The meeting room was not yet full, but the people involved, such as UNMSO members or police, came in and took a seat one by one.
"I'm surprised we haven't met before, why is that?" asked Irina curiously.
"Because many of us have been busy, either training, recovering, etc. It's normal to hear about others in UNMSO, but never see them, only know descriptions of them from other people," replied Emilia, who knew Laria, Lisa, and Jack, but not Alexis or Irina before today.
"Like Jack's friend Robert. I've never met him, but I've heard so many crazy things that guy has done that I don't know if I even want to know him," Lisa said with a slightly uncomfortable face as she remembered the gossip about Robert at headquarters.
"Isn't he on a team where he's the only guy? You don't usually see those kinds of extremes," Emilia asked with obvious curiosity in her tone.
"Yes, and according to Jack, he seems to have an ambiguous relationship with all four of them, how is he still alive? I don't know," Alexis replied with a hint of envy.
"I know him, he's powerful, more than the boss," Loki muttered, looking up and directly at everyone in the meeting room, counting them at a glance before lowering his head, lost in his world.
"Yes, Robert is rumored to be the most powerful UNMSO field agent and destructive. Guess what his projection of Pneuma is," Lisa caught the attention of both groups, at least those not privy to the news.
"I won't play with you, it always leads to absurd results," Irina refused to try to guess, every guess was always a complicated curve ball that took her by surprise.
"Well, I'm not making a fuss because I'm sure some of you know him, but Robert is one of the rare cases who can project an element, lightning.
Thanks to him, we have more information about elemental projections, although they shouldn't be called that, it's just the pneuma mimicking natural phenomena, after all, we humans don't have abilities like magic, unfortunately," Lisa said with a bit of sadness in her voice, but Alexis shook her head.
"When people hear about the Pneuma, they always think we can do amazing things, yes, we can, but nothing like those wizards in children's stories.
The closest thing to anything 'magical', so to speak, are the characteristics and natural talents of the Pneuma, but each one is extremely rare," Alexis' words drew the group's attention to look at Lisa and then forward.
In the meeting room they were in, they were at the end of all the seats, ahead of them local UNMSO members as well as police forces were beginning to take their seats, but their eyes were on Jack and Hans who were chatting with Chris near what appeared to be a white screen.
"Lisa with her bird of prey-like eyesight, Jack with his sixth sense and Hans with his super reflexes, Robert is said to be able to see the 'aura' of people, I have heard of others being able to understand animals, understand any language, hear all things, which probably served as the inspiration for Jack's familiar technique.
A world of unremarkable abilities in fantasy books, but here... they're cool, but something you can only get at birth," Alexis said with a hint of longing for something like that, it was inevitable, we all want to be special in some way.
"That's what the basic and advanced pneuma techniques are for, some replicate those talents, so except for some very special ones, that gap is very closed," Laria said, making Seone nod.
"Exactly, and no talent is infallible, there are languages you don't understand, animals that don't communicate, things you don't hear or better not hear, ways to fool the sixth sense, or ways to get around super reflexes.
One thing I have learned in my experience is this, nothing is invincible or impossible, even those... beings, will fall" Seone refrained from mentioning those beings directly, but everyone understood what she was referring to and preferred to remain silent.
"Traits, however, are something everyone can develop, they are the expression of your pneuma to what you do and know, but it's as hard as hell and sometimes it arises spontaneously, I still envy Tania and her poisonous trait," Emilia changed the subject and hugged her teammate while saying those words, causing Tania to give her a light nudge.
"I told you, it came off its own accord when I was poisoned by that damned Arachne, painful thing," Tania touched the affected area, still feeling the pain in her body, pain that would take time to go away.
"From what I've noticed, Jack is on the verge of getting a trait, and it seems to be more cutting or edge oriented, I can't quite understand it yet," Laria said calmly, but her words were like a small bomb, causing reactions among her teammates and allies.
"That's it, I need to train more!" exclaimed Seone, drawing the attention of some outsiders to the conversation.
"I'm about to do the same thing," Alexis said with a hint of pride, only to be slapped upside the head by Lisa, who was particularly jealous of her teammate.
"Those from that continent have it easy with that aspect, even though they are less resilient, less resistant, and don't have a variety of projections or a reinforcement as powerful as we do, they get around it with those qualities gained in bulk," Lisa complained after receiving a slap on the hand from Alexis, but her comment made the others nod.
"Imagine training hard to see if your pneuma develops a trait for a 14-year-old boy who awakened his pneuma to have a trait, just because," Lisa continued to complain, going into much more personal territory with her complaint, and Irina scoffed at her for it.
