"Yes, he is my grandfather," Jack replied, trying to figure out what the conversation was about.
"I was right! You are one of them, the Haustons of Creta," Thain replied.
"Uh, yeah. So how do you know my grandfather?" Jack asked, genuinely curious. Rick's name was kept off any physical history records except pacts of that time which weren't accessible to the general public.
"How am I supposed to be a Kratian historian and not know the last king of Kratians and a literal wargod who carried us in the Great War?"
"Huh? But I'm pretty sure that it wasn't mentioned anywhere in the records. How do you know that?" Jack asked, his mind calculating the various possibilities.
"My grandfather was there among the historians interviewing Rick Hauston and the Vanthelis family head of that time. We have it all written in our private records. Mr. Vanthelis ordered us to keep Rick's name out of it, and if any one of us let it slip, he would personally see to it that our careers as historians and our lives were over..."
"That sounds intense..."
"Yeah, he asked us not to do it unless any one of Rick's descendants came forward and claimed the title."
"I see. Fair. That matches what Grandpa told me."
"Indeed. Now that you are the head of the Hauston family, I have all the more reason to trust you, our king," Thain said with a small bow.
"Prince," Enak corrected inside Jack's mind with a scoff.
"I don't have the authority yet, so I can't be exactly called the king, and neither am I as strong as my grandfather, but I promise to protect all of you," Jack said with a small nod.
"What makes someone a king is his wisdom, resilience, and courage. And from what I have heard about your experiences, I think you have them," Thain reassured him.
"Thank you for that. So is that all you wanted to talk about?"
"Mostly, yeah. I also wanted to ask if you'd be willing to share all the things that had happened for me to write down. Because from the looks of things, I don't think the situation will take a turn for the better. It's necessary to keep a record of whatever has been happening and provide it to the others, so they don't trust lies implicitly and walk in death's face," Thain said, his eyes darkening as his gaze drifted towards the Ortho Sapien wristband on Jack's hand.
"Sounds like a plan. And will you allow me to see the family records of the interviews you had?" Jack said, getting up.
"I have them with me in my item pouch all the time, so yeah," Thain said, getting up as well, and they started walking towards the doors.
"So, which family of Creta are you from? Orvenak says that there was none called the Merovans."
"Oh? You are using the royal armour as well? That's great. And well, as for my family, well yeah, Merovan is an Earth's family name. I belong to the Velarn family from Creta."
"Must be a commoner family because Orvenak said he hadn't heard of it before," Jack answered after he asked Enak about the Velarns.
"Yeah, we were just a commoner family of explorers. Anyways, I'm excited to hear what kind of messages you will pass to us today," Thain said as they reached the warp door.
"Well, just normal stuff. Don't expect too much," Jack replied with a smile as they entered the warp door.
A few moments later, the warp door opened into the auditorium. Hundreds of chairs were lined up in rows. Displays lined the side walls of the place, showing footages of the stage, ensuring that even the ones at the back got a perfect view.
"Well, good job here Elpira. Get me the mic," Jack said as he started walking to the stage, leaving Thain behind who went to the back, looking for seats.
"There is no need for a mic, sir. Just speak away. I shall handle the rest," Elpira informed, focusing all the spotlights on Jack. The displays on the walls came alive, showing Jack taking his position.
Jack took the stage. He was a bit overwhelmed by the number of expectant eyes that were focused on him, yet when he spotted Diana, Ethan, and Stephen in the front seats giving him an encouraging smile, his confidence came back and he started addressing the crowd.
"Hello everyone. As you may know, my name is Jack Hauston. Like all of you, I am a Kratian. But we all know I didn't ask all of you to come here for introductions. Let's get straight to the point, yeah?" he addressed the crowd. The remnants of the chatter died away, and all eyes fell on him, waiting.
"On July 20th, the world as we Kratians knew it changed. It was the day on which one of the Ortho Sapien's plans that was brewing for years bore fruit. It was on this day they launched a massacre—a global homicide on the Kratian reserved territories of the world. At once," Jack informed, and with a flick of his wrist, a giant holographic display shot up at the center of the hall, showing feed of the Ortho Sapien wristband.
"And how did they do that? They put most of the authorities under mind control. They attacked every street, sent brigades into every locality without humans, and massacred the residents. Children, elders, women, men—all were killed, for no reason. Killed because they were subjects of hatred by the people they never wronged."
"I was confused why no one who lived in the shared zones reported their inability to contact their loved ones who lived in the reserved zones. I didn't know because I was in hiding as well. But after some research, I found that they cooked up some random bullshit about a network breach and that they would be restricting calls for a few days. It was insane, yet everyone believed that because it was shown on almost every news channel."
This fact alone explains how deep they have infiltrated...
"So here we are, hiding from the ones that we would've gone to for help. Hiding from the protectors who are in enemy control. We will have to look after ourselves and have each other's backs. So today, I will brief you on the basic rules and regulations of this place."
"First of all, I need all of you to make a list of your occupations. Those of you whose occupations can be put to use here will keep doing it, and as for others, they will be providing manpower around other parts. Unless, of course, you want to assist us in fighting—but trust me, it isn't pretty," Jack said, swiping on his wrist with his fingers. This time the footage of Diana's clash with the doctor, his encounters with the Ortho Sapiens after he started using Enak, played out.
The crowd gasped in horror every time a head was sliced off, every time Jack or Diana dodged a close attack.
"Now, there will also be a body of seven electable people who will be overlooking this place, reporting to me and my party. Those of you who are interested, I want your names on another list, with your occupations and why we should choose you to lead. The tenth member I am assigning to the group will be Stephen. Stephen, please join me on the stage for a bit."
Stephen looked at him, surprised. Then with a nudge from Ethan, he joined Jack.
"A speedster fast enough to escape from police cars—I think he will be really efficient as a getaway for all the non-combatants in here. And he is trustworthy. Let's call it the council. From this day, the other pocket tent will be called Outpost, and this one shall be called Lifecamp."
The crowd erupted into applause at this. Jack looked over to Diana and Ethan, who were giving him an encouraging nod.
"One last message to all of you. Don't believe what I say on face value. I can't give each and every one of you a wristband that I took from our enemies. I will give Stephen one—you can borrow from him whenever you feel skeptical. But be warned, if you do something that sabotages our security, I will come for you. To either rescue you... or kill you," Jack finally said with a warning look before climbing down the stage.