After Null spirit had returned from his visit to the paragon he noted that no time had passed and no one saw anything out of the ordinary so he decided to keep the visit a secret for now.
"Okay, Jania and I are on clean up duty. Lisa can you use your drones to detect where the leftover tortured souls are located. Chris can you track our progress and provide us with the optimal route". Null had decided to continue as nothing had happened.
Chris was keen to make another suggestion
"May I suggest we sleep first. I'm exhausted, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. We've had a physical and mentally draining day. There are likely thousands of those creatures left and it could be dangerous if you aren't rested"
Jania and Null didn't want to agree with him, but they both had to admit that transforming and fighting a behemoth size abomination had taken it out of them. They comprised that they would sleep but Chris and Lisa had to take it in turns and keep track of the creatures to ensure none could escape.
While Jania slept, Null went to check on the others. He didn't require as much rest as the others. He came across Lisa currently dissecting one of the corpses.
"Lisa, shouldn't you be resting as well?"
"I can't every time I rest all I hear are the voices, I didn't know someone could be in so much pain. I need to help release these souls from the torture. I don't think I will be able to rest properly until I've accomplished at least that much"
After 6 hours of sleep, both Null and Jania were ready for the hunt. Chris had mapped out the area with the highest density of monsters. Lisa dissections had helped locate their vital spots.
The clean up had taken them another week to complete. There weren't too many problems as the creatures could be dispatched at range with the lasers. Chris and Lisa had also joined the hunts after the 2nd day.
Littleman had delivered them home after the mission and paid Null with the Zallium that was promised.
Now that he had returned from the Mission Null checked his profile to see if he made any unknown gains.
** Profile User Null**
Name: Null
Str:17(+7)
Int:15
Dex:19(+4)
Energy: 65(+11)
Wis:17
Def:5(+10)
Magical Affinity: Space(36), Time(30), Mass(34) , Mind(35), Quantum(30), Energy(50), Gravity(30) ,Soul(30), Life(0), Motion(55)
Magical Control: C
Physical Combat Rate: D+
Equipment: Exosuit Mk1
Skills: True magic(Apprentice), Technomagic(Novice)
SubSkill: Expanded Channelling
Unique Ability Detected: Voice of the Universe, Fusion mode
Fusion Material: Energy Lifeform, Soul Lifeform
Fusion Ability: Energy Vision, Wing Control, Wrath of God, Soul Voice
Alterran Class: Nullifier
Alterran Ability: Nullification
Empire Points:140
Colonies: Olympus (rank 0)
** End Profile **
He was disappointed at the lack of Empire points but everything was what he was expecting. The practice with magic missiles had improved his magical control and energy and motion affinity. There was something else on Null mind that he also wanted an answer to. He was sure that the system could see the future and was directing him towards some overarching goal.
"Infy, what is the system end goal?"
"Sorry, information restricted until you reach rank advanced in true magic"
"Do I even have a choice in my future?". Infy didn't respond to the question so in the end Null still didn't have his answer to his query.
Null gather all the humans and Vark together to have a meeting to decide what to focus on next. The meeting wasn't going well no one was speaking or didn't seem to want to be there. Null tried to elicit responses from Chris, Lisa and Jania on how he could improve the suits and spells they want but failed to get more than non-committal responses.
"That went better than I expected. I never knew the planet was hiding such a secret." A random stranger was suddenly in their meeting room. Jania reacted first and tried to pin the unexpected guest.
"Jania don't worry, he isn't physically here. It is a projection." Null could feel the mental link, he had never considered they could project images and not just words. He would have to experiment with this later.
"'m just a spirit projection, well spotted. That to be expected of a fellow Angel" said the stranger.
"Were you the one that arranged the mission? I knew it wasn't a coincidence but why?" Chris knew someone had to be pulling the strings behind the scenes but didn't expect to meet them.
"Why? Because it was fun or maybe I have other reasons, who knows?" something was alluring about the voice of the stranger and others in the room couldn't help but admire him.
"Get to the point, why are you here?" Null was immune to whatever charm effect the stranger was having on the others.
"Ahh, you are interesting aren't you. Professional curiosity? Or maybe I'm waiting for you to show your appreciation. No, no I'm sure there is something else, oh well I might remember it" The stranger was having fun teasing the human.
"Angel or not it's time for you to leave." Null used his field nullification field and the stranger projection disappeared and his charm ability was also nullified.
"That was weird, who was that?" Lisa voiced the thoughts of everyone in the room.
