PftA Book 2 - Chapter 40

Chapter 40 – Side Missions

My gaze turned to my mom, who was sitting in one of the chairs holding Amie. Tears were trailing down her face as her eyes looked at something invisible to those around her.

No wonder Amie had been concerned.

“Mom?”

Her eyes regained focus and turned to me. A radiant smile bloomed on her face. “I can actually heal them now,” she said before pulling Amie to her chest and sobbing. “I won’t have to watch them die anymore.”

Mom had gotten hired as a nurse supervisor when they moved to Florida, and one of her responsibilities was overseeing the neonatal ward. It was hard on her – hard enough that she’d considered finding a new position several times. She was a lot like Rhona in her affection toward the most helpless of our population, so seeing newborns die regularly was hard for her.

Seeing her reaction impacted the others present, shifting their budding trepidation and fear into something much more hopeful. Watching a middle-aged woman cry in happiness that she would soon be able to save lives with magic brought a different perspective to the sudden notifications.

I wrapped my arms around my mom just a second after my dad, being careful not to squish Amie in the middle. As I listened to the murmurs and exclamations around us, I was amazed to hear the others already planning. I listened as ideas developed in beta testing became real-world plans. It shouldn’t have surprised me, though, considering I was surrounded by a bunch of beta testers and hardcore gamers.

I looked at the flatscreen television mounted on the wall. With a push of willpower and a hint of Space mana, I turned the device on. Stella had taught me how to Direct Cast with Space mana in a way that mirrored Telekinesis several months earlier, and I liked to practice the ability whenever I could.

Lisa could have done the same thing for me, but I still got a kick out of using magic this way. I did have Lisa access the device and navigate to a local news channel, though. Everyone’s attention was immediately drawn toward the newscaster as they tried to figure out what was happening outside the apartment. It was a live newscast, so the reactions were less controlled than they would be once people got a handle on some of the changes.

Watching the media’s reaction to the reintegration for a second time was a bit surreal. By the time the anchor regained her bearings and started reporting on the appearance of rifts worldwide, I’d already received a message recalling me to the office.

I’d expected that.

Most of Atlas had spent the last several weeks preparing for the upcoming missions associated with the reintegration, and I was no exception. The hardest part – for me – had already been completed, but I still had a role to play to keep the worst from happening.

I glanced at Bell, making eye contact with the petite pregnant woman. “I have to go,” I mouthed before glancing back at my parents. Bell knew a little bit about the missions, but she wasn’t involved in anything beyond imbuing the basic enchantments we’d designed.

Since I was still standing next to them, I leaned in and whispered, “I have to go to work. There’s a lot going on right now, but I’ll explain everything when I can. It should only take a few hours.” I nodded my head toward my temporary roommate. “Talk to Bell after people leave. She’ll tell you what she knows.”

My parents both looked at me with twin expressions of surprise and suspicion. “You know what’s going on?” Dad asked quietly.

“Yes. But I have to go now.” I stepped back before pausing. “And don’t worry. Justin really is safe. He’s safer than anyone on Earth right now.”

I didn’t give them a chance to respond before rushing into my bedroom and teleporting away. I made sure to message Bell and Natalie to let them know where I was going. I would have sent one to Natalie’s roommate, too, but I didn’t know her well.

It was probably crappy of me to bail without explaining anything to the people who’d gathered, but I knew Rhona and the others were waiting for me.

= = =

A conference room was already set up as mission control. It was a huge space conveniently down the hall from the teleportation room, but only a small portion was being used. The remainder of the room looked ready to welcome students or whoever else might need the space. Only the area closest to the door had been cleared and adapted for the current mission.

Rhona and a vaguely familiar man coordinated the personnel present from their seats at a small table. Each had a large tablet in front of them, which they focused on while directing the teams and individuals waiting.

Fewer people were present than I expected, especially given the amount of space cleared for the mission. In fact, I only saw a couple dozen people total, including the duo running the show. Seeing me enter the room, Rhona sighed in relief.

“I need you to drop your assignments off at their designated locations. Start with target one.”

I nodded to indicate my understanding before locating the first individual I’d be working with. The other four assigned to my group were standing nearby. I quickly acknowledged each before directing attention to Operative One as the others filed out of the room. Everyone knew what to do, so no words were necessary.

I waited for the operative to activate an [Invisibility] enchantment before I did the same. Wrapping us both in Space mana, I moved us to the designated location – one of the five I’d carefully scouted and left an Anchor at the week before. As planned, I waited fifteen long seconds as the operative made his way forward to ensure no immediate problems or changes arose before returning to the teleportation room at the Atlas office to pick up the next operative.

I repeated this process four more times, once with each remaining team member. I didn’t particularly like this part of the transition, but knowing how people in power were likely to react, I understood the necessity of it. It helped that my group was working outside the United States. While I knew others were doing the same things locally, I’d specifically requested not to be involved with those missions.

