"I am required to ask, Sir Ler, if the goal of creating your own government still holds, since the other you has died."
"That sounds about right. Let's think this through, naturally, step by step. I will not be hasty and make mistakes. I have one shot at this. If I fail and I'm discovered, I'm done for. They'll eviscerate me and open me up for surgeries and torture. Aeon is mine. We'll never be found. My target at the moment is the terrorists of Cressenie. I'll get in touch with the one that had the best result in military training results and performed the best on active combat."
"Without any shadow of doubt, Genova would then be your target. She's the smartest, fastest, and her capabilities overcome anyone else's."
"Go for Genova, then."
"If I may ask, how do you plan on taking a terrorist that powerful from a different continent?"
"Easy. She sells a few weapons. I'll be a buyer. I'll act very interested. I am aware she's the one with the lowest record of weapon selling out of this little group, but it's still enough for her to consider my request."
"While this is a valid response, it appears she is extremely cautious with her clients."
"It'll be fine, because I am not yet a threat. So she'll have no choice but to accept. And in any case she refuses, I only care for her to receive me. Anything else will flow into my hands with ease."
"She was last located in the sixth hemisphere of the Cressenie continent, between the Mingway desert and the southern forests. Possibly on the west side of the natural reserve."
"Aeon. Transfer money from my dear friends to my account. We're going on a trip."
Two hours later, he landed on a tropical island, overwhelmed by the beauty of the landscape. Ambroise could just think, not talk out loud, and he would be able to have full on conversations with his ai.
"Aeon. If you could sweat, I know you would, right now."
"Sir Ler, the position you're in is not as much in your favor as you might think it is. Genova has people, tamed and forced into coercion for extraction and suicide mission. She's ready to take on any target and improvise on any ground."
"And I'm ready to negotiate. Let's find her. As long as you tell me where she is, I'll be fine."
"She's five hundred meters north east of your current position. Keep going, I'll update as she moves. How do you intend on taking the dominating side of the meeting?"
"By telling the truth. I'll always have the upper hand. Because Genova is dependant on technology, and I am the technology. Meaning she depends on me."
Through the trees and the mud, he followed Aeon's tracking of the target.
"Fitfy meters. Forty meters. Thirty meters."
"Aeon, I'm not moving."
"I know. She is. Get ready. This is what you wanted."
"I'm not seeing anything."
"This is what they say about nature. If it goes silent, a predator is nearby. Twenty meters. One meter."
"I've killed children before. Care to tell me why a young one is here?"
"I thought you and I could work together. I have exactly what you want."
"You don't know the first thing about me."
"Whatever your goal is, whichever direction you take, you depend on a technology because as good as you are on the physical, you're limited. You use the terrain, the environnement, change the surroundings to your liking, render the enemy's options vacant until you install fear in their hard drive, meaning their brain, and kill them in an instant. Your name is Genova. You went to Cressenie's schools and military institute and graduated top of your class. You enjoyed the war, so much so, thay my guess is that you wish for a round two. I am currently aware of each and every one of your technological equipment. I could hack them and make them useless in a second. The way you kill is the way I play."
"Did you smoke something? You. You're sick, aren't you? For me it's easy to tell when someone has lost their mind."
"I did. I can't sleep anymore. I just think. Think all the time. I'm from Shill Na Ter."
"People usually don't cross continents."
"I know. I do."
"What's your name?"
"Ambroise Ler. I'm a high school student. I've developped an ai in my sleep and because of some mental illness, I was coding it in my sleep. Like I said, I could arm you or disarm you. You'll be helped in arsenal."
"What do you gain out of that? I usually don't partake in partnership."
"I'll get you the war you want. You'll be able to fire them down easily. What I want, is your friends' deaths. All of them. Ismael and the rest."
"You want the whole bench?"
"Yes. The whole bench. I'll get worse, you know. Which implies you'll be better. Genetlically enhanced. Armed like a super soldier on crack. I'll provide whatever you need. But I refuse to take no as answer."
"Fine. If you're unfamiliar with the way it works, we start with intel."
"You tell me what you want, I'll listen."
"I'll tell you about the bench."
Current time.
"You don't look so good, Ambroise."
"I've competed against myself. I've competed against my continent. Against Ismael and everyone else on the planet. I've won. The game of chess is over."
"Was the checkmate worth the pain?"
"Of course it was. I won because besides you, the most problematic component of this equation was the rival I had, that now lays in the coffin. You will never take off the casket on your back, for it is the evidence that I won."
"Sure, but...your eyes are bloodshot red, your iris on both eyes are black and broken, and the veins on your arms are begging to leave their flesh prison."
"I won. I can't believe it. I started in my room with a chess game. Now I have the president of the Shill Na Ter Union in my residence. They all belong to me. And what's most exciting, they don't even know it's me. I've covered every trace. I have a new mission for you! I want you to go to the Uncharted Divisions. The ultimate east."
"In Cressenie, we call it the ultimate west."
"Whatever. Go there, make up your mind, take the time you need and come back with positive results. Everything is too easy. I would follow you, but if I leave this place, they'll come for me. All of the activists and conspiracy theorists who think I'm the one who caused all of this. Can you believe this?"
"Yes, actually. So what am I looking for, over there, exactly?"
"Your friends. As you know, the Uncharted bypasses technology, which means it bypasses me. So I'm sending you there."
"You're targeting the paranormal, now? I took you for a more down to earth person."
