The Six Guns left Seeira, and returned to the United States; or what was left of it; for the first time in many years. This time, they had left most of their crew behind to protect the children. This time, the team consisted of Siran, Zia, Alex, Finn, Rose, Holly, Haru, and Blake. As they arrive on the east coast, Finn says "I've been meaning to ask...".
"What is it?" Siran replies.
"If endo is what's been gettin' everyone sick and all, then why didn't we get sick when we visited Dead Crater so long ago?" Finn asks.
"Well, you guys already had a larger capacity for magic back then" Siran says. "Everyone except for Holly, at the time, I had shared endo with to increase your capacity for magic. Remember?".
"Yeah, and I was only there for a couple hours" Holly says. "Most of the people who have been getting sick have been exposed to the streams for days on end, without noticing".
"Then... exactly how much more magic do we have?" Finn asks.
"I dunno" Siran replies.
"You don't know!?" Rose asks. "But you're the one that gave it to us!".
"What am I supposed to do!?" Siran asks. "Use a scale or measuring cup when giving people endo? I'm not sure how much you took, nor do I know how much your body became accustomed to! There's a good chance all of your bodies rejected most of the endo I gave you, only to grow accustomed to having mire endo in your body. Nature did it's thing, and adapted to the increase of energy. That's all I can tell you".
"Well, where do we go from here?" Haru asks. "Where was your home before you became Siran?".
"My home?" Siran asks. "Where I grew up?".
"Yeah" Haru replies. "Should we go visit some old memories?".
"No use" Siran says.
"His hometown is..." Zia says, then pauses. "... well, it's kinda...".
"Dead Crater" Siran says. "My hometown was the epicenter of Dead Crater".
"Oh..." Haru says. "I'm sorry".
"And here I was thinking we'd see the captain's old home, even if it were desolate by now".
"You wanna see it still?" Siran asks.
"Siran, you don't have to take them if you don't want to" Zia says.
"Yeah, it couldn't hurt" Blake says. "I wanna check it out. I've never seen it in person". Suddenly, Zia punches Blake over the top of his head, making a loud BONK sound. "Ow! Hey! Why'd you do that!?".
"Insensitive prick..." Zia says.
"It's fine" Siran says. "These things happen, I guess. Not just to me. I can handle it, Zia".
"You sure?" Zia asks.
"I'm sure, hun..." Siran says.
After a lot of traveling, the crew arrived at Dead Crater once again. The land was still empty, and filled with dead and withered plants. Everything in sight was brown, gray and black in color, as life on Earth in this entire region was still ceased. When Siran and the crew arrived at the same spot they were at last time they came here, Siran once again sat at the edge of the crater, with his feet hanging off the edge, and down into the abyss. He looks over to his side suddenly, as he remembers the flower he once planted here. However, that was no longer there. Lost amongst the rest of the dead debris and lifeless landscape, the flower had withered and joined the rest of the land in perpetual solitude. "This place is so massive..." Blake says as he sits down next to Siran. "What was it like?".
"Horrifying" Siran says, "terrible, saddening... many things. It was many things, but all of them bad".
"Sheesh... I'm sorry to hear that" Blake says.
"Did you have any friends that lived here?" Haru asks.
"... a couple" Siran says. "And after all this time... through all the things I've forgotten over the past almost 200 years... I still remember their names. Mason and Angela...".
"I'm sorry..." Haru says.
"Sorry for what?" Siran asks. "I have my friends that I have now. If you ever think, even for a moment, that you guys aren't as important in my eyes, then I want you know that you guys are still important to me. You guys are my friends now... my family. That's what really matters".
"Spoken like a man that's been through a lot" an unfamiliar voice calls out behind them. When the team turns around, they see a man dressed in a well tailored suit. "Pardon the intrusion" he says. "I am secretary of defense, Jacob McNamara. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Siran. We had word on your arrival shortly after your plane landed in The United States".
"Great... did we somehow piss off this country too?" Alex asks.
"No, not at all" McNamara says. "Actually, it's about the other nations decision to proceed with their hunt for you, and how we can help you".
"Help... us?" Siran asks.
"I would like you to follow me" McNamara says. "A very important man would like to see you. You'd be surprised how much we know about you".
"Where are we going?" Rose asks. "Who's this important man?".
"The President of the United States" McNamara says. "Sure, it's not as big of a deal as it was back when our country stood tall as a leading military power, but Mr President has some very important business to discuss with Siran, and The Six Guns".
Rose points are herself in confusion, trying to keep up with what's happening. "And if we say no?" Holly asks.
