Chapter 56
The Frozen Sun
Alexander North
After Arnold's death, none of us speak for a long while as we walk through the blizzard towards the city. But the very moment my terminal declares it as noon, something strange happens. The blizzard begins to clear up a little bit, and a strange blue light starts shining in the sky in the place of a sun.
I blink up in confusion, meanwhile the others all begin whispering, finally breaking the silence.
Eventually the blizzard clears up enough that it just looks like a slightly heavy snowfall with a strange blue sun shining in the sky, making it clear for the others to all see. Not only the frozen trees and plant life around us, but also frozen animals that they weren't able to see before.
They all quiet down after they see the frozen ones in the surrounding area that've been avoiding me like the plague yet still circling us for a while.
There've been multiple times that I've wanted to go after them, but unfortunately, they just run away. And I'm not willing to abandon the others to chase after them. Especially when I'm the only one who can see through the storm as if it weren't there.
Right as I'm beginning to wonder if I should chase after them now that the others aren't mostly blinded, I feel an odd sensation fill my body. One that feels like a mixture of yearning, and of oppression. Like something is pushing down the energy in my body.
The feeling doesn't leave me any weaker than before, but I really hate it, nonetheless.
/ Notice \
Warning – Radiation is pouring into the user's body from an outside, unknown source. This radiation is suppressing the energy within the
user's body, while also slowly adding onto it at the same time. Therefore, the user will not be able to use their energy until the radiation goes away.
\End of Notice/
I blink at the notice once, then twice. Then the notice disappears, leaving me staring at the air.
"Uh..." I mutter while raising my head to look at the captain, who is staring at the blue sun, "captain, we have a problem."
Everyone tenses up at my words and reaches for their weapons, meanwhile the captain asks, "What is it?"
I simply share with him my terminal notice.
Several seconds pass in silence before he eventually mutters, "Shit." The others look between us and quickly ask what is wrong, only to end
up with the exact same reaction when I share the notice with them as well. "The sun at least seems to weaken the frozen ones while it's strengthening them, so we'll just have to use the time we have under it to make as much progress as we can towards the city," the captain says after
everyone calms down a bit. "However long that is."
Right. We don't know how long this sun'll last, or whether it will be
permanent. Although I doubt it'll be permanent, because that would just make it too easy for us to deal with the frozen ones.
We all quickly begin sprinting towards the city at a much faster pace than we were before, and just about three hours later, at 1500, the blizzard begins to pick back up again and the sun fades away as if it were never there in the first place.
The others, who had all taken their helmets off, or raised their visor in the captain's case, quickly put them back on to shield them from the returning cold as I let out a sigh of relief and read the notice from my terminal.
/ Notice \
Warning – Radiation has disappeared. You may use your energy again as you please.
\End of Notice/
I quickly share the notice with the others. After that, I add, "It lasted for about three hours, sir."
The captain nods his head at that before looking up at the sky and muttering, "I wonder if that'll be a regular occurrence?"
Cynthia looks at him for a second and asks, "You mean, that could've been the sun rising and setting?"
"I don't mean that. Just that it might be a common or occasional occurrence," the captain says only to lower his head slightly and add, "Although we can't rule that possibility out."
The thought of that having been the sun rising and falling... makes me feel conflicted. It's a clear moment of weakness for the frozen ones – and myself – but it's also going to help them grow stronger faster.
Actually, on that note, how much did it actually raise my energy level? Out of curiosity, I open my analysis before letting out a sigh.
/ Current Analysis of user Alexander North \
Strength: 2.06 Agility: 2.42
Reflexes: 2.07 Constitution: 2.27 Immunity: ? Senses: 2.29 Energy: 2.41/2.61
Body Malfunctions: N/A
Error: Cannot determine Immunity of user's current species without the
user getting sick to collect data.
The average of a human being without a symbiont is a 1 across all stats except for Energy.
The Energy statistic is determined with a 1 being set as the user's original starting statistic for Energy.
\End of Analysis/
"The sun raised my energy level by about 0.1," I tell the others while crossing my arms.
The others grow silent at that.
It's not a huge amount, but it's no small amount either. Whether that could be considered dangerous for us will depend on how frequently that sun will appear.
Because if it's a daily occurrence, then we will have a problem. Since that will be increasing the strength of all of the frozen ones exponentially. The weaker ones will become a threat, while the stronger ones will only
become even larger threats than they already are. And let's not even talk about the ones that travel in large groups. It'll exponentially increase their group's strength.
That said, it will make it easier to kill the stronger frozen ones. So there's at least a silver lining to all of this.
