Ehktars vs Team Alpha:
We arrived at the building. It was silent, and all the lights were off, which is expected; it is the middle of the night after all. So this is where Maya is being kept? Shouldn't we just charge the place? Why are we walking through the front door?
Siri went to open the door when a man came out. He looked to be in his forties with a greying mustache and slick back black hair; he was dressed formally too. I can't imagine him being a mercenary. He looked startled to see us. He stared at each one of us, then his face grew solemn.
"My dearest apologies, but we are already closed. Feel free to come back tomorrow," the man said.
"Shouldn't mercenary corps in these rural locations be open across the night?" Siri questioned with a glare.
"O-oohh," the man chuckled, "forgive us, but we encountered some difficulties, and as such we were forced to close early. Please come back tomorrow," the man said as he bowed.
"Sorry, but we cannot wait till tomorrow," Yuna demanded.
We definitely cannot come back tomorrow; he should just let us in.
"I just closed the place. There is no one else there to help you," the man put his hands together as if to plead.
Not sure if he takes us for mercenaries, but we do not need their services. He should just step aside already.
"I'm afraid that is not a concern for us."
"Tch. Yuna, don't bother." remen walked past the man, then smashed the door open. "He is stalling for time."
Remen walked ahead, barging the man with his shoulder, as he strode into the building. "You guys sure do play nasty."
"Remen how is it inside?" What is remen seeing? I can't see anything from all the way behind.
But if the man is truly stalling for time, then he is working for the ehktars; if that's the case, then he has to die here and now. I reached for my sword, ready to draw.
"Ikemefuna Mercenary Corps is closed, miss, miss, miss." What the? Why is he repeating himself, "sorry but you have to go, you can't go inside-e-e-e-e-e."
The man's head ticked slowly with each word. What the fuck?
The man froze in place, then he began to shiver violently. Yuna and Siri's reaction didn't change; they merely looked at his current state.
How are they unfazed? I could feel my legs freeze up slowly as the night wind blew through me. What's happening?
"D-d-don't go inside, I beg of you. They will kill me. They just showed up with a strange lady, she made, she made us, she made us, she made us" what the "she took, took, took!!"
Who just showed up? The ehktars? Or someone else? He knows something, but he can barely talk.
The man began violently shaking, he held his head and swayed from side to side, agonizing, "They told me too! I had to listen, I had to listen, I had to listen, I had to listen, I had to listen, I had to listen, I had to listen, I had to listen, I had to listen, I had to listen, I had to listen, I had to listen, I had to listen—"
Unsure of how I should react, I froze at the unexplainable act in front of me.
What's the…
The man, almost as if going mad, began to cry and scratch at his hair. He grew louder and louder until he could speak no more. His eyes had turned white, and he began to make strange clicking sounds from his mouth. White foamy fluids poured from his mouth as he struggled.
Locked in place, I watched his eyes fade to white, slowly.
The man suffered until something flashed before him. His head dropped, and soon after, his body tumbled with it. Blood spewing everywhere.
Siri took the man's clothes and wiped his blade. Faster than I could see, Siri had beheaded him, ending his suffering.
I stumbled back in a daze, my legs stiff as a board. I could barely stand, and I can barely understand why he is dead. Why was he killed?
No, it is obvious why. He was in pain. He was suffering but not dying. What was that?...
"My days…"
Looking down on the man's body, I watched as blood spewed from his neck. It's not like I haven't killed before, it's not like I haven't seen people get killed before, but what did he do to deserve this? He had no choice in the matter.
Siri had no choice in the matter, either.
"The two of you don't look phased at all. What was that? And did he really need to die—ah, no, he did, he did. He was suffering, but still." My hands are shaking, I am shook. This isn't good.
Yuna, walking around the man's body, answered, "Nero, the ehktars don't recruit members. Whoever leads their organization brainwashes people to become their pawns, acting like a hivemind."
A hivemind?
"That's why they are so synced….but why them? He can't fight?"
"It doesn't matter. The brainwashing will cover for all of that; they only need the numbers anyway. That is their main strength."
"That's fucked up."
This…this could be Maya. Oh no.
"After losing a lot of members to kidnap Maya. The person controlling them most likely picked a place that is isolated and in plain sight to infest. The process takes time, so no one would suspect a thing, not until they start acting like this. Then it is too late."
So they just show up, no, he or she, whoever it is, shows up and makes ehktars? This is bad, very bad.
"You can't save them?"
Yuna shook her head. "I suppose, but it is impossible after a certain point," she looked at the man. It is impossible when they start following orders.
"You just never know until they show signs."
My heart dropped. Maya is not safe; she might have never been safe. All this time, she could have been infested with madness, and we'd never know.
Signs, what exactly are the signs? The ones that aren't obvious because everyone could be infested, but there have to be conditions and limitations. If they weren't, the Ehtakars would have taken over the world.
"He mentioned a 'she' and 'they', "Siri said, "the person doing this, the 'main lead' must have been here."
Yuna nodded. "Let's look for clues."
Is this the main lead remen and Siri talked about? They were aware of this from the beginning, so they know the true culprit is still out there. The man said she, so it is a woman, but that is still very vague; too vague, it'd be impossible at this rate.
So many questions, but I can't focus on that now. Not now.
"Let's go," Siri said, so we headed inside the building.
This battle just got more intense. I can feel my heart trying to leap out of my chest. I need to stay calm, I need to.