Terrence guides me to a freshly constructed windowless building; it looks like a big concrete block with a thick metal door. The Commander, flanked with two Legionaries, opens the door and I activate my armor.
I can't be too safe since those people might be mercenaries who fooled Terrence.
We enter a sort of airlock and the entrance seals behind us once we are all inside.
"I'm sorry on behalf of the Fabricators, this building isn't really up to our usual standard but it's strong enough to hold our prisoners." The Commander says while lowering his head. I raise my hand to dismiss his concern. It's impressive enough considering that this whole thing was constructed in less than half an hour.
The second door leading to the inside of the building opens and reveal the small jail-like interior. Isolated cells are lined up against the wall and each is housing one of the intruders. Two Legionaries are sitting in the main corridor with armed spells floating above their shoulders. One wrong move from the prisoners and they'll be burned to a crisp before they can understand what has happened to them.
I head towards the first cell and pull the little metal bar covering the small windows in the door. Inside, a man with bright red hair sits on his cot with haggard eyes.
*He should be about my age. And he looks harmless, but appearances can be deceiving.*
It wouldn't be funny if this guy turned into some massive rampaging creature.
His attention is immediately drawn by the noise caused by the opening of the window, and he jumps up.
"Who's there?" he asks.
A Legionary grits his teeth, "You are in presence of the Great Prometheus, show some proper respect!"
I turn towards the Legionary and shake my head, he stops talking so I focus back on the prisoner.
"I-I'm sorry, I just came here to see someone named John Thomson, he's-"
"How dare you say the Great Prometheus' name!" this time it's Terrence who has an outburst, so I order him to stop talking. Managing the cultists is a bit tiresome, but I get where they are coming from. Some random guy just appears out of nowhere and starts doing what the Order consider one of the highest offense.
And maintaining my Prometheus persona is essential if I want the Order to still obey me.
"I'll let it slide this time…" I say while trying to sound as imposing as possible.
"But just this time!" I then activate my robes for added effects.
The prisoner recoils and starts to tremble, "G-Got it! I'm s-sorry!" he says between two sobs.
I turn my robes off and take a deep breath.
"Then, what is your name? And what's your true purpose for coming here?"
There's no way that what they've written in the sky is true. And how did they even locate my home?
"My name is Alex Wilson, and we're truly here because we want your protection. We were the victims of the purge that the Enforcers recently enacted. We somehow escaped, but I don't think we'll be able to run forever. That's when we saw how you handled that demon… so we thought you could protect us." Alex answers.
*How convenient, I don't believe it for a second.*
But this guy reminded me of the last horrible act enacted by the Wolfheart. How can they massacre innocents like that without batting an eye? How many people suddenly vanished because they dared to seek the knowledge they should have access to in the first place?
*We will NoT sTaNd IdLy, We will sHoW tHeM!*
Agreeing with that murderous voice shouldn't be something that happens that often. But it's actually pretty reasonable this time.
The abuse of the Enforcers has to stop.
But let's focus back on the current situation. I have three unknown prisoners, and I'm almost certain that leaving them alive might be a bad idea. However, it might not hurt to gain more information from them.
This could teach me who issued that bounty, and how much money I have on my head. If it's a low amount then I could relax since powerful bounty hunters wouldn't bother chasing someone down for pennies.
"Don't bullshit me!" I shout while reactivating my robes. Alex cowers and almost pisses himself. "Your story is too convenient, and you didn't even answer my first question. But I have a feeling I already know the answer. You knew where I lived because it was written in the bounty notice, wasn't it?"
The prisoner becomes pale, so it looks like I was right.
"N-No, you're wrong! I didn't know that you had a-"
"Still lying even after you've been exposed? Fine, I'll ask the other prisoners. I bet I'll find a way to make them more cooperative." I slam the opening shut and shut out his desperate cries.
"Terrence," I turn towards the silent Commander," Once we're done here we'll have to do some research on who issued the bounty. I also trust that you'll silence this scum?"
"Of course, your will is my command," he replies while nodding.
Finding out who issued the bounty is important, that way we'll be able to properly plan for a friendly visit… We'll even bring our machine guns for a jolly good time!
"Now, let's see the second prisoner." I glance into the next cell, this time it's a small woman who looks like she's been crying ever since she got here.
I can't let her appearance get to me, it's certain that she's not human.
"Hello, I'm the guy who you tried to kill," I declare before activating my robes again, causing her to almost fall off her bed in surprise.
Those robes probably aren't a great armor, but it's a very good intimidation tool.
"Don't play coy with me. I already learned a lot from your comrade Alex, if that's even his real name." I continue. "Now let's keep it simple, I want to know who you are, what you are and all the details on the bounty."
The woman's eye bulges before tears stream down her face. "Is Alex alright? What did you do to him?"
