Subway Tunnels, Buenos Aires, Argentina
8/30/17- 10:09 AM
XCOM had sent us an encrypted file with a bunch of information.
And it was something.
Well, to say things had happened while I was gone would be a titanic understatement.
Trask, for lack of a better term, had gotten toasted by a roided-up Chronicler and almost, quite literally had been melted to death before she teleported away. Sierra had been heavily injured, but she was expecting to make a full recovery, which was nice. Hopefully she'd be in a good condition when I got back. We were overdue for an in-person meeting.
The Lion was...if he wasn't dead, then he was definitely mortally wounded. No idea why Trask wanted to drag out his death instead of just snapping his neck and being done with it but I suppose when you're a villain, drawn-out monologues and slow, painful deaths are just your forte.
All I knew was that Elijah was pissed. And he had every right to be.
But from what I saw, Patricia would be gone for a while, and that was always a good thing.
As for me, Aegis of all people had sent me a private video log and several files reserved for me, and me only regarding what had been going on.
"Hello, Dawn. I have read your reports on your progress so far. I am quite pleased to hear you have taken my teachings to heart when teaching the psions. I am glad a student of mine like you understands what it means to be a psion and apply your powers. I am sure, in time, the Resistance will be successful in no small part due to your actions.
Caelior has been expressing his concern for your safety, and asked me to include several documents from him in this data packet, which I have had linked below this recording. Privately, I am glad you have found a friend in him. We did not make friends with aliens in the Empire - especially not Caelior. And especially not in the Collective. Seeing him putting so much trust in an alien is something I did not entirely expect, but it is a positive development.
I am sure you are aware of the level of trust an Ethereal showing their face to someone represents. This is a sign of great trust and care, and going forward, I would warn you not to betray such trust. While I doubt you ever would, it is something that you must be aware of, even now. Concerning your mental psionic interactions, the only advice I have for you is to avoid reading and protecting each other's own sensitive and private memories you do not wish to show. I speak from my own experiences when I say that, as I do not believe whether or not you would want to embarrass yourselves during such moments. He has also been working on a gift for you with my assistance, and I have sworn not to inform you of its contents.
Caelior has also had several meetings with your parents and sister respectively. While I have not and will not ask him about the meetings (I hypothesize several of the included documents may go into detail about them), since I find them a personal matter, he made an offhand comment about your parents being 'nosy' about what you have been doing, with your sister coming to his aid. They have also requested a quick meeting with me, which I will do in several days, probably around the time you will read this message.
Your mother's experiences with mechanical research and engineering have landed her a job involving maintaining MECs, which she is undergoing training for right now. Your father's experience with alcohol has also gotten him in a 'bar' being built in the Praesidium as part of an expanded construction project authorized by the Internal Council. Both seem more willing to contribute to our cause as you have continued your service.
Finally, your sister and Caelior have been interacting more, with her helping him manage his several social media accounts. They have also been socializing more and more when possible. I find it interesting how you and your sister look and sound almost the exact same- since humans can have so many varied looks, it is a unique perspective to see human identical twins. I never had a sibling, and it reminds me of the continuing similarities between you and the Ligna Twins.
I wish you luck on your mission and future endeavours. And will be looking forward to seeing you in training when you return.
- Aegis
Well, that was surprisingly wholesome coming from him. He had his protective and protective composure, sure, but with all things, there was always something more under there. Just like with Caelior, just like the Commander- always more to people then just what met the eye.
Well, most of the time, anyway.
I scrolled down my phone's screen, opening the first document linked. Surprise surprise, it was from Caelior.
Hello Dawn,
I apologize this was not a voiced message, but I wished to practice my written English. Do not worry, I am sure you will hear my voice again sooner or later.
Things have been going well back in the Praesidium. My training is going well, and I am doing fine myself. I do miss you, but I am comforted in the fact you are doing a great service to your kind. Rest assured, I will more than make up for the time missed when you get back.
It was satisfying to see the Chronicler defeat Patricia - in such a unique way, may I add. Using the Sun's energy via portal- very creative, and very effective. While she is not dead, it is relieving to see the woman who has defeated me twice is still very much mortal, even by Ethereal standards. I just hope the Collective does not use that strategy against us.
Your parents and I have met several times since your departure. While they were considerably more accepting, I could tell they held me in some suspicion. Grace privately referred to it as the 'dad talk', whatever that's supposed to mean. He acknowledged the two of us were good friends, and made me promise to keep you safe, or else if I harmed you in any way (in his words, not mine), he would, and I quote 'show me the .44 Magnum my father kept in his closet wasn't just for looks'.
Despite the lack of a tangible threat, I understood what he meant. He went to say (again, his words, not mine) that 'I only have one Dawn, Caelior. Keep her close, and don't let her go.'
Believe me when I say I won't.
Your mother was mostly silent- tired from her workload, I imagine. She was not completely silent, however. Her words were less minced, and acknowledged that although I 'was not the kind of friend she expected her daughter to make', that 'recent events have made her less surprised every day' and that 'her daughter being friends with an Ethereal, in the context of everything else, wasn't that big of a deal'.
I found it funny.
Overall, if I have learned one thing from these meetings, it is that your parents are beginning to accept me more and more. Not the level of trust you have in me, but trust nonetheless. Progress is progress, I suppose.
I gulped. Meeting my parents? Shit. Something changed them. Maybe they just got bored? Maybe they just...decided to go with the program?
I shrugged, and kept reading.
I have also been interacting more with your sister. She is very much like you- though I will admit she has a more energetic side to her. She has been helping me with my social media management, and has introduced me to more of your entertainment programs. We have also been socializing more as well.
As your saying goes, I think she is growing on me. I can see now why your parents love you both dearly.
I would continue this, but I am afraid I do not have all the time in the world, and neither do you. I would not want to keep you from your duties. I wish you luck, sister.
Shekan'marlsa, gehte shekan kalnt.
I smiled as my mind translated the words. 'Through bonds, not through blood'.
Attached at the end was a picture from one of our first sleepovers. We were both in our sleepwear, Caelior telekinetically lifting me up so I could sit on his shoulder. My eyes glowed purple, and he was doing a v for victory sign on all four of his hands as he psionically motioned the phone to take a picture.
I missed the Praesidium.
And every victory here would be one step closer to coming back.
Subway Tunnels, Buenos Aires, Argentina
9/6/19- 1:05 PM
I found Elijah at the impromptu shooting rage, fiddling with his gun. He hadn't been active since the news of his former boss'...well, we really didn't know. He'd vanished off the radar, and was presumed dead.