"Let's just hope that isn't a regular occurrence and continue moving," the captain says with a frown audible in his voice. We all wordlessly follow after him through the storm, or rather they all follow after me as we continue through the midday towards the city.
Chapter 57
Fish
Alexander North
"Wow." I can't help but mutter as I stare at the pitiful remains of Aral City – the capital city of Arran – from our place at the top of the closest mountain to the city. Whereas before, every time we visited, the city was always buckling with excitement. Tourists heading from one place to another on their aircars, new tourists entering the planet and leaving through spaceships, and noise constantly loud enough outside of the building to wake the dead whether from music or any other sounds you might hear in a big city. The enormous skyscrapers would tower far above the mountains in the distance, such as the one we're standing on, and the Planet Hall serving as the central government controlling this particular planet underneath the Triad was always a beauty to behold.
But now?
Now the city is in ruins. Skyscrapers having fallen down to the ground, shattered halfway up. Snow piled up across the streets, burying the once clean streets underneath blankets of white. Ice coating every last building in site. Screams echoing through the blizzard from the occasional citizen who runs into a frozen one. And the massive amounts of frozen ones – both new and old, large and small – roaming all over the city on an everlasting hunt for the surviving citizens.
"This is..." Michael mutters, just for Michelle to answer, "Horrible. Absolutely horrible."
We all stare out at the carnage for a few minutes, just unsure of what we should do before the captain eventually snaps us out of it by saying, "Enough slacking off. We have a job to do. And that's to save all of the civilians we can."
I clench my fist for a second, only to pop off a salute and answer, "Yessir!"
Everyone else does so as well after hearing me, but surprisingly the captain turns to me and says, "I have a different job for you."
I frown at that for a second before returning to my neutral face and awaiting my orders.
"Your orders are to head straight to the Planet Hall and gather up the surviving soldiers there, and to search for governor Vlad." The captain says after lowering his visor and meeting my eyes directly. "You will go directly there. Do not stray from your goal. Leave the civilians to us and head straight there."
"Yessir!" I shout with a salute, understanding the hidden meaning behind his words.
After all, I don't have a helmet on. So if a civilian sees me, then they won't know that I'm any different from a frozen one seeing as they don't have any terminals. And that won't be good.
Although that doesn't mean I won't help people if I run into civilians along the way. Simply saving them from the frozen ones by killing the frozen ones doesn't mean I have to take them under my wing and protect them. And I'll get their energy in return.
It's a win-win situation.
"Now go," the captain orders with a nod, so I turn around and give the others a nod in farewell before rushing down the side of the mountain.
Time to see what it's really like up close in the city. And if this universe is worth salvaging or not, since it might just be too late. At least, if what remains of this city is the same as every other city in the universe.
It doesn't take me long while running at full speed to reach the border of the city, which consists of a large partially manmade and partially natural river that is now frozen solid and runs in a large ring around the city, with the water flowing in at one end and out at the other side of the ring. And since the bridge on this side of the city that's running across it is destroyed – I'm not sure by what – I have no choice but to cross the ice itself. It's that or going all the way around the entire city to find the other bridge and hope it's not destroyed too.
However, a notice appears from my terminal once I reach about halfway across the ice. One that has me pushing my limits to run even
faster.
/ Notice \
Exterior energy source located.
Energy source identified as a Frozen One with an energy level of 2.01.
\End of Notice/
If I'm sensing it while in the middle of a frozen lake, then there are only two places it can be, seeing as I don't see it on top of the ice. Either in the air, or in the frozen river.
Almost as if reacting to my thoughts, I see a huge shadow swim by underneath the ice, making me realize that not all of the river is frozen. Which also makes me wonder just how freezing cold the ice beneath the frozen surface must be.
"Of course there'd be mutated fish," I mutter, only to end up jumping right when I see the fish begin swimming upwards. The creature breaks straight through the ice where I was just at a second ago and rises up into the air in an arc before going back down and shattering more of the ice to land back in the water. But I continue running away at full speed until I eventually reach the other side of the river and make it to the wall on the other side where I turn back around to find the fish swimming away, and the others of my squad watching from the other side of the river.
Looks like they're probably gonna end up going around the city to the other bridge. Because I doubt they'll want to tangle with that fish frozen one.
In fact, I'm not even sure if that fish was the only one in the river. Because I doubt it is.
I give them a wave before turning around again and beginning my walk towards the entrance where the bridge connects to the city.
Time to check out the city.