"Silence!" Terrence shouts. "You dare lie to the Great Prometheus?"
The woman cries even more profusely, but her display doesn't move me at all.
"M-My name is Cynthia Howell. I'm a human… and I have no idea about any bounty whatsoever! B-But you didn't kill him, right? Right?" she wails uncontrollably and starts to spout incomprehensible nonsense, so I close the opening and head to the last cell.
These people don't want to give up their client; it must mean that he's important. At least I'll have to commend them for their acting skills; I almost believed their story for a second.
The last mercenary is a disheveled looking woman with messy black hair. She glances at me, revealing her eyes with dark bags under them.
She recoils as soon as she sees me, But I still activate my robes to get my point across.
"I am not a patient man, so state your name, your species and who ordered the bounty on my head." I declare.
"My name's Sarah Buck and I am a human being. Just like the other two," she says. I clench my fist, are these people unaware that their little scheme has been seen through?
"And I have no idea about any bounty!" she starts to cry, "All we wanted was to be safe from the Enforcers who wanted to kill us!"
*And this sob story again… Do they really take me for a fool?*
"We don't care about your lies!" Terrence shouts. I bet he's been even more annoyed than me at this whole ordeal. In hindsight, I should have ordered him to gun them down when they had the chance.
"We saw your battle against Beelzebub on the HiddenNet; we thought that you were someone who could protect us from the Enforcers, at least until things settled down. How could I have known that this would happen?" she continues. "I guided us there, and-"
Interesting, so she's probably the brain of the operation.
"How did you locate my home in the first place?" I interrupt her.
"There isn't any point in hiding anymore. At least, can you promise me that you will free my friends?"
I nod, I will 'free' them from their existence so I'm not technically lying.
She takes a deep breath, "I hope you'll keep your word… I read your mind."
The world around me grinds to a halt.
If what this girl is saying is true, then she likely knows about the Rewinder, and also about how I tricked the Order.
This also reveals that mind reading is actually possible, and it somehow bypassed my ring of mental protection.
I pull out my gun and point it towards her, "Don't say another word, or you're dead." My attention turns towards the Commander who silently observed the proceedings. "Terrence, do we have an interrogation room somewhere?"
He nods, "Yes, we have two at the end of this corridor." He answers before pointing towards the rooms.
"Got it, then I'll bring her with me for a more thorough interrogation," I say.
"As you wish." he declares before opening the door. I slowly enter the cramped cell while pointing my gun towards the woman who introduced herself as Sarah. "Come on," I say while waving my gun.
She eyes the weapon with bulging eyes, and it takes a few seconds for her to process the situation before nodding. I lead her out of her cell where one of the guards handcuffs her. We then enter one of the interrogation rooms. The drab concrete room is only populated with a metal table and two chairs sitting opposite of each other.
One of the guards forces the prisoner to sit down before attaching the cuffs into a special emplacement on the table. This should thwart any escape attempts.
I turn towards the small group that followed me, "Now I need to be alone with her."
The cultists all lower their heads before shuffling out of the room.
"So, where should we begin?" I mumble before sitting down. I pay particular attention to not let the muzzle of my gun wander away from her head. "You're saying that you can read minds, correct?"
The woman, who is still shaking with fear, nods. "Yes, I had the ability to do from as far as I can remember."
*She said ability, not spell. This may be more interesting than I thought.*
"Then how does it work?" I ask.
"I just need to look at someone, and I can freely rummage through the person's thoughts and memories… At least that's usually how it goes."
I raise an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"
She takes a long look at my armored self and sighs, "You're the only exception. Your memories are jumbled and almost impossible to decipher. Almost identical memories keep overlapping with each other.
And that's not even taking into account the feeling of dread I have when I try to look into your mind. It feels like I'm staring at the open maw of a bear, and there's also that creepy voice in the background…"
Oh.
From what I can tell, the overlapping memories she's mentioning are probably referencing the moments where I Rewound time. And about the voice, she's talking about the murderous voice that pops up whenever it wants.
"When did you look into my mind?"
"The only time I ever looked into your mind is back when you were transporting some sort of large cardboard box out of the Hot Spot." she immediately replies.
So it's been quite a while, and the voice was already there. How long has it been lurking in the back of my head? Was it always there, or is it somehow caused by the Rewinder messing with my head?
But I'll have to find answers to those questions later; first I need to finish up with her.
"So what do you know about me?" I ask.
She takes a deep breath, "I only know your name, and glimpses of the horrors you went through… Looking for your address was quite an ordeal. I almost lost my sanity by perusing through what I had seen that day."
I tighten my grip on my handgun, "Is that all?"
She nods, "Yes, the rest is jumbled and locked away. I don't have the willpower to look into your memories again. It feels like I'm going through thousands of deaths every second."