Knowing how close Elijah was to him, the guy had to be feeling something.
"Elijah?"
He didn't turn around. "Ah, it's you. I apologize, but I was in the middle of some calibrations." He tapped his gun. "It jammed. Gets your mind off things." He coughed. "I'm sorry, did you need something?"
"Um...yes." I cleared my throat. "About the news-"
"Concerning the Lion?"
"Yeah."
"What of it?" He asked, soft of smile.
"I wanted to see how you were feeling."
"About his end?"
"Yeah."
"You needn't have," he walked over to her, and bent down. Now they were level. "The sound of the morning prayer echoes the impermanence of all things. The wilting of the flower fields reveals the truth that to prosper is to wither. The proud do not endure, the mighty fall at last, and all of man and his glory will be a whisper in a dream, to be forgotten in a breath."
He tussled her hair. "To mourn a man with no name, is to forget why he cast aside his name. So that none may cry in sorrow of his passing."
Elijah's eyes were wet, yet he smiled. "So that none may cry." He repeated.
I gulped. "Very poetic, Elijah. That's...not how I thought you'd put it, but it's something. Do you think he'd be proud of what you're doing?"
"Children should not concern themselves with their guardians," he chided.
"Well, when you put it like that, doesn't that mean that I shouldn't care about my mother and father? If my dad was to fall and break a leg, should i just leave him because I 'shouldn't concern myself'?"
Elijah laughed. "This is why women should not be educated, they always outsmart you."
He sat down, leaning against a box. He pat down the spot besides him, gesturing for her to sit.
"Ha!" I chortled out. "Good one!" Seriously, I actually found that pretty funny. "We women have good ideas sometime." I grinned. "You should listen to us sometimes."
Out of his jacket, he took out a lollipop. "Want one?" Already, he'd unwrapped his.
"Sure." I took one and unwrapped it. It was red, and sweet to the touch of my tongue. "Cherry. You know, during Halloween, my sister and I would always fight over these. I wanted the Kit Kats, she wanted the Smarties, but the real deal always boiled down to these."
"When the end of the Caliphate came, and the Accords were signed, consigning us to poverty and war, the Lion told me those words," Elijah said to her. "Poetic and solemn, are they not?"
"My uncle fought in the War on Terror, you know." I said, sighing. "Lieutenant, United States Marines. Fought the Caliph under the command of Van Doorn. Fought some guy called 'Evil Eye'. Nasty bastard. Fucked him up for life."
"The Roads of the Dead," Elijah said. "Do those words mean anything to you? Has he told you of them?"
"He didn't talk a lot about it. Didn't want to trigger the memories. Guy had a bad case of PTSD. But I know my uncle killed quite a few terrorists, and saw some things he shouldn't have.
"All around Damascus, the Roads were turned to killing zones. Tanks, Humvees, trucks and men. Haunting, as if the Caliph's dead city was cursed."
"Damascus? You mean like the Damascus where the Accords and Guardian negotiations went down."
Elijah closed his eyes. "The Cursed City, dead twice over. Once in the Caliph's purges, and once again in the Commander's bloodthirst. The graves extend as far as the horizon."
He made a motion with his hand, as if he could touch said graves. "Within that place, was a reminder. That our blood was worthless, that to the world, we were of lesser worth. The universal enemy, to be killed without concern."
The way he said Commander was laced with pain and hatred. "What do you know about this Commander dude?"
"Far, far, more than anyone will ever know," Elijah opened his eyes. "Monsters are not those who know themselves evil. No, they call themselves the necessary evil. Blind and conceited, convinced of heroism, that history will vindicate them. Charming, charismatic, convincing, manipulating, all the same, a Human monster."
"And you're glad he's dead? Guess I don't blame you then. I can't say I've been to the Middle East, but I see what you're saying."
"What is dead cannot die," he smiled knowingly at her. "And truth is often hidden in plain sight."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Monsters have a habit of returning to haunt men," Elijah mused. "You forget the attack on the United Nations assembly. A tactic very similar to the one he used in Damascus."
"Yes…" I trailed off for a moment, content to suck on the lollipop. "I see." A pang of worry and anxiety sprung up inside me, like something biting at my insides. "Very similar indeed." I sucked again. "Tell me, Elijah. Does the Commander now remind you of anyone else?"
Quietly, he tussled her hair. The silence was an answer of its own.
"I see. Um...that was really enlightening, Elijah. If I may ask. Well, why do you think the Lion picked you for this op in the first place?"
"None are more familiar with criminals and rebels than I," he offered her another lolipop. "And none are as disarming as I am." He winked at her.
I laughed. "Fair enough. And I guess that makes me one too?"
"No, but you will be," Elijah quietly said, gazing into her eyes. "You will be made a lioness, as I was made a lion. And when you deal death and are dealt death, you will learn the difference between malice and valor."
"A lioness." I smiled. "I think I can work with that. Give me some Aslan vibes, and I think we're good."
"Let this be your first lesson, never follow your leader blindly as he slaughters innocents," he said to her. "You are beholden to a man who is deeply flawed, and deeply willing to shed blood. You will either be warped to become another tool, charmed by his humanity, or you will need to stand as something more. Something greater."
"So what you're saying I don't want to become a sheep being blindly led to the slaughter, baaa-ing the shepherd's orders all along the way to my doom."
"If only it were that simple," he said to her. "If I gave you a gun, and told you to kill a nameless man. As a soldier, you would do it. You must do it. You will do it. And you will obey, one step at a time into hell, convinced that your leader is great enough, that he knows that which you do not. Obedience before all else, the tool of monsters and murderers alike."
"I've killed nameless soldiers before, Elijah. It's going to happen again."
"That is weakness, not strength," he said. "It disguises itself, to make it seem sensible. Yet every one holds a name, everyone holds a family, a history, the good within the bad."
He raised a hand, and pointed at the rifles stocked in the armory. "To kill without hesitation is weakness, to kill while hesitation is weakness. So what is true strength?"
"True strength is having conviction and will you're certain of. One based in both logic and emotion. You don't bend to groupthink or the pressures of others."
"The heart feels, and the mind obeys, and the body follows," he acknowledged her. "Feel the weight of lives, let sympathy be your enemy and friend. Never kill your heart, no matter how it hurts."
He stood up, and threw the box of lollipops toward me. Buttoning up his coat, and casting a long look at me.