"The news about that boy upset you, didn't it? It was half a year ago, but since the boy from Pannotia grew up here, it was quite a scandal. Over there it's common, you shouldn't suffer so much for it.
Laria has her healing quality and she has been guiding us all this time, be patient, purple eyes," Irina comforted Lisa in her way, making the purple-eyed woman stare at her friend before she smiled.
"Pannotia is weird, I wouldn't want to live there, they call it 'Spark' because of its pneuma ability, what an imaginative name," Lisa joked, shaking off the somewhat heavy mood.
"Yes, instead of using the pneuma inside as we do, they externalize it, their spark is a homolog to our heart, and with it, they do their crazy things, that's why they lack our high resistance to corruption and contamination, but it serves them because of the harsh environment they live in," Laria answered, using her erudition for this point, as a doctor she was interested in the way the Pannotian operators used their pneuma.
"Really weird guys, but in a way I can't help but admire them, they try hard," Tania said, making the others agree, even Loki looked up to express it with a nod, before counting the almost full meeting room and then lowering his head.
"Speaking of weird guys looks like the conference is about to start," Alexis quickly warned, making the others turn their attention to the front, where Chris, Jack, Hans, and Tuskville's police chief, Leonidas, were sitting.
"Right, let's get this meeting started, I can't have everyone in town as tense as they are now," Leonidas said with some discomfort, the situation with the Cyber Ghost had become problematic.
"Yes, turn off the lights," Chris said, and shortly thereafter the lights in the meeting room went out, and then a picture was projected on the white screen.
It was in black and white, but the color was the least of it, the important thing was what was being shown. A metal gate with huge lines that loosely formed an enchanted pattern, but huge cracks ruined the beauty of such a work.
The gate was set into a hill as if it were the entrance to some sort of bunker, but several destroyed stone structures in the area suggested otherwise.
Smashed statues, pillars eroded by rain and wind, incomplete arches, all of it suggested that this area was something else, part of some great construction in the past.
"The ruins of Tuskville, many of us played in this area when we were younger, and some old people come here to try to find remains that others have not found, but no one comes near this gate," Leonidas pointed his finger at the metal gate, causing many officers and UNMSO members to nod.
"According to the evidence gathered, it is more than confirmed that the Cyber Ghost is hiding in these ruins, perhaps even inside them. Some Omnic henchmen and cyborgs have been seen hanging around here," Chris said, causing the room to fill with tension.
"UNMSO field agents are present to accompany us in our campaign. Something attracted the Cyber Ghost to these explored ruins, its tendencies have shown different from its kind, and we believe it may be trying to fool the remaining security system of some vestige that has not been found," Chris gave the most plausible theory after processing so much information from this case, then gestured to Jack who began to speak.
"We found three pieces of metal that we think are part of this unexplored area, we don't know for sure what they are for, but we have an assumption that they are part of some kind of evidence.
The UNMSO has given us a free pass to explore this ruin with the sole purpose of assassinating the Cyber Ghost. That's why Hans' team showed up to give us the proper support.
Nothing found in the ruins is to be claimed by us, and after proper exploration and deactivation of any possible threats inside, these ruins will be made public again.
For now, we have sent word to the populace to stay away from them," Hans then looked at Hans, who began to talk about the Omnic henchmen and cyborgs as the projector showed images of each.
He described in general terms what was already known about the Omnics and what Jack and his team had discovered about the Cyborgs. He told the others what to do when they encountered them, where to attack, how to defend themselves, and most importantly, how to insult the Cyber Ghost.
"The Oddity has an oversized ego, everyone does, but this one thinks it's brilliant and has some cunning to back it up, but for some reason, it's obsessed with perfecting the human body.
In Jack's group's ongoing battles with this variant of the henchman, it has been found that the Cyber Ghost is susceptible to insults about his performance and lack of "artistry" when it comes to improvement and even displays negative emotions when the ugliness of his supposed work is mentioned.
Insult it, mock it, laugh at it, even if it hurts you, even if it kills one of your teammates. We must do everything possible to unbalance his psyche and make him make mistakes.
Whatever it wants to do in the ruins is extremely dangerous to Tuskville, where you have your families and your lives. So do not hesitate, even if you are at a disadvantage, to rely on the weapons in your hands, because they will be the only thing you have for support. Hans' words chilled the room with their crudeness, but it was what had to be done.
Even though humans were technically the masters of this world, they still had to fight, suffer, and live in fear of the darkness. That's why everyone here knew that Hans' words, though harsh, were true, and they respected him for telling them this.
"The raid will begin at four in the morning in two days. Get your things in order, get ready because we are going to fight hard," Chris said before he gestured to bring the light back into the meeting room.