McNamara turns around and starts walking away. "That's your choice" he says. "A regrettable one, at that".
Siran and the rest of the crew look at each other in confusion. After a while, they decided to follow Secretary McNamara. After two days of traveling back towards the coast of the United States, then towards Washington D.C., they finally arrive at the gates of the White House. After some time of McNamara speaking privately through a headset, the gates opened, and McNamara led they way inside. McNamara led they crew into a large circular office, where they met an elderly, dark skinned man, sitting at the desk with his hands crossed. "I've been waiting for you" he says.
"Ladies and gentlemen" McNamara says, "The President of the United States of America; Denzel Freeman".
"Greetings, Siran" Freeman says. "I'd like to welcome you back to the states, even though it's not exactly as it once was". He spoke in a very calm voice.
"Welcome back?" Siran asks.
"You're from here, right?" Freeman asks.
"What do y-" Siran begins to ask.
"We know" Freeman says. "We know who you are, and who you once were. We know that before you were Siran, you were a citizen of the United States, Jack Pagan".
"What!?" Siran asks.
"There's been a lot of reconstruction throughout the entire country, and not enough hands to keep up" Freeman says. "However, we've kept all of our documents, and restored our intelligence agencies too. This White House you're standing in now, has even been rebuilt from the ground up".
"Rebuilt?" Alex asks. "This place has such an old style architecture".
"This place was once leveled completely by Naris" McNamara says. "Impressed?".
"How do you know my name?" Siran asks. "I didn't even know my name...".
"Research and redevelopment" Freeman says. "In some way, I think the president of that time knew it was you. However, we didn't have that advantage. Not until we found a link between you, and the place you appeared at during the Naris Catastrophe. After some digging down the rabbit hole, well... here you are. We even had to go through registrations of missing persons and everything from those years".
"Missing persons?" Zia asks.
"We found one that matched perfectly with Siran" Freeman says. "The place they went missing, where he reappeared, where Naris first showed up, the time he went missing... everything fit Siran. A missing persons report issued by a Jennifer Pagan... Siran's mother, one year into the Naris Catastrophe, before you showed up. Issued in the state of West Virginia".
"West Virginia?" Siran asks. "But that's nowhere near where we lived".
"Then this must be good news for you, Siran" McNamara says. "If you are Jack Pagan, then your mother is Jennifer Pagan. During the Naris Catastrophe, she moved from state to state, finding shelter and looking for you".
"What happened to her!?" Siran demands.
McNamara smiled, then said "She lived until the age of 87, where she passed away painlessly in a hospital".
"What?" Siran asks.
"She survived the catastrophe" Freeman says. "According to our records, she passed away at the age of 87, in a Red Cross Medical Center. She searched far and wide for you, but she managed to stay safe. She lived a full life, don't worry". A tear began to form in Siran's eyes, as Freeman continues to say, "You remember that name, don't you?". Siran nods his head in response. "She was your mother, right?" Freeman asks. Once again, Siran nods his head. "Then this is good news for both of us" Freeman says. "We were finally able to confirm the identity of the mysterious hero...".
"So, what are we here for?" Alex asks. "I'm assuming you didn't bring us here to reminisce".
"Correct" Freeman says. "With all of the chaos between you and the whole world, and the unanimous decision between all of the world's leading military powers deciding to pursue you and your crew, we would like to extend a hand".
"Why?" Holly asks. "And how would you guys help?".
"Did you not hear us earlier?" McNamara asks. "We've rebuilt our intelligence agencies. We have a military still. We have the ability to rise to power. All we need is a little something... and I believe your crew is that something".
"We're betting all of our cards on your crew, Jack Pagan" Freeman says. "We can help you, but only if you let us".
"That's not explaining how you would help us though!" Alex protests. "You'd have to be an idiot to accept something like that so quickly".
"What do you know?" Siran asks.
Freeman smiles as the curtains of each window are suddenly closed and the room becomes dark. A volumetric display pops out of the desk and displays the picture of James Markwood. The former leader of the Mages Guild. "James Markwood" Freeman says. "Former leading position of the Mages, responsible for at least half of the damage caused in the previous war".
"Half!?" Rose asks. "Everything was that bastard's fault!".
"And you guys" Freeman interrupts, "as much as you had good intentions, helped".
"Wha-..." Rose freezes.