"The difference between us, and those of serial killers is a thin line," he smiled. "Walk it with valor, face it with courage, and never, ever, take pleasure in the trigger pull. Lest you forget what profane action it is that you commit."
He walked away, leaving me alone sitting besides the box.
No pleasure in killing, eh?
Poetic, in a sense.
I picked up the box, looking at it. I hadn't had one of these (besides the one I just had) for a while now. I hadn't eaten that much candy in XCOM - not that my modifications would've had it affect my weight, anyway. But it was a reminder of before.
Who I used to be.
Well, that wasn't really true.
I was still me before this - almost.
What Elijah said - about following order and not being blind, it made me think.
I wouldn't have to do a total 360 and become Badass Cold-Hearted Soldier Dawn. I didn't need to see the Commander as some kind of grand, all-knowing leader who always knew what to do and always knew what to say. I didn't need to mercilessly kill lives and throw them all away like it was nothing.
That kid from high school was still there, and she wasn't going away.
No no, she'd always be there. Because that's who I was, goddamnit. I didn't have the guts to pull something like Operation Scipio. Seeing things like the Commander's mission to the Congo had me think and critique, not be some dumb grunt and just accept it. I felt emotion, I felt concern.
I wasn't just a mind with a powerful psionic ability.
I thought, and I was.
Lioness. I liked that.
A lion was a majestic creature, male or female. The roar, the golden fur, the imposing figure, and the mane. All beautiful in their own ways.
Like me.
I was fairly attractive on a physical level, but now, there was just something more about it. Something about the purple energy that flowed inside you like a raging river, which only needed a thought to work. I could understand how Patricia felt, how she was then and now, commanding such power.
But you had to control it.
I controlled it when Caelior and I would link at night, bringing our minds together and becoming something beautiful that spoke with one voice. I controlled it on the battlefield, ending people as painlessly as possible.
And like my power, I controlled myself.
It was up to me to decide how much of me I wanted to control, and how much of it I handed over to others.
Because if I gave too much of me away, I wouldn't be me anymore.
Subway Tunnels, Buenos Aires, Argentine
9/21/17- 11:23 AM
It'd been several weeks since we'd arrived, but the atmosphere had been changing. The people's mood there was up, they were more confident.
But it was more than that.
Thanks to our efforts, the radio and communication equipment upgrades, we'd made contact with others in the area. Members and representatives of other cells of various sizes had arrived over the recent days to meet Rodriguez, and more importantly, Elijah.
We'd found two other cells in total outside the city, with several more locations being suspected thanks to increased surveillance. To say the other cells were happy that XCOM and ADVENT were getting involved for real was an understatement. I did get a few looks at the meeting table, which I'd taken to calling the 'adult's table' as both Violet and I were still technically young adults - I was 19, she was 20.
Each of the two cells' representatives were here: There was Enrique, a massive burly guy with tattoos and a bald head with a neutral demeanor - apparently he was an ex-con taxi driver before this went down. His cell was unique in that some of the members had (former) cartel connections, which allowed to use a warehouse as their base, with a lot of supplies we could use - things we were a little short on, besides the decaying drugs and ballistic weapons, of course.
Sitting across from him was Carina, another former soldier who'd been operating out of a cellar in a small town a few miles from the city. They had the smallest cell out of everyone here, at only about seven or eight people. They'd been having cartel issues, as the cartel's base of operations, wherever it was, was close to them, but they couldn't pin exactly where. All they knew was that the sicarios left were armed and dangerous. Adding on to that, we were the only cell we knew about who had psions. We'd had reports of them in the far south, but those were way out of our reach. For now, me, Tang, and the resistance ones would have to do.
"Let's begin." Rodrigues said, clasping his hands. "Carina, you said you've been having increased security issues?"
"Yes. The cartel attacked us again last night, almost killed one of us. They'll recover, but it was serious. They've become more aggressive lately. For a while, it's just been the occasional sighting and shots exchanged. But lately…" She pointed to a few other highlighted sections of the map. "We've gotten reports of increased activity in the city and around it."
"We think they're planning something." Enrique added. "We've gotten radio chatter on increased movement. Some of our guys busted a pickup carrying a load of chocolate and plasma rifle ammo yesterday. I reckon they've heard about us and are planning some kind of attack."
"And the aliens?"
"Standard patrols, nothing too different from the usual. We did get this picture, though." Enrique pulled a video camera out of his pocket, opened it, and placed it on the table. The screen grainy image of a group of Vitakara hanging around an overturned bus.
"Watch."
He pressed play, and the figures on the screen began moving. The Vitakarians had their helmets off, using the bus as cover...for what? They'd pulled up a table from a nearby restaurant. Several of them pulled out bags of-
"Is that chocolate?" I asked.
"Si."
They began eating the chocolate, chowing down in it like they hadn't eaten in months. One of them, I shit you not, whipped out a bag of cocoa powder, spilled it over the table, and started snorting it like cocaine. The effects were almost instantaneous, some of them began laughing and making odd movements, with others falling on the ground and giggling. I swore I could hear whoever was recording snicker.
"They're getting high." Violet shook her head. "Un-fucking-believeable."
"Looks like the cartel people have been busy selling their supply." Elijah commented. "Do we have any idea how much chocolate these people have access to?"
Carina grinned. "Now that I can help you with. Some of my people went scouting, and found this." She pulled out two printed pictures and put them on the table- on specific parts of the map, might I add. The first picture showed a small 'farm' with massive nets covering the growing space. Several of what I guessed were cocoa trees, with a small chain-link fence around it. "Some of my guys snapped this while tailing some cartel people. Looks like a hidden farm."
"Smart. The net provides cover from the air to avoid detection via satellite or drone. Well, not perfect protection. But ingenious."
"We don't know what kind of security they may have. We're guessing some traps in the surrounding, along with guards with Collective tech and maybe some cameras."
"And you want to attack it?"
"Yes. With our...new assistance, it could cripple the cartel's standing here for good."
Rafal stepped up. "We'll figure out something. Anything else?"
Elijah cracked his knuckles. "The Resistance is growing, but it will take time before we are at a much greater strength." He pointed to Stanley's holomap. "Ten miles south is this." The map zoomed in. "This is a major communications center. It provides coverage for the majority of Collective forces in the region. Eliminating it will be both beneficial to the war effort and send a message to the Collective that this country is not quite dead just yet."
The other leaders looked at the image. "That'd be a suicide mission."