Chapter 58
The Golden Butterfly
Alexander North
After I reach the city gates, I find them wide open and without anyone there to watch over them. Except for a couple of wendigos that I quickly tear apart. So I head through them into the city to find the various levels of the city full of frozen ones for as far as the eye can see. And to make matters worse, the lowest level of the city appears to be buried in snow.
Please don't let there have been anyone down there.
I know it's a futile wish, as there must've been at least one person in the shops on the lowest level, but still...
My gaze is brought to Snow as she suddenly takes off into a sprint down one street, making me frown. But if she has somewhere she wants to go, she can take care of herself.
Not like this is the first time she's run off on her own.
A loud scream suddenly echoes from about a block away, followed by another one in the same direction. So I quickly break into a sprint, jumping from one patch of snow to another on the multilayered streets of the city towards the direction of the scream. And once I reach the source, I find it to be a young woman and a child hiding in a store with the entrance partially blocked by snow with several wendigos and two large frozen ones that I've never seen before. The creatures both look like they'd be more at home in the water than on land, as they're both cephalopods who are slamming their various tentacles – each of them glowing with a pale blue light – against the wall of the store while the wendigos sit back and watch.
Okay, I'm certain there weren't any octopi or squids in the river. So where did these things come from?
I quickly check their energy levels to find them both having energy levels quite a bit lower than my own.
Shouldn't be much of a problem.
I rush in towards them with one of my arms pulled back and my claws spread out before stabbing my hand straight into the back of one of the wendigos and grabbing its heart. The creature lets out an ear piercing screech, but I ignore it as I rip out the heart, absorbing the energy in the process.
By now most of the other frozen ones in front of the store, along with a few that weren't here notice me and immediately begin to attack – likely encouraged by their numbers. But I don't give them the time as I quickly tear the throat out of another wendigo and dodge the claws of another.
Out of the corner of my eye as I tear through each of the frozen ones, I see the mother and child watching me through the frost tinted window with a mixture of fear, awe, and surprise on their faces. Which makes me briefly wonder which one they'll settle on by the time I finish with these frozen ones.
To my surprise, both of the cephalopods turn tail and begin sliding away across the snow without showing even the slightest bit of inclination towards joining us. So I quickly finish off the frozen ones near me before chasing after them. But I don't forget to smash the snow out of the way of the door, allowing the child and mother to leave the store if they wish.
The cephalopod frozen ones are surprisingly fast considering that they're squids whose only limbs are over a dozen tentacles, but I eventually catch up to them and rip out each of their hearts. During the chase I do find out what their power is though. It looks like they can slide across snow and freeze things they touch with their tentacles.
I look at their corpses for a few more seconds before shaking my head, glancing back towards the store where I see the mother and child quickly rushing out and down the street in the opposite direction from me, and finally turning back to walk towards the center of the city.
After a few hours of navigating through the snow and ice covered city and killing frozen one after frozen one after frozen one, I end up having to stop to rest at some point. Which is when I realize that I really need to take a break, since I haven't slept for over a day and a half now.
So I move slightly off of the path to the Planet Hall and enter a store I recognize very well as the Golden Butterfly. A bookstore run by a friend of
dad's.
I can't help but feel a little bit anxious as I walk through the front door
before looking around at all of the books – some antique, some not – all covered in frost, and some even frozen shut. But nowhere around the room do I see Miss Anne.
Please be okay.
I chant this over and over in my mind as I continue moving through the bookstore, only to pause as I reach the back and surprisingly find a note. One that makes me let out a sigh of relief.
Alex, if you find this, then don't worry about me. I'll be at the Planet Hall's emergency bunker.
Stay safe.
Sincerely, Miss Anne.
She's okay. She should be okay.
I can't help but smile a little at that before placing the note back down on the counter and moving to the back of the store. Then I bolt the door and continue further until I find the guest room that Miss Anne would have me stay in whenever I visited the city on my days off. Just so that I wouldn't have to stay at the base during that time.
Seeing as this door doesn't have a bolt, I block it with some furniture, knocking the frost off of it in the process.
Then I move to the bed and lie down with a sigh of relief.
An hour or two of sleep should be enough to get me back to near peak condition. Or at least it better be since I don't have the time to sleep for any longer than that.
"Wake me up if any energy sources get within a dozen meters of me," I tell my terminal before closing my eyes and slowly falling asleep.
Chapter 59
Criminals and Planet Hall
Alexander North
After my short little nap, I quickly continue making my way towards the Planet Hall. But I find myself stopping again at the sight of something rather... unexpected.
Seriously?
