Chapter 20
To the other side
Part 2
Day Three
Date: 03/01/01
Location: In the city.
Mission Duration: Three Days
Remaining Time: Two Days
Objective: Reach the City Gate
Subject Names: Thomas & Samira Ali
Previous success rate: 85%
Expected success rate: 55%
Failed Subjects: 240
Successful subjects: 10
Thomas, Samira, and Khorcha stood in a small triangle of shared exhaustion and disbelief, their heavy breathing the only sound in the ruined street. The adrenaline that had fueled them was now gone, leaving behind a profound weariness. Thomas wiped a trickle of blood from his head, where he had been slammed against the pavement. He looked at Samira, who, despite her own fatigue, met his gaze with a fierce, unwavering determination.
Khorcha was the first to move. He walked over to the consumed, his large, black eyes scanning the now-lifeless bodies of his own kind. His slender hands trembled as he touched the face of one of the fallen, a soft, clicking sound of sorrow escaping his throat. It was a sound Thomas instinctively understood as grief, the System's translation making the alien's emotion crystal clear.
"This is what the parasite does," Khorcha said, his voice a series of low, mournful clicks. "It consumes our minds, our bodies. It turns us into… this." He gestured at the dead creatures. "We had no way to stop them before. You… you are different. The legends were true."
Samira walked to Khorcha and knelt beside him, her face full of a bitter pity. "They're still the same inside, their organs are the same as humans" she said, her voice soft. "Just corrupted. Their mind It's not their fault."
Khorcha looked at her, his expression a mixture of awe and gratitude. Then he turned to Thomas, a flicker of hope igniting in his eyes. "My companions were watching. We are grateful. Our hideout… it is not far. Please, come with us. Rest. We can talk." Thomas nodded, a wave of exhaustion washing over him. The thought of a moment's peace was an overwhelming temptation. Knowing they might gain more information, he said, "Lead the way."
As they began to walk, Khorcha signaled with a series of quick, silent gestures. Sending signals to his companions. From the shadows of the surrounding buildings, a few more figures emerged, their bodies just as slender and fragile as Khorcha's. They looked at Thomas and Samira with a mixture of fear and profound curiosity, their large, black eyes wide with wonder. One of them, a female with a gentle face, held a small orb that glowed with a soft, pulsing light.
The journey to the hideout was a slow, deliberate procession. They moved through narrow alleyways and across cracked roads paved with something concrete-like, the ever-present silence of the city broken only by the crunch of rubble under their feet. The sun, a pale, anemic orb in the sky, cast long, distorted shadows that stretched and shrank with every step. The city, from this new perspective, felt less like a post-apocalyptic battlefield and more like a silent monument to a bygone era. During the walk,
Thomas and Samira learned more about their new allies. Khorcha explained that their species, the Langkatans, had lived in perfect harmony under a benevolent and capable government that managed and facilitated their everyday needs. They used advanced technology powered by an A.I. However, when a parasitic A.I. finally arrived, it not only corrupted their A.I. but also began to consume the Langkatans themselves. The few who had been able to resist its influence were now the last of their kind, hiding in the shadows, hunted by their own former brethren.
"The parasite gives them great power," Khorcha explained in a low voice. "Like the one you defeated—the skill you possess." He paused for a moment, as if reflecting or trying to remember, then continued, "It's a reflection of that parasite. That is why you were so powerful. We cannot even look at them without being consumed ourselves and losing our minds. We, the few of us who survived, had to make a hard choice and had to cut off all communication with the rest of our race and even with the parasite. If we hadn't done so, we would have become like them."
He took a deep breath and, with a big sigh, continued his tall tale. "The truth is, we were among the lucky few who survived because, until now, we don't know the criteria that enable the alien parasite to invade our brains. At the beginning, we even tried to convince ourselves that it was airborne, but we couldn't provide any proof. It could be in the air, the water, or even the food we eat. No one knew, nor did anyone have the time or technology to figure it out."