"If we did it right now, yes. However, I intend this to be our endgame goal. We cannot stay here helping you forever, and first we must teach you to be better. We must take steps. Training, killing, fighting - these things we can teach you. We have psions that can train the ones we have here. Our equipment will coordinate more forces as time goes on. And the first step is getting rid of the cartels."
He switched to another section of the map. "The aliens are our main threat, but if we allow the remnants of these scum to fester, they will cause innumerable issues as well. We know they have reliable contacts with some alien troops, using their chocolate to trade for weapons and supplies. Who's to think they might not use that against us, or retrieve a piece of psi-tech and use it to awaken their own psions? If this place is to be secure one day, they must be wiped out once and for all."
"No question." Rafal nodded.
"While we continue our fight against the aliens and coordinating with more cells as we find them, I am making elimination of the cartels our numero dos priority. Does anyone disagree?"
No one spoke up.
"Very well." He shifted. "If nothing else, Rafal will show you to our stores, where there are caches of weapons for you. Our soldiers will instruct you on how to properly use them." He stood to his full height. "It is time these aliens were given a proper fight, and we will do more than show them what one is."
Subway Tunnels, Buenos Aires, Argentina
9/26/17- 2:35 PM
"Yesterday, thanks to ADVENT heavily updating our radio capabilities, we intercepted an alien transmission about a raid on an outpost on the outskirts of the city two days ago."
"What?" I shook my head. "Impossible. Neither we nor the other groups have-"
"Performed an attack anywhere in that area for several weeks." Rodriguez nodded. "Right."
"And no one else we know has claimed responsibility? Could it be another cell we don't know about yet?" Violet asked.
"No. But we think we know who did do it." Rogriguez picked up the tablet, hooking it up to a small projector and pointing it towards a sheet hung on the wall, nodding to Stanley, who stepped up.
"My Raven got this footage the same day. We had to corroborate it to be sure, but...well, the implications are concerning. Watch."
The feed projected onto the screen was fuzzy, but cleared up in a few moments. It showed the outpost's outside wall. A few guards, nothing much. Two pickup trucks loaded with what looked like humans in Collective armor and plasma rifles drove up to the gate. Before the aliens could start firing, the men moved, mowing down the guards outside. Another placed an explosive at the gate and moved back, blowing it apart before moving back, allowing the rest of the gunmen to move in.
"The fuck? Are those-"
"Cartel sicarios. What's left of them." Violet growled. "See those tattoos on them? I recognize them."
"You do?"
"My dad used to work with that gang." She muttered. "I know them well."
There was an awkward silence for a few moments, before Stanley stepped in. "Now, what the raven caught next is what's disturbing. Observe."
With the click of a button, the footage fast-forwarded a few minutes, until he resumed it at normal speed. The sicarios went back to the truck, hauling several crates of weapons, a captive alien who looked like an officer, and armor - save one crate, which seems slightly larger than the others. The crate was open, its lid torn off, but the raven needed only one picture to reveal its contents.
"Is that a Sectoid computer?" Tang asked.
Elijah nodded. "With an Elerium power core."
It suddenly dawned on me what had happened. Why the cartels were taking action now.
"They know about us. Before we got here, y'all had a few run-ins with them, right?" Rodriguez and Violet nodded. "They want their own psions. And they probably took that alien captive so they can make them activate it. Or for intel."
Elijah cursed. "This is bad. Very, very bad. If they get awakened psions-"
"Then the situation's going to be much worse for us." Stanley grimaced. "However, the raven picked up much more than that. Look at this."
He pointed to a map of the city with two locations circled in marker. "The bird tracked the convoy to these two locations before they ditched the vehicles. It's entirely possible the psi-tech could be in both places."
"So we're gonna hit them."
Elijah nodded. "Bingo. We'll split into two teams, hit both locations simultaneously. If we find the psi-tech, we destroy it, scavenge anything else we can."
"So a torch-and-burn op."
"Leave nothing behind. And Dawn? If you can, use your telepathy to recover anything. These sicarios or that alien might know something."
I nodded. "Okay. When do we move out?"
"Thirty minutes. Every minute we stay idle is another possible enemy psion awakened. Dawn, you're going with Rafal, Sofea, Violet, and Juana. Me and the rest will hit the other safehouse. Juana knows the area well, and she's fought these scum before."
"Sounds like a plan." I grinned.
Things never got boring here, did they?
Fifty Minutes Later
According to the raven, the safehouse was located northeast of the subway station, in a run-down house behind an apartment complex. Juana was familiar with the place - back when she was a cop, that part of the city was a hotbed for cartel members to meet up and do 'negotiations', and she'd frequently made arrests there. Violet didn't really say anything, but from what I felt from her mind, her father's work maybe had something to do with the amount of the angst and anxiety I felt radiating from her.
For both our sakes, I didn't say anything to her.
There didn't seem to be much security; a few guys with armor and plasma rifles around the perimeter making hourly rounds. No one with any sort of psionic aptitude - but then again, even if someone had been awakened, it would've taken them weeks to get a basic hold on them. At worst, we'd be facing a few untrained psions.
But untrained didn't mean harmless.
Regardless, the hammer was coming down on these guys one way or another today.
Our plan was to do a (sort of) pincer attack - me and Juana would attack from the south, Violet and Sofea would attack from the north, and Rafal would give us sniper cover from a nearby house if anything went wrong.
Suffice to say, we were looking pretty good.
We were on the outskirts of the area, waiting for the other team to get into position. I crouched behind an abandoned store, reached out focused, feeling around the area with my mind. I found them quickly, mulling around the house, chatting. Their minds were completely unprotected, letting me in without any trouble. Their minds felt, weary, tired.
We got the psi-tech.
Damn alien's at the other safehouse. Fucking Ricardo panicked and drove there instead.
Could be aliens at any corner. Keep away from the windows, their drones might see you.
Do those resistance guys really have fucking XCOM on their side?
Nah, can't be true. Gotta be a rumor…
I quickly found a leader, a guy named Pascual, and went searching through his mind. There was...a lot of stuff. Bad stuff. I tried to ignore it, but it wasn't exactly easy. The man had a kill count of at least ten, all in the same way: a bullet to the back of the head. Guy was probably - no, was definitely an enforcer.
What do you know?
I saw images. A map, a place-
Meeting places.
A voice - voices-
"Who the fuck's this guy, running the show? These aliens burn the place to the ground, the boss is dead, and then this guy comes in and acts like he's hot shit and we should all get our knees and bow for this guy?
"Don't let him hear you say that? Don't you know who this guy is?"