"What a drag," Seone muttered as he covered his eyes with his hands. The boy was dying of sleep and his body was completely tense from the mission at this point.
"I prefer to fight simpler oddities, like beasts," Lisa said as she stretched her body.
"There are two of us, but at least I'll be able to rest more, I want Laria to help me ease the pain caused by the reaction to Arachne's poison," Tania looked at Laria, who nodded, making the redhead smile.
"Thanks to my practice with Jack, I've come up with some potions that can ease the painful reaction to the poison. Perhaps you can help me find something better." The look in Laria's gray eyes made Tania swallow audibly, while Laria's companions gave her a look that they understood.
"Another person falls into the witch's clutches," Lisa said dramatically.
"Lisa, Tania is also a witch, that makes it even more ironic," Irina continued the game, hugging her companion and gesturing somewhat exaggeratedly.
"And she's our doctor, don't forget that," Alexis said, making both women tremble visibly before they looked at Laria, who looked at them with her gray eyes and slightly parted lips in a somewhat sinister smile.
"Don't worry, Tania. Laria is an amazing doctor. She's a bit cruel and wild, and she doesn't use anesthesia, but she's good," Emilia comforted, although the blonde's mischievous smile indicated that she was joking.
"Your sense of humor is still awful, sis," said Hans, who came over with Jack, both of them taking a seat next to their companions.
"You know, to lighten the mood," Emilia said mercilessly, but Hans paid no attention to her, simply placing his hand on the girl's head and ruffling her hair.
"No!" the blonde complained, but Hans ignored her as he looked at Tania.
"Laria can help you, don't be afraid of her," the blonde advised before pulling his hand away from her sister's head as Emilia tried to bite him.
"I guess thank you..." the girl whispered before shuddering and placing her hand on the wounded area.
Though no longer poisoned, the pain came to her in rather annoying waves, which served as a signal for Laria to approach her and release pneuma into her hand.
The slight distortion in the air was accompanied by a warm sensation to everyone's senses. They couldn't see the pneuma, but being close to Laria made them feel much more comfortable. Even Loki looked up and felt much more relaxed.
Laria put her hand on Tania's bandage and began to transfer her pneuma to the brunette's body, easing the surge of pain she felt. It would return later, that much was certain, but for now, she had been spared such a sensation.
"Thank you," Tania said, but Laria just waved her hand dismissively and sat down again, this time with her body snuggled against Jack's.
"What a cool feature," Seone said curiously, causing the others to look back at Laria.
"You don't know how useful it is to have Laria around, especially on these days," Irina said without much modesty, but the girls could easily understand, especially Emilia and Tania, who looked at Laria like she was a saint.
"So, how about a little training to suit our styles before we go to ruin?" Hans deftly changed the subject and stared at Jack, who stared back at him.
"That's just an excuse for them to fight, isn't it? They can't do that, at least not until the mission is over," Emilia spoke up quickly, she didn't want her brother to get hurt because of the supposed training, not on a mission.
"Well, just a normal group exercise to get to know each other better," the blonde resigned, causing the others to start chattering about how good they were as they prepared for this training.
Two days later, the cold wind from the mountains was blowing hard. It was four o'clock in the morning, and the stars graced the night sky, along with the red moon hanging high above.
The Federation was north of the continent of Laurentia, so it was generally cold even in the summer, especially now that they were north of the entire country. Beyond the Tuskville Mountains were several major cities and ports, almost reaching the North Pole of this world.
The starry sky was truly wide and beautiful, especially the brightest star, which always pointed north. It was this wonderful sight that everyone found in front of the UNMSO headquarters building in Tuskville.
Several carriages were lined up on the street, along with two fully prepared steam cars. The large contingent made their way to the ruins, watched by some of the citizens who were aware of the great battle that was about to take place.
In a few minutes, they reached the outskirts of the city, next to the ruins of Tuskville. They were greeted by a direct, non-transitional battle with several Cyber Ghost Omnics.
Glowing, red-eyed creatures of various shapes whose bodies were made of whatever wired junk was left around this place, fortunately, the steam technology used by the Federation was impossible to manipulate in this way, and the one that could have incantations with the 'seal' pattern.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Boom! Boom!
Like a small war, the sound of constant gunfire and explosions filled this early morning. But this complicated situation was just a microcosm of mankind's constant struggle in this world full of creatures that hate them or want to eat them.
The thing is, humans always fight back, always have, and always will.
Jack approached a henchman at high speed, his hands holding his enchanted axe, and with a broad smile on his face, he wanted to finally vent all his hatred against the damn creature.
For he would never forget his hatred for anything remotely related to ghosts.