Jotnar and their children once again, but this time, Kahori was more flexible.
"We know that Alfari envoys are very strict about sharing everything and always try to get something in return." Megan spoke before Kahori could answer.
"We are sheltering her and her sister, breaking bread with them, and preventing our xenophobic cousins from practicing their culture around them." Adam recounted the blessings of his hospitality.
"That's called basic decency, dearie." Megan interjected.
"Whatever the lady says," Adam huffed and looked away.
Kahori was quick to pick up on the pity act, especially with Megan painting their attitude toward her as decency, a clear demand that this decency should be met with decency.
"Since you are here in an unofficial capacity, I assume you don't expect rescue from Lord Kaimu. Making any information you share with us very vital to the process of defense." Megan then turned to Kahori, no longer hiding her intent.
"And to be clear, I am not holding you here against your will. You rescued the old professor; I'm immensely grateful. If you want to pack up and go, I'm not stopping you either." Adam added, following Megan, "But I understand that you want to take your dear old Sage along, and frankly, I will not allow it."
"Fine." Kahori was done with the two, who were going one-two with her. "I will share my knowledge with you, but this exchange won't be official. My master wouldn't appreciate going behind his back, however."
"Not that we ever had this meeting in the first place." Adam shrugged.
"Very well..."
Kahori was about to start recounting her knowledge, but before she did, Megan cunningly interrupted.
"I'll tell you what we know first, and correct any misunderstandings we have if possible."
This way, Megan would make sure Kahori wouldn't try to exchange useless information or things they already knew. Kahori caught on to that as well, but she wasn't going to do so anyway.
What the humans knew about Jotnar was the following:
The Children of Jotnar, commonly known as Neanders, are former humans who mutated into a more primitive form by the doing of the Jotnar invaders.
They are extremely resilient, possess strange skills, and can disturb all electronics by causing some sort of electromagnetic frost pulse.
Their goal was probably to save a captive, but now they are out for blood, and Adam was theorizing they were trying to drag any human back with them into the Rift to mutate them as well.
To that, Kahori nodded before adding:
"You are correct about their aims and origins; a simple understanding, but it is correct. However, their abilities still elude you, and they will continue to do so. I suggest that you accept them as they are."
"What are you trying to say?" Adam frowned. "You're saying that the enemy is impossible to understand?"
"The Jotnar and their children are simple enemies, yes, but what you keep confusing is their Sorcery. It is a concept that is simply unexplainable." Kahori stated.
"How?" Adam asked.
"Yet you keep asking for an explanation!" Kahori mumbled, somewhat bothered by the question. "I'll try to explain the concept at least. Think of it like this..." She drew a line in the air with her two index fingers before asking, "Assume that one end of this line is science and knowledge, all the things that can be discovered through trial, error, discovery, experimentation, and logic. Now answer this: where do you think ignorance sits on this line?"
Adam contemplated the question for a second, but before he could answer, Megan pointed:
"The other end, naturally."
Kahori turned to Megan before replying:
"You are wrong, Ms. Megan," Kahori said before turning to Adam. "What about you, Vindicator Clay?"
"Assuming that ignorance is not the opposite of knowledge but the absence of it." Adam contemplated and closed his eyes, but then shrugged, "Much like darkness being the absence of light, not the opposite of it... It is a concept, but would it be something like Anti-Knowledge? Like matter and antimatter?"
"Sage Hendrick answered that question beautifully, though." Kahori commented before answering, "His answer was Oblivion, which is strangely accurate despite being a little different from what reality is. You can conceptualize Oblivion, but you cannot experience it; thus you truly can never know what it is."
The answer was more convoluted than what Adam had hoped, but he exchanged looks with Megan, and the two seemed to have understood it at the same time.
"So the Neanders, the Children of Jotnar, are they in a state of Oblivion? Not just simple ignorance, but a deliberate path away from knowledge in its essence? Is that what you're trying to say?" Megan asked.
"I am glad you finally understand it." Kahori nodded with obvious relief. "In practice, the Children of Jotnar sacrifice their potential for civility and knowledge in exchange for power; the definition of this process is Sorcery."
Adam blinked a few times before scratching his head.
"Like Magic and Runes?" he asked.
"No!" Kahori replied sharply. "How can you even compare this to that?"
"Aren't Runes like Magic? Don't they have these powers and phenomena?" Megan continued the same line of questioning as Adam, "And Adam has the same Class name, right? Sorcerer?"
She seemed rather confused, but Kahori was quick to signal her to stop.
"I am using the Mind Rune to directly translate my Alfari speech into your native language. If Sorcery and Sorcerer seem like close words to you, maybe it is just the rune picking the nearest possible words. I am not relating this to the Great Path of Rune Sorcery." Kahori explained quickly, "As said, the Jotnar use their perverted powers to undo all civility and knowledge, promoting barbarism and living like beasts."
"And the people taken by the Jotnar to become Neanders were they forced into this process? Is there no reversing it?" Adam asked.
"It is that or death," Kahori said with a heavy voice. "The Jotnar set their captives on a path of brutal barbarism. These poor souls would eventually turn to cannibalism, madness, and blood sacrifice, all to serve the dark powers the Jotnar serve. And when it is all over, the old self is replaced with something irredeemable. The body then follows suit and grows into the form this Sorcery sets for them. There is no logic behind it, just an eldritch fall into an endless pit. Many of my kin meet the same fate when taken by Jotnar. It is mercy and respect to put them out of their agony and to preserve what is left of their eternal souls."
The insight Kahori gave made both Adam and Megan look at each other in horror, no longer the composed negotiators from before, especially Megan, whose mother was in Washington D.C. when the Jotnar hit it on the first minute of D-Day.
"God damn it all!" She stood and stormed off, clearly disheartened and no longer in the mood to listen for more.
If that was her mother's fate... she didn't dare think about it or even unthink it, finding herself in a fit of rage, hitting a poor piece of wood against a sturdy wall just to vent the frustration.
Adam watched her from the door of his residence and took his time to calm her down, with Elena keeping an eye on Kahori.
The more they learned about this new world, the clearer the truth became. Monsters had inherited the Earth, and the long, bitter war was merely beginning.
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