"I don't know. Heard he was from Mexico or something. Sinaloa, I think."
"Yeah. Not just some Sinaloa drug-runner. Big shot, I'm talking his-name-is-El-Monstruo- big shot."
"Shit."
Wait.
Did he just say El Monstruo?
As-
"Dawn, anything."
"Hold on. Uh...okay. We've got ten- no, fifteen guys. No alien here, all human."
"Any psions?"
"No, but the psi-tech's here. Apparently the other safehouse is supposed to deliver the alien today. They had to lay low, try and get the Collective off their backs."
"Too bad for them." Rafal snorted. "Radio's in from the other team. They're about to storm the other safehouse. We're good to go."
"Alright. Dawn, start it up for us. Whenever you're ready."
"Rafal, I could, but that wouldn't leave anyone for you."
"Not a problem."
"Roger." I focused on their minds. Fifteen people...just waiting to die.
Simple. Just...think 'die', and they will.
But I'd never killed humans before.
Ever.
But Dawn, they're sicarios. They've hurt people, killed people - or worse.
They don't deserve any mercy.
Just like him. Yes, fifteen more of him walking around.
Just...fuck!
Die!
And just like that, with a thought and a ripple of power, fifteen minds were snuffed out. I exhaled heavily as I felt them die, almost gasping.
I just killed actual human beings. For real.
Is this how it feels when the Avatars do it?
"Dawn?"
I breathed in and out again, more heavily this time- maybe a bit too loud.
"Dawn? Are you alright?"
"I-I-I'm fine, Rafal. All-all hostiles are dead. You're good."
"Copy."
As soon as he finished speaking, I collapsed onto my knees, gasping.
Shit. Shitshitshit. I just killed real, live, human beings.
I… I shook my head.
Baby's first human kill. How's it feel, Dawn? Feel different now that they're not aliens?
"Dawn? You alright?"
"I'm good. I'm alright." I stood up, grabbing my rifle.
"Good. I saw you fall over for a sec. What happened?"
"Uh...just saw some bad memories in their minds. It's fine."
I moved around the corner and down the street, trailing Sofea, Violet and Juana as they entered the house, Juana ripping out a part of the wall with her telekinesis. Her abilities were improving. In fact, both seemed to be responding well to the training we'd been giving them so far.
Good.
We moved in, stepping over the myriad of corpses. Some were wearing armor, others weren't - but all of them were armed with plasma rifles, even a few grenades. These guys were like a small army.
One less obstacle in the way.
And there was chocolate.
A lot of chocolate.
As I looked around the kitchen, several packages of cocoa and chocolate- some opened, some sealed, laid around the counter and table. When I ripped one open to look inside, the chocolate was wrapped up in tinfoil or plastic in squares, like sloppily made chocolate bars. There were also a lot of bags of cocoa dust, tied up with rubber bands or tape, waiting to be packaged.
It's fucking Breaking Bad meets Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
No Golden Tickets here, kiddies - just chocolate for your local Vitakarian to get absolutely stoned on.
My bunkmates are gonna love this. Better take pictures.
"Huh." Juana picked up one of the bags. "Chocolates' in a bag." She chuckled. "What're they gonna do, snort it?"
"Like cocaine? Probably." Violet said, peering into the cabinets, where some old ballistic weapons and ammo were being stored. Taking a closer look, I noticed an AK-47 or two stowed in there, along with hundreds of rounds. Useless against alien armor and XCOM soldiers, of course, but against regular humans? Those things've probably killed more people than the atomic bombings combined.
Must've been a safehouse before this all went down. Wonder what else they used to do here.
The faded blood stains on the wall answered that question for me. I moved upstairs, where Sofea was looking around, stepping over several more dead guys. She pried open a bedroom door with her gun. "Found the psi-tech! In here!"
I followed her into the room. The bed frame was gone, replaced with a Sectoid computer with a small Elerium power core hooked up to it, along with two dead guys strewn over it.
"Looks like you killed them as they were trying to use it." Juana commented. "That's a relief. No cartel psions here, it would seem."
"Thank god for that." Rafal said over the radio. "I'm contacting Elijah to see what's happening with his team. Just hold on for now."
"What do we do about the psi-tech?"
"It's too big for us to carry. We'll have to destroy it."
"Copy."
Violet nodded. "Stand back."
Her hands glowed with psionic power, and a second later, a Rift opened up on top of the computer, ripping it apart in a small psionic maelstrom, reducing the device to a pile of scorched scrap metal. The psionic energy also tore up the room around it, turning that particular corner into a blackened mess.
"Good job, Violet." I said. "Nice work."
"Thanks."
"This is Rafal. Elijah and his team hit the other safehouse. Killed everyone, no friendly casualties, and captured the alien officer. They're taking him back for interrogation. Dawn, I'm guessing he's going to want you to do that."
"Copy that, Rafal. We've destroyed the device and we're heading back to rendezvous with you, copy?"
"Copy."
Sofea turned back to us. "Alright, good job everyone. Let's move."
Fifty Minutes Later
We made our way back to base, all of us feeling relieved on how smoothly it'd gone. The cartel guys weren't exactly a challenging enemy, but that psi-tech had...shall we say, accelerated Elijah's plans to take them out. I had seen some memories that could be useful, and we'd found a few maps and data drives that the intel guys were gonna go nuts over.
Why now, though? Why now pull this move and get the psi-tech earlier?
Maybe they figured out how our psions were awakened? Maybe they were luring the aliens into a false sense of security? Was the chocolate part of some grand strategy, or just a survival tactic?
Whatever they were planning, they were all dead.
One less obstacle on the road to freedom.
We entered the base as usual, with several additional pounds- no, kilos, of added weight from the loot.
Damnit Dawn, you don't use the friggin Imperial system anymore.
Damn you, pre-war American education system.
Elijah stood at the entrance once we'd made it inside, leaning on the wall, waiting for us.
"You're back. I heard the mission went well."
I nodded. "We did. Those guys had a ton of chocolate. They had enough to get their whole damn army jacked on scag."
"What's that mean?"
I shrugged. "It means get high."
"Oh. Well, I suppose the Collective will be thanking us for detoxing their soldiers. Come, we've got the officer all tied up."
As I started to follow him I tapped him on the shoulder. "Uh, with the captive, you haven't tried any other methods?"
He shook his head. "No. Having you here's going to make things easier. Why do you ask?"
"Just curious. Going into his head ain't gonna be a problem."
