Era of Madness

The mistakes you can't fix 13

Shocking... simply shocking... that was everything John could find to say about the document Ethan had given him. Ifeverything was true... then they were among they from the very, very beginning... Acting without ever being noticed... Quietly observing the rise of humanity via the Fefnir technology, as their chessboard slowly unfolded. The Blessings, the Authorities, the Sacred Fields, it was so much to take at once...

Yet, he wasn't even that shocked. Sure, it was a lot worse than learning santa wasn't real but, even then, after everything he had got to experience these last years, and what happened on his birth planet, it could actually pass as believable, he would just need a lot of time to accomodate the information.

Afterward, John had a discussion with the higher-ups... and quite honestly, he found it pretty underwhelming, especially compared to the reveal that came before. Thanks to Ethan, there was no complication or sanctions whatsoever, and he was even shortly praised for allowing an allice with... whatever organization Ethan was part of, that they of course didn't name to him.

But the most important point, though, was that he was proposed a new mission, particularily important, and even more difficult and dangerous: stealing a high-rank Nova Beast's corpse form one of the Paradise Council's secret bases.

The second he had been told that, John had immediately tied it to the mission Clark had failed back then. And indeed, it was precisely the same exact mission, which les to a dilemma: should he accept it or not? Strangely, maybe because the higher-ups didn't want to bring someone that wasn't completely dedicated for such an important mission, they left him the choice. So what should he do?

On a side, by completing the mission that Clark failed, maybe he would finally get past and manage to turn a new leaf. On the other, maybe he was just letting himself be tempted and chaines by the past. Either way, if he accepted and died during the mission, everything would be in vain.

Yet, he still ended up accepting. Even he didn't know what it signified for his future, how funny...

After another bit of discussion with them, they disconnected the call. Following this, he talked shortly with Amanda and Erica. It was a nice conversation... until the moment he was told he'd have to complete the mission with Erica, an information that made an already fragile smile waver even more, as he mentally grieved every bit of peace that would be taken from him in the future.

Sighing internally, he talked with them for a few more minutes, and then excused himself, opting for a small tour of the city as, despite everything, he was on a touristic planet, and it would maybe be his only occasion to play tourist for a long time.

He tried to rent a floating car for a rapid visite, but found none. In the end, a passant was kind enough to offer him to give him a ride. It could be a trap, but John quite didn't see how this girl, which seemed to be not much older that sixteen, the minimal age required to get a license, so there wasn't much chance.

'Now that I think about it, I'm the suspicious one' he realized.

He was hesitating to ask her to let him leave but, eventually, she was the one to talk first:

"Do you like the view too?" she asked. "The buildings are really pretty, don't you think?"

"Uh, yeah, they give a really good look" John replied awkwardly. "Thank you for allowing me on-board, by the way, and sorry to take both back seats"

"Haha, it's ok, I took you in because I thought you looked funny"

"I... Aren't you afraid to take in a suspicious person you never seen before and that's like three time your size?"

"Are you saying you're about to attack me? Ew, creepy"

"N-no, of course! I just mean that you should be a bit more careful, there's a lot of terrible people out there and-"