Thomas and Samira listened in stunned silence. The truth was far more complex and tragic than they had imagined. The Langkatan or the system hadn't just brought them here to be test subjects; it had brought them here to fight a war that the Langkatans themselves couldn't win and see if it's possible for us to win against either of them.
As they walked, the Langkatan who had been watching the whole fight from a distance, named Lyra, who was a female, came closer to Thomas. She looked at him with great wonder in her eyes and with a soft, gentle voice, she made a series of clicks that the System translated as:
"Why did you risk your lives for us? We are a different race. We have nothing to offer you. You could have left us and gone on your own."
"It's the human nature to help if you are able to, also they attack us also and wouldn't leave us alone" Samira replied,
Smiling to the female at the same time checking her appearance.
"And we just saw three people who needed help. That's all there is to it." She then said in her thoughts, "And besides, we did not want them to call for more consumed to attack us. We had a chance to get an alliance."
Lyra's large, black eyes filled with a powerful mixture of wonder and gratitude. "You... you are truly from the legends," she said, her voice filled with awe.
"You saved us," she said, and the funny thing in the language skill that thomas acquired meanwhile the System translated the words in mind he was able to hear the original language at the same time. "You are strong. The consumed... they have been hunting us for a long time. My people... they will want to meet you."
"Your people?" Samira asked. "There are more of you?"
"Yes," Khorcha replied. "A small group. We live in a hidden place, a safe Place we called it The Camp. We cannot live in the open. It is too dangerous."
Samira turned looking at Thomas, "We have a mission to reach the City Gate, but we have time. We need information. He can tell us what the System is, what the monsters are, and what we have to do. We can't do this alone."
Thomas agreed. "We will go with you, Khorcha. But first, we need to get our car." He pointed back toward the ruined street. Fortunately the car was big enough to carry all of them to carry all of them .
Thomas drove, and Khorcha gave him directions. The car moved slowly through the city, the silence broken only by the hum of the engine and the constant flow of information between them and the System. They were now a team, two humans and one alien, on their way to a place that could change everything.
They drove for an hour, the scenery of the city changing from tall, broken buildings to a more open area. The path they were on led to a series of large, underground tunnels.
"The Hideout is down there," Khorcha said. "It is safe. The monsters cannot get in. But we must be quiet. We are close."
As they got closer to the entrance of the tunnels, a new sound cut through the silence. It was not a roar or a shriek, but a strange, high-pitched song. It was beautiful, a sound that filled the air with a terrible sadness.
{Threat detected. Creature: Siren. Level: 5. State: Luring.}
Thomas and Samira looked at each other. The name of the monster, Siren, was a strange one. What kind of monster would sing?
Khorcha, in the back seat, was shaking with fear. "The song... it calls you. It manipulate your mind and makes you see something that is not there then you want to go to it. You must not listen. You must not look at it."
Thomas felt a strange sensation that covered his mind and pull in his mind, a desire to get out of the car and follow the beautiful song. He was in state of holisination He couldn't describe. He fought against it, his mind screaming at him to stay in the car, he knew what was going on but he controlled himself. Samira was also fighting it, her face filled with a powerful concentration.
"The song... it's a program, riding the sound waves, it's a mind control software" she said, her voice strained. "It's a mental attack. The System gave me skills to understand everything and transfer it program language that I can manapulate and chay. I can fight it and I will try to find out how to stop it"
Samira closed her eyes and used her Logic Comprehension skill. She mentally started to break down the program of the Siren's song. It was a complex series of sounds and mental commands, all meant to lure the listener to their death. She began to find the flaws, the lines of code that were weak.
Meanwhile, Thomas was fighting it with his own will.
He drove the car slowly, following Khorcha's directions. The song was getting louder, more beautiful, more dangerous. He saw a flash of light ahead. The Siren. It was a beautiful creature, with long, white hair and large, sad eyes. It was singing its terrible song.
"Look away," Khorcha clicked, his voice filled with terror. "Do not look at it."
But Thomas couldn't look away. The Siren's eyes were beautiful and sad. He felt a powerful urge to go to it, to comfort it. The car's steering wheel felt heavy in his hands. He was losing control.