He raised an eyebrow. "Ain't?"
"I'm Southern, remember?"
He smiled. "What, do you sing 'Dixie' too?"
"Ha ha ha, very funny."
He rolled his eyes. "Americans."
I followed him to the room, where the officer was tied to with rope, his helmet on the table next to him. As we entered, he looked up at me. The Runianarch officer looked at me, eyes full of worry and hatred.
I ignored them as an armored hand gripped his head, and I dived into his mind.
Find something, anything.
Memories flashed by. Getting his position. Seeing Earth for the first time. Seeing footage of our handiwork.
Huh, weird. One of the memories seemed more...optimistic. More prideful.
What was this?
I entered the memory, the officer standing in front of a hologram.
"Harbinger. I'm honored you have decided to handle this problem."
"It's really no problem, Commander. I have dealt with XCOM before."
Who was he-
I recognized the face. The armor. The knife at his waist, the mask hanging next to it.
I screamed, but no sound came out.
Because the officer was looking at a hologram of Nico Murillo, the Avatar of Sicarius.
And they were talking about hunting down and killing us.
"Of course, Harbinger. We appreciate your assistance."
"Yes. So, you suspect they are hiding in the tunnels?"
'I' nodded. "We suspect so. Seekers and orbital surveillance suggest they're using the subway tunnels as a base of operations. We'd send a Zararch team, but-"
"The psions."
"Yes, Harbinger. The psions."
I fucking hated that word. Harbinger. The Collective had taken a unique word that I'd barely ever used and turned into a common word associated with evil and the same aura of hatred as 'Hitler'. Besides, with how it was being used, I couldn't help but feel like it had a comically evil tone to it.
'Bwahahaha! I'm the Harbinger, and I'm going to conquer you because I'm a brainwashed fucktard going through an early midlife crisis!'
"How many XCOM operatives are there?"
"A full squad at most. At least one psion. The resistance psions are less of a threat, however. They are not armed on the same level of XCOM, albeit PRIESTs."
As they talked, I noticed something odd about Nico, and not just his eyes. I noticed that his hands were...off. Every now and then, they'd jitter a bit. He'd grab one of them and they'd stop, but it was clearly visible from here. It wasn't just his hand - sometimes his entire body would shake.
What the hell?
"Hm." He scratched his chin. His face was young like mine - he was almost twenty, according to the files. He had no facial hair, probably removed via Collective tech. His brown hair was combed back, kind of like a greaser from the fifties, with less class. His brown eyes...they were the same color, but much different from mine. They looked weary. Almost...empty. A hard stare spoke volumes, and this one certainly did. I'd seen that look before - with Kane. Anger, hatred...so many negative emotions boiling over, like a pot with too much water in it.
I got the same vibe from this guy, too.
Fucking puppet.
"I see. I-"
He grunted, putting a hand to his head for a second, wincing, gritting his teeth. He leaned over onto the room where he was projecting from shaking his head. What happened? Was he in pain or something?
The officer cocked his head. "Harbinger?"
His hand flashed with psionic power, and a second later, he stood upright again. "I apologize, officer." He shook his head, muttering something under his breath. "Send me the relevant data. I can deal with these enemies on my own."
"And if you cannot?"
He waved a hand, like he was dismissing the comment. "Sicarius will come, then. Clean this up faster." he nodded. "I will have them taken care of within several days, Officer." he saluted. "Glory to the Ethereal Collective."
'I' reciprocated. "Glory to the Ethereal Collective."
Well fuck you too, then.
But what the hell was that little freakout?
I left the memory, and his mind, a moment later.
"Dawn?"
I turned to look at Elijah, then down at myself. I was shaking - a lot. Sweat was pouring down my face, and I felt hot. My heart was beating like a horses', and I was gasping.
"Dawn?" Elijah began to walk over to me. "What did you see? What's wrong?"
I couldn't talk. I...I just couldn't.
My worst nightmare had just come true.
Sicarius' puppet was coming to kill me. For real.
I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to say.
I didn't want to be here anymore. I wanted to be home, at the Praesidium. I wanted to be under T'Leth's telepathic shroud, safe and sound. I wanted to be in my bed, snug and warm under the covers, surrounded by my sisters in arms. I wanted to be in the Mess Hall, talking with Kunio. I wanted to be in a lesson with Geist in the Dreamscape, knowing I was safe with the most powerful human psion ever. I wanted to be with Aegis, his defensive telepathic aura keeping me relaxed as he went about his lessons, like a grandfather with cool life advice. I missed Carreria with her 'cool aunt' personality, always calling me her little cub, shooting shit with her, her teaching me about aliens. Watching her brawl with her Borealian brethren and talking shit to them, going almost quite literally mama bear when some of the newer alien recruits said something about me that pissed her off.
And Caelior. I missed him.
I missed his mind. I missed coming to his room, while the others in my bunk just shook their heads and blew it off as teenage fuckery. I missed drifting with him, seeing into his mind, playing videogames, watching movies, sleeping in our shared bunk…
And I screamed.
I screamed unintelligibly at the world in terror, frozen.
I want out. I want out now.
I could hear muffled voices around me, but I didn't care.
My heart beat.
My emotions overflowed in my mind.
And then I passed out.
Subway Tunnels, Buenos Aires, Argentina
9/26/17- 6:27 PM
"Is she awake?"
"I think she's waking up!"
I blinked, my vision slowly coming back to me as I opened my eyes, feeling the minds around me. Elijah. Anastasiya. Rafal. Tang. Violet.
"Ugh."
I was on a makeshift mattress on the floor, staring up at the was leaning next to me, holding a medical kit.
"Dawn? Can you hear me?"
I rubbed the back of my head. "Ugh. Yeah. I'm-I'm fine. How long was I out?"
"About thirty minutes. What the hell happened?"
I shook my head, remembering what I'd seen. The traitor. The mission.
"We need to leave. Now."
Elijah raised an eye. "What? Why?"
"Because the Avatar of Sicarius has a general idea of where we are and wants to come...soon. I don't know when, but 'the next few days' sounds pretty fucking soon to me."
Rafal's eyes widened. "You're sure of what you saw?"
I grimaced. "You wanna see it for yourself?"
Rafal shrugged. "Very well."
I struggled to get up, with Tang helping me up with her arm. I put an armored hand on Rafal's forehead, closing my eyes as I showed him the memory. Showing other minds, aside from Caelior, as he was a special case, was...unique. It was like showing someone a slideshow from a projector, only with your mind. All you had to do was focus on said mind and project that memory.