"Hey Hey Hey, that was rude. It seems Sariel brat does have some teeth. Oh Lisa you can call me Phosphoros or not, I'm not your boss. Oh, I remember why I was here. You should go check out Ollhelian. I hear it is very exciting. You like exciting don't you, Null? Anyway bye, bye" and just like that, the unexpected visitor was gone.
"Where Ollhelian?" asked Chris.
"It is an Elven civilian world. We can't check it out even if we wanted to" Vark was sceptical at everything he had just witnessed. There had to be a deeper meaning behind the performance but he couldn't trust his judgement as he had fallen victim to the charm ability.
"It doesn't matter, we won't be following his advice" declared Null, he couldn't put his finger on it but there was something wrong with Phosphoros and it wasn't just him insulting Null as being the deflective half.
"Isn't he an Angel like Zero? Aren't they the good guys?" Jania liked things to be simple. There had to be good and bad guys.
"Hmm, Phosphoros can be translated to Light-bringer. Wait, no, it couldn't be" Chris's history lessons and training were bearing fruit.
"The devil? no, he couldn't be the devil he was too nice" Lisa couldn't believe it. His voice was too soothing.
Null didn't trust him, he felt different to Zero and he just wanted to keep training and improving his equipment.
"He feels different to Zero, I don't like him"
Null was also concerned as the only way he could have contacted them here was if he was physically in purgatory which meant he had a deep connection to the council.
The interruption had left everyone confused, so they called it a day.
Later that day Chris went to visit Null in his room. He had wanted to check up on him as he had seemed irritable in the meeting. He didn't think letting those feeling fester would be good for party unity or that's what his training was telling him.
"Hey, What do you think about our latest mission?" asked Chris. He was interested in getting Null perspective on the mission as he had different life experiences than the rest of the party.
"It was scary at first but became fun in the end. I fought a large monster, learn more about magic and got to see the Valtaui in action. I want one of those energy swords. Oh, and a gunship" Null had no problems describing his true feeling on the latest mission.
The answer was within Chris's expectations. He was worried about Null moral compass. He seemed to show no compassion for the tortured souls or the other explorers. Chris knew that he and his Mum were still suffering ongoing trauma from the mission.
Lisa hadn't been able to sleep without nightmares. Jania was handling it slightly better, but Chris reasoned that the harsh training as part of the super-soldier program had helped her. Chris himself also had trouble sleeping.
"What do you think about all those tortured souls and the explorers that died?" He asked, hoping to lead him into answering about the moral aspect of the latest mission instead of physical aspects.
"Honestly, I don't think about them. I wasn't the ones torturing those souls and as for the explorers, they knew there was risk associated with exploring an unknown planet. Do I wish they didn't die? The answer is yes. Was I responsible? No" Null had realised what Chris was wanting to know so gave him the most honest answer he could muster.
"There are trillions of souls in the galaxy and of those billions of them are being tortured in some way. I don't have the energy to be worried about them. The only people I worry about are those directly related to me." Null was extremely pragmatic when it came to deciding who to care about.
Chris had to admit that his point of view could be considered valid, but he worried that if he became as powerful as he suspected it could become problematic. Null was going to need support to ensure that pragmatism didn't turn into detachment.
"So you were upset that everyone wasn't more excited today?"
"Yes, Exactly we have so much to do, we need more Zallium. We need better spells and suits. Except no one cares " Null wanted Chris to understand his frustration.
"Follow me" Chris had him follow to Lisa room.
"I know you can see inside, what do you see?" Chris knew the answer but he was hoping to teach him a lesson about individuality.
"Why is she crying? She said she just needed to help the souls and she would be fine" Null knew that Lisa was upset but believed she should have been over it by now.
"Let us go ask her" Chris led Null inside the room.
Lisa wasn't going to say anything at first. She tried to claim she was fine, but Chris kept prompting her until she relented.
"I can't stop thinking about the tortured souls, every time I'm alone I remember their pain and re-live their never-ending torture."
"Why do you care? You didn't know them" it might have sounded heartless but Null was actually curious about the answer.
"I might not have known them, but they were still a people. They had their own personal likes, dislikes and love ones. Just because I didn't know them doesn't mean I shouldn't mourn their passing. It is up to those that remain to remember those that have left."
Lisa's view on life couldn't be any more different than that of Null. Lisa and the 2 boys talked for a bit about their beliefs in the hopes of fostering understanding of all viewpoints.
It was not like talking was going to instantly make Null change their mind, but it did offer him another perspective and he could now understand why the others weren't as excited as him.
Small steps, but all journeys started with a single step.