*Well, you wouldn't be too far from the truth.*
Her story is surprisingly coherent, so she's either telling the truth or it's the biggest bluff ever. If she's telling the truth, then I'll have to recruit her. Someone who can read minds while bypassing mental protections is an incredibly valuable asset. And if her ability can be replicated then I might form the best intelligence agency of the universe…
Of course, this all hinges on her story being true.
"Here's the thing that I can't really wrap my head around… why on Earth did you believe that I would protect you?" I ask while slouching back.
"You're human like us; at least I think so…"
Ouch, this one hurts. But I can't blame her for thinking that, especially since I'm not really sure what I am nowadays.
"Your battle with Beelzebub showed that you had no fear of the Enforcers who were hunting us down. So we thought that you might shelter us, as an act of kindness to your fellow human beings. And also as a big middle finger to the Enforcers." she continues.
Blatantly disregarding the Enforcers' authority does indeed send a good message. But I don't think we're ready to weather an all-out assault like the one they launched against the Scalebound. The upgrades the Order will receive once the Fabricators finish processing the scans of my equipment might help a little. But I wonder how good it'll be against the kind of firepower they have.
But let's focus back on the present. This woman could be a valuable asset, so I should try to convince her to take an Oath of Servitude.
"Listen, I bet you already know what we're doing here, and what we're trying to achieve?" I ask while readjusting my gun. "Don't tell me that you didn't scan the minds of everyone here except me."
She nods, "I'm not sure, but the goal of this Order is to save humanity, right?"
"Correct, is there anything else you know?"
"From what I glanced around, you're leading this group. And they all think you are the reincarnation of Prometheus… is that true?" she asks.
No.
"Yes, it is." For once, I'm glad that a mysterious voice is lurking in the back of my head. Otherwise, she would've already exposed my plan.
She leans back, "I see… You know, I'm not even surprised. After being chased by teleporting Werewolves, meeting the reincarnation of some ancient hero sounds surprisingly normal."
"All right… Then please answer my question. Do you think that the Enforcers should still exist? Do you think its right that they can play with the lives of people as they please without consequences?" my question makes her furrow her brows.
"No to both." She finally answers.
*Great, now I just need another little push.*
"Then I have a proposition to you and your friends. Join my Order, and we'll destroy the shackles of the Enforcer system." I declare while activating my robes for a brief second for added dramatic effect.
I bet she feels responsible for the mess she got her friends into, and recruiting them is basically me giving them my protection against the Enforcers. It also looks like she doesn't know that the Enforcers stopped hunting them because they needed to focus on the war preparations.
So I can use that to my advantage.
But giving my protection to these people is only one part of this; by recruiting them I give them an opportunity to take their revenge on the Enforcers.
And revenge is one of the greatest motivators that I can think of.
"I really don't want to fight them again…" she mumbles, and her wide open eyes coupled with the tremors coursing through her body tells me that she's reliving memories she would rather forget.
I know that feeling all too well.
"Don't worry, we have branches who shouldn't see combat. And I didn't plan to put you on the front lines anyway. It would be a waste of your ability." I reassure her as best as I can.
She takes a deep breath, "It's not like I really have a choice anyway, right? I bet you wouldn't just release us if we refused. So I'll join. But can you promise me that you'll release my friends if they don't want to join?"
I nod, and she looks visibly relieved. Of course, I didn't mention the Oath in any way. So she'll just think it's some sort of ceremony once she takes it, and then it'll be too late for regrets.
"Wait here for a second, I'll take care of some things and I'll get back to you in a minute or two," I say before leaving the room.
"So, how did it go?" Terrence, who was waiting outside the room, asks with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, her story about her being able to read minds seems to be true, and she's probably a human too. Nevertheless, she's willing to take the Oath so can we add more conditions to it?" I ask.
Terrence nods, "We can. What condition might you want to add?"
"Make it so she's unable to read my mind." This might seem unnecessary since she said that the voice and the Rewinder-induced superposition protected me, but better be safe than sorry.
"What about the others, do we dispose of them?" the Commander asks.
"I'd rather not if it comes to it, so let her talk to them. I bet she'll convince them to join. If she doesn't then... do we have anything to erase memories?"
The Commander cups his chin, "Not really. We do have an experimental formula based on a bottle of Eraser we gained through various backroom deals. But it almost always turns the subjects into vegetables rather than deleting their memories."
I shake my head," I guess we'll see how it goes. Go into the interrogation room and bring her to me once you're done, I'll be waiting here."
Terrence nods and heads towards the interrogation room while I sit down on a nearby chair. Recruiting Sarah was a good thing, but her friends might be a problem if they don't accept my offer. A bright flash of light from the interrogation room takes me out of my thoughts, and Terrence emerges with Sarah in tow.
"Prometheus, the Oath of Servitude has been completed," Terrence says.