It was a minor thing, and I didn’t personally care very much since I knew the government wouldn’t last beyond the initial transition. But I didn’t want to have to explain to my parents that I’d actively sabotaged the country’s ability to shoot nuclear warheads if it somehow came up.

It was much better for me to focus my efforts overseas and let others handle stateside operations.

Besides, in less than two weeks, most such items would be rendered completely inert. I suspected it would take much less time for mana to alter such volatile compounds, but it was more of a feeling than a belief grounded in science or experience.

I had no idea how the Alliance would handle things like nuclear reactors, but I felt confident they would manage it since there hadn’t been any major explosions from one failing in the last timeline. Regardless, nuclear reactors were not part of any mission I was involved with.

“Operative Two is ready for pickup,” the man next to Rhona informed me. My mana had mostly recovered by then, so I quickly retrieved the Alliance operative and returned to wait for the others to finish their tasks. I had a couple of mana potions in my ring in case they were needed, but I didn’t want to use them unless necessary.

Another operative completed their mission successfully before the first problem arose. Operative Three had triggered an alarm, and the mission was compromised. Had it not been critical to neutralize the missiles, I’d have targeted the operative’s Fitmon and remotely teleported him to my current location.

The lessons with Stella had been a huge boon for my Space-related magical capabilities.

Instead, I spent a lot of extra mana to Teleport to his location before using Pause to freeze everything in the immediate area so the operative could complete his portion of the mission. However, the spell didn’t stop new people from entering the area, putting us on a serious time crunch.

I swallowed a mana potion to maintain the spell, then focused on my Spatial Sense. Upon arrival, I’d pushed it as far as I could, and my perception field extended about twice the distance of the area affected by the time spell.

“Two individuals incoming. Both appear armed,” I warned the invisible operative beside me. Mana Sight allowed me to see through the operative’s [Invisibility], and I assumed by the way he glanced in my direction that he had the same capability.

Operative Three sighed. “I only need a few seconds. I don’t know why you are here.”

I didn’t respond, figuring it was better to let the man focus and finish what he was doing instead of distracting him further.

Two seconds later, he said, “Done. Let’s go.”

I released my spells as the Space mana encased us, allowing time to resume within the targeted area. We were standing in the teleportation room beside the small beacon a moment later. The man’s [Invisibility] faded as his talisman deactivated, and he gave me a little huff before stalking away.

I rolled my eyes before following him.

When Rhona first gave me the assignment, I asked why the Mana Intelligence running the operation didn’t handle everything independently. I’d always believed that weapon systems such as these ran on some kind of network and required permission from high-ranking people in outside locations. Taking out (or taking over) the networks seemed sufficient to handle the threat.

I’d quickly learned that some weapons of mass destruction had fewer controls and could be triggered manually and without special codes and keys. Those were what our groups were targeting, not the ones wholly controlled by electronics that could and had been infiltrated remotely.

While the weapons posed little threat to the Alliance members involved in the reintegration, the same could not be said for the civilians who would inevitably become collateral damage if one or more of these devices were used. It hadn’t happened in the first timeline, but that was probably because operations like this had been conducted.

“Good job today, Emie,” Rhona said after I retrieved the last operative about an hour later.

“Thanks,” I replied tiredly. Even though I was used to it by now, regular, large expenditures of mana took a toll on the body.

“Make sure you get rest tonight. There’s still a lot of work to be done before the portals open,” Rhona said, reminding me of the massive pile of half-completed enchantments stored in R&D. We’d been able to use manatech devices to do most of the engraving for us, but each rune still had to be finished with reagent and infused with intent to work.

The shortcut we’d taken would reduce the effectiveness of the items by quite a bit, but it allowed us to produce many more than we would have otherwise been able to. It was a tradeoff, but a necessary one.

I bid my boss and quasi-friend goodbye before teleporting back to my room. Thankfully, it was still empty when I arrived.

I glanced through the door and into the living room. Most of our guests had already left, but my parents, Natalie, her roommate, Deni, and Ger were still there. I was a little surprised to see that Kevin had left with his roommates instead of staying with the others, but not overly so.

Kevin/Mesmer still worked with Deni and Ger during beta hours, but he’d started spending more of his personal time – including gaming time – with his roommates over the last year.

I exited my bedroom, drawing the attention of everyone in the living room.

“Hey. I’m back,” I said casually, not wanting to make a big deal out of my sudden departure. Nobody responded for several seconds.

“So,” Dad said, breaking the silence. “Are you going to explain everything now? Bell, Natalie, and Jessica told us some things, but they all agreed that you know more about what’s going on.”

I could only assume Jessica was Natalie’s roommate. The name sounded familiar enough.

I glanced around, noticing Bell coming out of the sole bathroom. Bell raised a brow as she stared at me challengingly, daring me to claim different. A glance at Natalie showed a similar, if less aggressive, expression. Her roommate looked away uncomfortably when my eyes reached her.

I sighed. I was tired, but I hadtold my parents that I would explain everything when I returned.

“Yeah, okay,” I said, resigned to undergo potentially hours of questioning. “What do you want to know first?”