I can't help but stare at the two groups of survivors on the other side of the long street from me. One of the groups is wearing outdated black carbon fiber armor whereas the other just appear to be regular citizens. And the armored group is holding the citizens hostage by the looks of it and are using them as shields of all things against the frozen ones they're fighting.
My eyes narrow and my claws tense up a little as I see the people who – judging by their particular armor – are likely mercenaries using the citizens as cannon fodder and shields finish up with the wendigo in front of them.
Guess there'll always be people taking advantage of the chaos. Even in an apocalyptic scenario.
I wrack my brain trying to remember the exact laws in an apocalyptic scenario before beginning to back up a little bit.
On second thought, I don't have to worry about the law in this situation. They're breaking the law, so I can use force to put them down as long as I try to knock them out instead of kill them.
After backing up far enough, I break into a sprint before jumping across the street onto a building at the split off, where the street breaks into two separate smaller streets going different ways. I then jump off of the side of the building down towards where they're standing.
By the time I'm three quarters of the way to them, I see them already pointing in my direction and pulling out various knives and swords. But I land directly on top of one of them without giving him enough time to get
away, breaking any sort of formation they had as I hear a snapping sound come from the man who is now on the ground and screaming.
"Shit, it's another one!" "Get it already!" "Kill the thing!"
The mercenaries all shout and scramble at my sudden entrance, each thinking that I'm a frozen one myself. And I don't contradict them as I jump off of the disabled man to land right behind another one of the mercenaries where I reach out and grab his arm, putting pressure on it to force him into dropping his knife. I then wrench it back, dislocating it with ease before throwing him into the building and turning to the next.
"Get up here now!" one of the mercenaries shouts at the civilians, but as expected, none of them actually follow the order and end up backing up instead. Which helps me as I use the distraction to knock him out with a well-placed chop to the back of his neck. I then go through, taking care of the remaining six mercenaries, only to be taken by surprise by one of them.
I instinctively spin around to avoid a sword strike before dragging my claws straight through his armor and into his chest, killing him on accident.
"Shit..." I mutter barely paying any attention to the freezing over of his chest from my physical contact with him as I draw to a stop and look around at the surrounding mercenaries.
I really don't like holding back. But I wouldn't be surprised if martial law is called soon, so...
Anyways, I look at the civilians, just to find them all running away while still having their hands bound in front of them.
That won't do.
I rush over to catch up with each of them, cutting through the ropes with my claws before continuing on my way towards the Planet Hall without stopping to say anything to them.
Let's hope that I don't run into many more situations like that.
It ends up taking me about an hour to reach the Planet Hall, just to find it surrounded by quite the number of frozen ones. Moreso than any other place.
I narrow my eyes on the frozen ones, then at the massive number of heat signatures I see tucked safely away inside of the building.
Planet Hall itself is a gigantic pyramid in its basic shape, and used to glow with a bluish purple light with various smaller cubes and pyramids floating around on the outside acting as platforms to go between different floors. The outer gates would open up at the approach of one of the platforms, and the people would be able to enter the next floor. But now all of the platforms are just littering the ground, covered in frost and ice with clear damage from the fall they very clearly went through.
Meanwhile the front gate, which is in a triangular shape, seems to be frozen shut. No matter how much the frozen ones outside try to bang on it to open it up.
I guess the Empire's investment into finding new alloys to use came in handy after all.
The door, along with a large portion of the outer frame of the Planet Hall is made up of a type of superalloy that the Empire made. One that's almost as strong as the cybernetic equipment, which uses magnetism and some sort of strange form of lightning to run.
It's a pity that we can't use the cybernetic stuff anymore, but the superalloy will work just fine as well.
Too bad I can't get inside of Planet Hall with all of them outside.
Out of the frozen ones, I can see over half a dozen different types, including but not limited to wendigos, brutes, wraiths, the cephalopods, and even a couple of infected symbiont hosts. Which is pretty terrifying in and of itself. Just seeing them gathered in the plaza right outside of the large Planet Hall banging on the door or just wandering around at random.
I'm kind of surprised that they're not fighting each other though. But as soon as that thought comes to mind, I notice one particular frozen one that I've never seen before. And the instant that I do, my terminal gives me a bright red alert.
/ Alert \
Incredibly strong exterior energy source located. The source has an unreadable energy level.
Recommended immediate evacuation from current location.
\End of Alert/
I stare at the number for a few seconds before slowly backing away. Yeah, that might be a problem.
Chapter 60
Intelligent Frozen One
Alexander North
I continue backing away as slowly and quietly as possible until out of nowhere, a brute begins charging out from an alleyway into the large open clearing that the Planet Hall is in. Right behind me.