When I was done, I sat back down as Tang gave me a bottle of water, chugging it down as Rafal pondered. "What Dawn says is true. Elijah, tell Rodriguez to gather up his people and whatever he can, and meet us at the entrance ASAP. Anastasia, help ADVENT recover any equipment or documents from here. If you can't package or move it, destroy it."
"What?" Violet raised an eyebrow. "We're leaving this place?"
Anastasia looked at her. "You seriously think you can take on an Avatar with the resources and people you have here?"
"I…"
"Exactly. Violet, tell your people to pack their shit up as quickly as they can and go to the entrance."
She nodded and left, Anastasia's thick, intimidating accent getting the better of her. "Understood."
He turned to us as she departed the room. "Dawn, can you walk?"
I scratched my head. "Yeah, I think I can."
Rafal nodded. "Good. All of you, grab your gear and meet me by the entrance. Time's of the essence, and we don't want to leave anything behind."
I got up, grabbing my helmet that Tang had placed on a nearby table and put it on. I followed Tang as we ran out of the room to grab our psi weapons. We slept in different parts of the station, but we all kept our guns in the same place, as did the resistance fighters. As we made our way to the makeshift armor, Juana stopped me.
"What's the rush?"
"There's an Avatar coming for us."
Her eyes widened. "Here? Now?"
"Soon as in 'the next few days' soon, and I'm sure as hell not waiting around for it to happen. We're leaving, all of us."
"But where? Where are we going?"
"One of the cells outside of the city, I guess. I heard Rodriguez talking about it with one of their guys. They're smaller than us, but they've been using an old cartel warehouse used to store illegal shit pre-war. If I had to guess, that'd be a good place to go."
She shook her head. "I…
I put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about that right now. Just pack your shit as fast as you can, and meet us at the entrance. Okay?"
"O-okay. Gracias, Dawn."
Tang looked at me. "Did you just give her a pep talk?"
"I guess. C'mon, let's get our stuff."
We made it to the armory, grabbing our weapons, as were a lot of other fighters. People were hurriedly talking amongst themselves in Spanish, putting on armor, stuffing supplies into boxes, burning documents they didn't have space to move, that sort of thing.
"I gotta go to my sleeping space, get my thing. I'll see ya at the entrance in a few, alright?"
"Alright. Make it fast."
I hurried back to the subway car where I'd been sleeping these past weeks, hurriedly stuffing everything into my sleeping bag, before zipping it up and slinging it over my shoulder.
Goodbye, subway bedroom. I hardly knew ye.
As I made my way back to the exit, I saw Rodriguez standing outside of Malliena's 'quarters'. The door was unlocked, and her face was to the wall, Rodriguez tying up her hands.
"Sorry about this, Mall."
I looked at him for a moment, the way he stared at her with that hint of distaste in his voice.
Not everyone's had the same experiences with aliens like you, Dawn. No one else has groups of friendly aliens ready to talk with you about things. And no one else definitely has an Ethereal friend they hang out with and mind mingle on a daily basis.
"Hey!" I said to Rodriguez's back. "I can handle this."
He turned to me. "You sure?"
I nodded. "Yeah, go take care of the others."
"Alright. Make sure you tighten the restraints."
As he walked away, I walked over to her.
"Oh. It's you again."
"Yeah."
"What is happening?"
"Avatar's coming for us." I said. "We're going to another base."
"An Avatar?" She said, voice tinted with shock - and a little awe. "'I've heard of them. Very deadly psionic Humans."
"Yeah. Not sure how you see them, but to us, they're traitors."
"Your Patricia Trask, especially. You're in XCOM. Did you know her?"
"Nah. I know people who did, though."
As I lightly tightened her cuffs, she turned her head. "I never got a chance to thank you, you know."
"For what?"
"The way you talked to me when you got here. You were...nicer than the others."
I smirked. "Well, what can I say? Either I'm really jaded or a little kindness goes a long way."
"I suppose it does. May I ask you something?"
"Yeah."
"When this is over, Dawn, I would like to go back."
"To the aliens?"
"No." As I led her towards the entrance, she shook her head. "I have been thinking. And..I am thinking about going to your ADVENT."
"But why-"
"Dawn!" Rafal shouted from the door. "Let's go!"
"Sorry Mall, but this is gonna have to be continued later."
Thirty Minutes Later
We trekked out of the hideout in groups that evening, as the sun was coming down. Elijah remarked to me that if he had more explosives, he'd bring the base down to keep anyone from using it. But running the hell away was a bigger concern for me than a couple of explosions. I was at the back of the group, covering our six.
Rodriguez had gotten in contact with one of his counterparts from outside the city, and they'd agreed to take us in. It was a warehouse, so there'd be at least a bit more space- mostly, anyway.
Coming for me, are you Nico?
We make that much of a dent in your little power trip?
Is your vengeance really worth it, even when you knew? No, you had to know.
I sighed, shaking my head. I was walking behind Malliena, who'd been oddly quiet, content to trek like everyone else, peering around. I noticed that something was up with one of her legs- was she limping?
The fuck did they do to her?
"Hey."
I sensed Violet behind me, in her armor, carrying her plasma rifle. Looks like she wanted to talk out of earshot.
"Yeah?"
"You mind if I ask a question or two?"
"Uh, sure."
"What's it like? XCOM?"
'What do you mean?"
She shrugged. "Like, what you do there. It's not always 24/7 training, yeah?"
I shook my head. "No. We actually have a lot more free time then you'd might think, actually. Sports, videogames - hell, we've got yoga classes run by a Dath'Haram."
"Seriously?"
"Oh yeah. Guys have a ton of reach and flexibility. You'd be surprised what they can do with those muscles of theirs."
She chuckled. "I heard you guys had an Oyariah. Is that really true?"
"Yep. Name's Xarian, pretty chill guy actually. Hell of a soccer player."
"Wait, what?"
I chuckled. "Yeah, we play ball with aliens all the time."
She nodded. "Pretty used to fighting them, then?"
I shrugged. "Sort of. I haven't really been on a lot of missions. Commander doesn't want me to get exposed to the bad stuff just yet. No use if I'm traumatized, right?"
"Mmm." She fiddled with her gun. "You know the place we're going to?"
"Yeah?"
"My dad used to go there a few times. Business."
"Business?"