Sarah looks around nervously, and I stand up. "Now that's all said and done, can you answer one last question? Did you lie at any point during our conversation in the interrogation room?"
If she lied, then she'll burst into flames. That would make taking care of her friends easier. Because right now I don't really know what to do with them. If they accept my offer, then I'll gain two new soldiers. But the problems start if they don't accept. If Sarah told me the truth then they were really innocent people unfairly targeted by the Enforcers.
And I'm not like them, I don't kill innocents. But they came into contact with me, so it'll make them an even bigger target for the Enforcers. I could protect them, but I doubt they would easily accept being holed up here for an indefinite amount of time.
"Yes, I didn't lie at any point during that conversation. And Mister- Commander Terrence already explained the consequences of taking the Oath, so you don't have to worry about me." Sarah interrupts my thoughts.
At least now I'm certain. But this brings a whole host of new problems…
"Can I talk to my friends now?" she asks, and I answer with a quick nod. We head towards the cell containing the other woman; I believe her name was Cynthia or something similar.
Sarah opens the small glassless window in the door. "Cynthia, it's me."
I'm just behind our new recruit, so I can see the insides of the cell. The prisoner perks up at the familiar voice and almost jumps straight towards the door.
"Sarah!" she wails, "Thank god you are all right! Did they hurt you in any way?" she asks with a trembling voice.
"I'm fine, don't worry about me," Sarah reassures her friend. "In fact, these people aren't as bad as I thought, and they convinced me to join them."
"What?!" Cynthia exclaims, "Those people are obviously shady! And did you forget that they almost killed us?"
Hey, we're not shady! The Order of The First Flame is a perfectly reputable cult of fanatics! who are worshipping a person they think is the long-awaited reincarnation of a hero from ancient legends…
…We may need a better PR department in the future.
"They're not shady, and I think this whole situation is based on a misunderstanding." Sarah turns towards me, so I explain the situation with the bounty hunters and how I thought they were after the prize on my head.
"I see… I can understand why you would be so hostile to us then." Cynthia says, "But that still doesn't help with the vibe I get from this place. All the people we've seen so far seem to be too ready to murder us as the word of-"
"Of course, the words of Prometheus are law. Who are you to disagree?" the Commander exclaim.
*Terrence, you're not helping.*
*FinallY, sOmEonE wHo ShoWs pRopeR reSpeCt!*
And you aren't either.
I berate the Commander in my mind and silence him with a wave of my hand before focusing on the prisoner. "Listen, I know our security measures might be a tad excessive. But put yourself in our shoes for a second. I'm probably at the top of most wanted lists of a lot of Enforcers. And there is probably a dozen of bounty hunters rushing towards this place as we speak."
"I know, but…" she clenches her fists, "And that still doesn't explain why Sarah joined you after talking to you for a few minutes! This plus this whole Prometheus business reeks of brainwashing! You're no better than the Enforcers, and-"
No, just NO!
I activate my robes and her voice turns into a whimper, "No better than the Enforcers?! Any Enforcer would have killed you without batting an eye, just because you're a human! And that's if you're lucky. They could also have captured and tortured you so you gave up the names of other potential Rule breakers!"
I've never seen something like that myself. But from my experience, 'basic decency' isn't a concept that most Enforcers are aware of.
"So don't tell me we're on the same level as ThOse piEcEs oF sHiT!" I reign in the voice at the last second. This was bad; I lost my temper and almost let it out completely.
Nevertheless, my outburst seems to have had an effect on the audience. The cultists are looking at me with solemnity and respect, and even Sarah seems to be moved a little.
Or she's just scared shitless.
On the other hand, Cynthia is definitely scared out of her wits. I wouldn't be surprised if she started screaming like a banshee who stepped on a Lego. I deactivate my robes as an attempt to defuse the situation.
"Sorry about that, I lost my composure for a bit. But our goal couldn't be more opposed to the Enforcers. We want to reveal magic to the masses, to usher a golden age for humanity UnDer oUr RuLe. Do you have any idea what marvels the Hidden World can offer?
It's not a stretch to say that we could solve every problem our species is facing and will face in the future. I've seen people healing from lethal wounds in seconds; I can freely travel between dimensions and planets with the press of a button… And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
But the Enforcers don't want that, they are actively suppressing any attempts our species makes to access the Hidden World. They destroy and murder just because they want to keep their power and monopolies no matter the cost." I declare.
*Did the voice make an appearance during my speech? I don't think so. Otherwise, I would've noticed. And it looks like my tirade is somehow working.*
"So, are we still like the Enforcers in your eyes?" I ask the captive woman, who is looking at me with her jaw wide open.
"I… Can I see Alex?" she asks. I nod and guide her towards the final cell. I push her into his cell once we arrive and close the door behind her. She seems to care a whole lot about him, so now that they're reunited they might come to their senses.
Or they could try something incredibly stupid.