"I saw them. As long as you think of going as far as they reside, they'll come for you. I have a theory that Ismael's soul or something else from him is actually alive somewhere out there. I just can't, I can't, I can't prove it. So go. Find proof of my hypothesis and come back safely."
"You got it, boss", she replied ironically. "One last thing, though. Turn the lights off. I know you can't sleep, but you still need some rest. Don't forget I'm older than you. I'm practically your big sister."
"Light shutdown."
"There. Better. Close your eyes for a while."
"Genova."
"Yes?"
"I can still see you."
Genova left and took an easy way to the Uncharted. By using a boat, she could cut most of the trip by half. This way is faster if you don't have to actually walk the distance on foot, as it is spared of any obstacle. Genova, in her large cabin, drops the coffin and takes the necklace off of Ismael's neck and places it on hers.
"Raven, do you hear me?"
"I've been listening the whole time. You're a fraud. You had a cracked up monster helping you this whole time. I believed so high of you and all this time, you were a mercenary in the name of a sick kid?"
"There's more to it. He was a kid I could save, I'm still trying to save him. To make him human, but I can't."
"How are you, of all people, going to make anyone human?"
"Because I am one. Regardless of my killcount, I've cornered myself into a tight spot to make it possible to live despite my actions. I'm making it hard on myself."
"If that brings back the squad, sure, go for it."
"It might. I assure you it is a possibility. Everything's possible over there. You just have to find the way."
"Admitting it is a possibility, there will be horrible consequences. You're bringing Ismael on a coffin on the way to your own death. You know what? Do it. Like I care. But keep that necklace on. And I'm making it able to explode at any given time I get. So you better behave."
"Roger that, honey badger."
"May I interfere?"
"Basil Morgan! I didn't even hear you stepping in."
"Genova, it's been quite the time. How are you?"
"Looking good. Looking like a cryptid."
"He did what he thought was right. I stand by it. This is a fine adjustment. Before you ask, I am aware of the mission. We bring back Ismael. And if that's not possible, we try to explain to Ambroise what's in that part of the world."
"What do you know about it?"
"This little excursion is not my first. I've been there before, but I couldn't do anything about those things. As long as you show no animosity, you should be fine. But the second you aim at one of them, you're erased from reality. My fellow companions were completely unrecognizable. I suggest we think of a strategy now."
"Good point. What do you suggest?"
"I have no idea."
"Basil."
"There is literally no option. People who die in hatred are reborn as monsters, shadows, creatures. It's tough to even know which one of them was a potential friend or ally."
"Genova. Basil. I think we have a bigger issue. If we think about it clearly and see the bigger picture, I think either we exist as fuel for these entities, or we have to somehow live with the fact that we have monsters on our planet."
"Fuel, Raven?"
"Damn right. I'm not seeing anything else. It's the only metric at this point. We suffer, we reincarnate as one of them. We are being cultivated by them. There has to be some sort of hierarchy. Perhaps the taller ones are the highest in their ranks. Just a theory. Also...if Ismael's soul really is trapped in that place, I'd be checking my six every two seconds. Ismael used to restrain himself as to not kill everyone around him. He was always keen to be kind. If that part of him, this humanity that characterized him so much, disappears, what is left?"
"Those reborn as such are probably dead inside. A simple ressurection would be too easy. You'd need to have a restriction, a condition, possibly many. Just to sum it up, I think we're dealing with forces beyond our imagination that feed off our senses and thoughts."
"They do seem to know when we think of their place. Which is insane. Every thought, every heartfelt passion is listed into their minds. We're being watched over. Constantly."
"My biggest fear is that, behind this idea that being pacifist is enough to not be a target, any of them can easily target us. Which clearly indicates a power dynamic. They know what we think, or rather, they know when we think of them. And as such, there is no escaping them."
"How about we drive this car for a test?"
"Genova, what are you saying?"
"I'm saying let's check the theory. We go to the front of the boat and both think of them and invading their territory."
Basil, against the many complaints of Raven, followed through with Genova's idea. They walked to the front of the boat, coffin on her back, and thought long and hard about going as far as possible. The entire boat was stopped, suddenly everything went silent.
A girl with bandages marched towards them and took one last step in front of them.
"Leave. If you step on our land, we will retaliate in the most barbaric way possible."
"Who are you?"
"I'm one of the fourteen children you've killed. Every single one of us was filled with rage. You thought it was fear, but it was not. Not terror, but hatred. And we know your face. All we ask is that you leave us there. You don't deserve to even see us."
"I just have a question. What's out there? We're curious. There has to be something at the very frontier of the world."
"There is. For you there lies the remnance of your past crimes. For we slept through time, the only way for us to be happy ever again is to remain there and indulge in deep hatred. Your military abilities will not pose any threat to us."
The girl rose her right hand towards Genova and she went down, with blood spewing out of her mouth. Basil transformed and tried to attack the girl, losing an arm in the process.
"It is pointless. Weak as you are, I suggest you turn around and leave. To never try something so stupid ever again."
The girl disappeared in the darkness as the two cared for each other's wounds as if they were on the battlefield again then stayed panting, afraid.
"That's what I was dreading. Dark forces are inherently part of this world. I've done research on the fourteen children's remains identified by police and forensic. I have their names. You'll be able to maybe communicate better. If the source of their weird abilities stems from their deep hatred, focus on that, Genova. They are out there because of you. And because they are the ones that spawned out of nowhere, I'd theorise they rule the entire kingdom."