It lets out a loud roar at the sight of me and charges straight at me, alerting hundreds of frozen ones within the clearing to my presence. But as I'm rushing out of the brute's way, I notice that the frozen ones all glance at the strange and very powerful new frozen one. As if they're searching for permission.
My eyes widen at that, and I immediately make a run for the very alley that the brute came out of. Only to hear a sinister voice echo from behind me, "Capture it alive."
The voice almost makes me stumble as I hurriedly glance behind me, just to find the powerful frozen one staring straight at me for a few seconds while about a dozen other frozen ones begin chasing after me. It has two arching horns on the sides of its armored head, glowing blue eyes, and two mouths one within the other. But what catches my eye the most about the creature are its two abominations it has in the place of hands. They just look like masses of metal and bone instead of flesh, and they have a lot of spikes. One of them is even releasing some sort of pale blue mist as the creature just stands there.
This one is intelligent?!
I don't get the chance to think any more about it as I see the frozen ones beginning to gain ground on me, so I face where I'm going and begin climbing the sides of the buildings to get away. But even after going three stories up and looking back, I find several of the frozen ones mostly including wraiths and some strange sort of floating fish chasing after me.
Seriously?
I glance back at the Planet Hall plaza to find the intelligent frozen one having already turned its attention back to the door again, as if sure that I'll be captured.
Arrogant much?
I narrow my eyes at that before stopping in my climb, pulling my fist back, and slamming it into the window of the building I'm hanging off of.
Let's see if these things can still chase me inside of this building.
After climbing through the now-shattered window, I find myself in some sort of storage room. So I glance back out the window to find the wraiths climbing up the wall by using their blade-like arms to stab into the wall over and over again while the fish simply floats up here rather slowly, then I turn back to the room and begin walking to the door. But when I try to open it, the door doesn't want to budge.
Frozen shut?
I put my foot on the wall next to the door before tightening my grip on the handle and pulling has hard as I can. Which ends up with me yanking the entire door off of its hinges instead of simply opening it.
Oops.
I turn back to the window past the ice-coated boxes filling the storage room to find the fish trying to fit through it. Then I glance at the door again, then the fish.
Why not.
I toss the door at the window and the fish, sending it barreling through both of them and knocking the fish back down into the alley with a shower of glass as I turn back to the door and enter a narrow hallway.
A loud crash echoes from behind me – likely from the fish hitting the ground – but I continue running through the hall despite it. And I don't stop running until I reach a staircase in the building which I am guessing is probably some sort of company building. Considering the many offices I've passed by on the way.
After stopping, I turn around to look behind me, only for the wraiths to begin turning the corner just a few seconds later.
My eyes narrow and I ask, "Terminal, show me their Energy Levels."
The terminal does just that and shows all of them to be at about the same energy level as me, which is a little surprising considering that they look like regular wraiths. But despite that, I rush forwards, dodging just under a blade before swinging my clawed hand straight up from the wraith's navel through to their neck. I then slam a punch straight into the wraith's face, sending it flying into the wraiths behind it.
I smile as I take a step back through the narrow hallway. One that isn't wide enough for two people to stand side by side in fighting.
This won't be a problem.
The first wraith behind the two who are toppled over on the ground leaps over them with its blade swinging through the air, only for it to cut into the ceiling and pin it there. So I simply grab its leg and rip it down, slamming it straight on top of the two who are currently trying to get up.
Not a problem at all.
Back at the Planet Hall Plaza
The intelligent frozen one stands in place watching the other frozen ones continue trying to figure out a way into the building for several minutes before eventually turning to look back at the alley and narrowing its eyes. Meanwhile all of the other frozen ones near it, as if sensing its current emotions, begin to back away from the creature.
Silence fills the plaza for another three minutes until a savage voice resonates throughout the area, seemingly bouncing off of each and every shard nearby.
"Two dozen hunter class minions and a capture class flyer weren't enough to capture a single irregular of that level?"
The frozen ones all begin to tremble from fear, only for a sudden wave of ice to pulse out of the intelligent frozen one's body, passing straight through and bisecting over two dozen frozen ones who happened to be too close to it during its show of anger.
"Unacceptable." It then turns its head and narrows its eyes on a large frozen one similar to those designated wraith by Alexander, yet with a size nearly three times that of the other wraiths. "Go. Bring me the irregular. Alive."
As if set free from invisible shackles, the frozen one bursts into action, only to fade from sight a few seconds later.
The intelligent frozen one watches the now-cloaked creature while it rushes through the plaza into the alley before refocusing its attention on the door in front of it.