"You see" Freeman says, "there was a gap in history. There was a period in our history where all science advancements were halted for nearly a hundred years. This was the time the world spent trying to rebuild everything, as well and the many times that rebuilding came to a grinding halt due to the conflicts we had with our previous way of life. You see, before we used endo for everything, we only had electricity. But this became very unstable, and extremely limited during the rebuilding times. And we couldn't simply reactivate the nuclear power plants. Once those are stopped, it's done. Most of them were destroyed too, and the radiation was causing even more problems. We didn't have any alternate forms of energy until one man proposed an idea. Bryan Cobain, the man who created the first endo powered generator. As simple and inefficient the first model was, it paved the way for the many many many more developments we used to turn Endoindustria into power. However, for the longest time, this was the only advancement humanity made until the rebuilding was done. What Markwood wanted, was to make up for that lost time".
"What do you mean?" Haru asks.
"What makes people want to improve?" Freeman asks.
"I guess... realizing you're not good enough?" Rose answers.
"Hard times" Freeman says. "Hard times makes humans improve. And what harder time to grow more as a species exists, but war? That's what Markwood wanted. He wanted the world to work together to take down a common enemy. But he didn't want it to be easy. He wanted people to grow, and to advance more than we ever have before. The plan was irrational, and brutal, but it also lacked one thing".
"And that is?" Siran asks.
"You appeared" Freeman says. "You made it all go wrong".
As Freeman says this, Siran recalls the last words Markwood said to him. "WHAT I'VE DONE WAS THE HARSH REALITY OF WHAT NEEDED TO BE DONE" he said. "We need a world where people can take care of themselves... I brought the world together, and that will help the world grow! Was it bad? Of course it was!... but sometimes, the good thing to do isn't always the right thing to do".
"Of course, I don't mean this to sound like we're enemies, Jack" Freeman says. "He wanted a war to end all wars, he wanted to force people into what nobody else ever wanted, and he wanted it all to go under so that when we picked ourselves up in the settled dust, we would've come out stronger than before. He was a mad man... a lunatic, even. But you have him exactly what he wanted".
"Excuse me?" Siran asks.
"Look around you" Freeman says. "You gave him what he wanted. You have him that war, and you made it extra flashy for the world to see. You even gave the world someone else to blame when the last enemy fell. You did everything you could, but in the end, Markwood won. Because of you guys, the world was thrown into that mess. But we can make it right. I know you guys aren't the ones opening those vents- or...".
McNamara leans close to Freeman and whispers "Streams".
"Right- erm... streams" Freeman says. "We've had eyes on you from a distance at least a couple times within the past year. Not much, but just enough to know that you were on the other side of the world from Japan when that stream opened. With this in mind, I'd like to offer you some assistance in the long run. There's still a chance to make humanity shine in these dark times. All we want, is another shot with the big guys again. In time, we will once again become a leading military power".
"What's the plan?" Siran asks.
"I'll give you time to think about this offer before we delve more into the details" Freeman says. "I want you back in this office in three days. When you come back, give me your answer then. Your answer if whether or not you'll accept this offer of having an allied nation on your side".
"Hm..." Siran says as his head hangs down, as he's lost in thought.
After The Six Guns leave the White House, Siran sits down on the concrete sidewalk. "What's wrong, cap'n?" Finn asks.
"Are we... really the bad guys?" Siran asks.
"I guess that depends" Alex says.
"We did what we could" Holly says.
"We did what we believed was right" Zia says. "If nothing else, I believe that in itself is right... right?".
"But then... what about Markwood?" Haru asks. "Does that make what he did right?".
"I guess it doesn't..." Zia says.
"We failed at everything we tried" Holly says.
"The only thing we accomplished was letting people die" Blake says.
"That's not true at all!" Zia shouts.
"Yeah!" Rose jumps up. "We stopped Naris, didn't we!?".
"That's true!" Zia says. "We just have to let the world know about it!".
"And that's what Siran's strange and sudden addiction with his library is for?" Alex asks.
"We've got to let people know somehow" Siran says. "If nothing else, we'll at least have our legacy".
"Legacy?" Rose asks. "What's that?".
Zia slaps Siran over the top of the head. "You dolt!" She shouts. "We're not going to need a legacy! You're not giving up on me now, are ya!? After all we've been through, realizing one thing that's already long passed is what brought you down!?".
"No, I guess not" Siran says.
"Louder!" Zia says. "Are you giving up now?".
"No..." Siran says again.
"Louder!" Zia shouts.
"I'm not getting louder than this..." Siran says.
"Fair..." Zia says. "Now let's get down to business. We've got to come to a decision for the whole team about this new ordeal with the President. Let's work on what we have now, and worry about the rest later. Okay, Syr?".
Siran smiles, then says "Thanks, Zia".