"Cartel stuff." She paused, her voice lowering. "Life wasn't easy. Parents had trouble finding work after dad lost his job at the factory a few years ago. But, luckily for us-" I noticed 'luckily' was said in a very sarcastic tone. "Dad knew a guy who knew a guy. A few weeks after Dad got his new job, money started rolling in. We didn't have to worry about having to balance the bills anymore. We could save, and got a better car."
"Was he a gunman?"
"No. Mule. A courier, if you would. Just take the stuff - usually drugs, or the occasional guns, and take them somewhere. Sometimes he helped make deals. Mom and I knew the danger he put himself in, but we got used to it."
I could sense sadness in her, but at the same time, an odd mixing of content and comfort.
"What did your mom do?"
"Worked in a restaurant down the street. She'd bring me stuff from there sometimes. Asado y empanadas, usualmente." She smacked her lips. "Beats the stuff you guys in the States call your version of our food. Don't know how you guys eat that shit with all that cheese you put on it."
"Asado?"
"It's...our version of, damn, what do you call it? Barbeque?"
"Yeah, barbeque. That's it."
"Si, si. You grill it, put some spices on it, throw some Olivier Salad on the side, and you have yourself a meal."
"Damn, that does sound good."
"Si. My mom and dad taught me. Dad would handle the meat, mom would make the salad."
"So it was like a family thing?"
"Oh yeah. Granted, we didn't have much family here, but we made do."
"You got any siblings?"
"Nada. You?"
"Twin sister. She looks just like me."
"Seriously. Like an identical twin?"
"Yes. Only physical difference between me and her is that she's got a birthmark on her right shoulder that looks like an upside-down seven."
"No kidding?"
"No kidding."
"Must be nice. What's it like having a sibling?"
I smiled under the helmet. "It's lovely, actually. Some days you love each other, other days you want to kill each other."
"That extreme, huh?"
I chuckled. "She was the more energetic and outgoing kid. Kinda reckless, but she's a bit more mellow now. She was the first one of us to get a boyfriend, and always teased me about it."
Guess who won in the end, sis? I got an Ethereal brother who can level cities now, ha!
"But it's nice, right?"
"Oh yeah. So much yes. It's...it's hard to describe."
"Try me."
"Okay. It's like-it's like you're talking to another you, but that you is just different enough to see things differently. You can tell her things that she won't tell anyone else."
Like that 'study session' at the guy friend's house was you actually sleeping with him. Or that your best friend came out to you because her parents were too much of Bible-thumpers to hear it and she didn't want to tell anyone else. Or that you partially wanted to join the PRIESTs because you were getting sick of your regular life.
"That sounds nice."
"It is. It really is."
"And what's she doing now?"
"XCOM's base has a section just for the families of the people who work there. She helps look after the younger kids there."
"You worry about her?"
"Yeah. She doesn't tell me, but she's a little jealous of what I do. She thinks my job's better then it is. The armor, the guns, the powers - she sees it, but she doesn't see all of it."
"She doesn't see the things like this, you mean?"
"Yeah. She doesn't see the dirty things we do. She doesn't see the things we have to do to win."
Geneva Suggestions, anyone? Killing the UN, anyone? Hades Contingency, anyone? Working with a Vitakarian with views disturbingly similar to a certain mutasched German, anyone?
Of course, I didn't say it out loud.
"I see. What's it like, going into someone's mind?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Well, it feels like we've got every kind of psion except for telepaths and teleporters- and from what I know, the latter are really rare."
"Oh yeah. Well, going into someone's mind...it's like watching a movie. But it's the person's life, and you can control what you see. Plus, you're also the main character. Which is weird, but you get used to it."
"Can you really erase memories?"
"Yeah. It's possible, but I've never actually done it."
"I've heard telepath's awakenings can be a bit messy. Is that true?"
I nodded. "Oh god, yeah. I know all psions hear voices when they're awakened, but we telepaths have it the worst. You hear all these voices, all these thoughts, even though you don't want to. You clamp your hands over yours ears and scream, asking for them to stop. But then you realize your screams are telepathic too, and hurt those around you."
"Carajo. Seriously?"
"Yeah. Those first few weeks were hell for me. Some of the worst in my life. I don't know how many sleep meds I had to take, or cry myself to sleep to make it go away. It's..it makes getting shot at - the gunfire and explosions and all, feel numb in comparison. And it makes me scared shitless of getting attacked telepathically, too. In a way, you find out firsthand what your mind can do to others."
I couldn't see through her helmet, but I could tell she was grimacing. "I'm sorry, I didn't-"
"It's alright." I waved. "I've gotten over it."
She nodded. "It's hard to describe it to them, eh?"
"I'm sorry?"
"Non-psions. Describing what you can do."
"Oh. Yeah. that's true. My family's reaction when I first used telepathy around them wasn't exactly a welcome one."
"What did you do?"
"I just said hi, that's it. My mom and dad both screamed bloody murder, my sister just laughed and said it was cool."
She snorted. "Yeah. You know...thank you."
"For what?"
"The interrogation thing. Saving us."
I shrugged. "I'm just doing my job."
"Well, you're doing a good job of it. Thank you, Dawn."
"My pleasure, Violet."
"Call me Zoe."
A/N: As of the posting of this chapter, XCOM: New Blood has reached and crossed the 200,000 word mark. As the largest Xabiarverse spinoff to date, I am immensely proud of what I have accomplished here. Writing Dawn's story has been a writing experience like no other, one I will continue for many months, and maybe even years. It wasn't easy getting to this point.
I have many people to thank in this endeavour, as it'd be ridiculous of me to claim that this whole project was 100% me. Thank you, Xabiar, for putting up with my horrible early-story writing, as well as taking all the silly ideas I pass along and mold them into something more coherent and applicable. Your story inspired me to write again, and I won't forget that anytime soon. Thank you, HailtotheKing, for your amazing cover art and story/character suggestions that made NB much more interesting. Thank you, Zephyrus-Genesis, for the memorable and well-done character and scene art for this story. Thank you, Mooloor, for giving me the inspiration to come up with more innovative narrative plots. And I also thank every single member of the Xabiarverse discord. While there are too many of you to name, your continued support, suggestions, and memes have time and time again reminded me of the audience of this story, and their enjoyment of it. Thank you all, for all you've done.
But most of all, I am thankful to all the readers of this fic, both silent and active. Your support means a lot to me, Every favorite, every follow, ever kudos, every review, every DM- it keeps me going. Knowing that people take the time out of their day to read and review this makes me happy, and I thank all of you for your continued support.
Stay safe, everyone.
To be continued in:
The Sins of the Father