Chapter 19 – The Return

My hands were sore.

I rubbed at them, shivering in the cold air as the ringing in my ears began to die down. I hadn’t noticed it while I was fighting the Arachnomantis, but it turned out shooting so many times in an enclosed room had consequences, even with the silencing enchantment on my gun. My HUD showed my mana bar at about a sixth of the way filled, and I felt myself swallowing.

I’d emptied sixteen magazines plus another nine bullets. That added up to 249 bullets, plus the one I’d had chambered at the start for an even 250. Almost seventeen points worth of ammunition just to take down that beast. All for fifty points. Between the level difference and me lacking the full bonus of my Magical Girl powers, it made sense it took so many bullets to kill.

But only fifty points? I had expected more from a boss.

I shook my head. I was being ridiculous. I just defeated a giant spider-mantis centaur with scythed legs and arms, and I was worried about the points? Why did that matter when I’d just saved everyone in the third floor shelter?

Gently, I pressed the sides of my ankle again. Selene had told me to use the rest of the regenerative salve I’d bought earlier, and the swelling had gone down considerably. Apparently the salve was incredibly effective on things like sprains and bruises, especially if applied relatively quickly after getting hurt. My ankle already felt much better, and other than some tenderness, I was pretty sure I would be able to walk and run on it normally.

I pushed myself to my feet, groaning as my body reported a whole new set of forming bruises. It was a familiar sensation, though, and I was able to ignore it with a practiced effort of will. My legs and arms felt rubbery, which was a little surprising. I knew I wasn’t athletic or anything like that, especially considering I was exempt from most of my gym classes, but the pangs of soreness seemed out of place. Or maybe this was just what an actual fight felt like? It couldn’t have been more than a few minutes at most… were fights really that exhausting?

[Congratulations, Mai,] Selene interrupted my thoughts. [You’ve done something that not many would even consider possible. Defeating an Anathema seventeen levels above you and doing it without your Astral Shift… Truly, this is an extraordinary accomplishment.]

An embarrassed blush warmed my cheeks.

“Thank you… but I really couldn’t have done it without you. I’m, um… I’m sorry about what happened to you. I couldn’t-”

[Don’t worry about it. It was painless. I’m only frustrated that I wasn’t able to help you more. That, and my forced demanifestation is going to complicate things. That, however, we can get to in a moment. First, we should focus on shutting off the coolant pipe that was-]

A hissing sound interrupted Selene, and I jumped as I snapped my gun to aim at the Arachnomantis. It lay unmoving, and I frowned until I realized the gas coming out of the pipe began to thin out as the hissing grew higher in pitch. The second the gas stopped coming from the pipe, the hissing stopped, and I slowly lowered my gun.

[Ah. Well, it is good to know the emergency shut off systems are still working. Using the pipe to freeze the Arachnomantis was an excellent bit of improvisation, by the way. I was worried how your combat instincts would translate from game to real life, but it seems I was being overly cautious.]

“I…” I gave a shrug, fidgeting. “It just felt right at the time… I should have thought about using it during our planning session, though. It would have made things so much easier.”

[Perhaps. At any rate, things went about as well as could be expected. Especially against such a tough opponent.]

“Yeah… I can’t believe it was only worth fifty points, though. I know it would have been a lot easier if I was using my Astral Shift, but it’s still not a lot for a boss.”

[A boss? Mai, that was just a normal Anathema.]

Silence stretched between us, a chill running through me that had nothing to do with the temperature.

“W-what? But in Rebellion…”

[Oh. Oh, Mai… I apologize, It seems I wasn’t completely clear in my communications. Rebellion uses Anathema as a reference for its monsters, but the creatures it chooses to use as “bosses” are usually just challenging or particularly unsettling Anathema. In the real world, the Arachnomantis is just another type of Anathema that can be encountered, not some special subtype.]

“Oh…” I felt my heart fall a little at that. “Wait, are there special types of Anathema then? Ones that are actually like bosses?”

[Yes… The Guardians of Earth tend to use a different classification system that would take a while to explain, but the Zenith one is split into four simple categories. The first are Common Anathema, which are exactly what they sound like and what you’ve been facing so far. Next are Elite Anathema, which are Anathema that is a higher level than their type is normally found at. For instance, an Elite Fomorian Hound would be level six or higher. Then there are Rare Anathema. These are types that are not normally found among the masses, and when they appear, they tend to not have any standardized level. Rare Anathema are very dangerous due to their unique abilities and intelligence. They fit the criteria of boss monsters well enough.]

Selene paused for a moment, almost as if considering her words.

[Finally, above those are the Aberrants. Those… those would be something even stronger than a boss monster. Aberrants are everything a Rare is but worse. They have intelligence that can equal a human’s along with powers and magic that can rival a Magical Girl’s. If an Aberrant is found, usually multiple squads of Guardians are called in to deal with it. Aberrants are some of the most deadly creatures, and where one shows up, disaster usually follows. If you ever encounter an Aberrant alone, you run. No exceptions. It doesn’t matter what or who you are trying to protect, if you stay to fight an Aberrant alone, all you will accomplish is losing your life along with whatever you were fighting for, and the world cannot afford to lose Magical Girls in hopeless battles. Do you understand?]

There was an undertone in her words, something that almost sounded desperate, like she was pleading for me to accept. I gave a nod to the empty air, gripping my gun a little tighter as a sliver of fear worked its way into my stomach.

[That being said, if you are at least a hundred levels above an Aberrant, you can probably fight on even ground. Besides, Aberrants are very rare and can be detected well in advance of their arrival. They aren’t something you just stumble into by accident.]

That made me feel a little better, and I let out a relieved breath of air.

[Now then, I believe you’ve recovered enough. We should move on with our mission.]

“Right,” I looked around the room. “The generator.”

I started moving, heading to the back of the room. Selene had told me before the fight I didn’t have to worry about shooting anything except the pipes because the generator itself was retracted into the floor. It was a security measure to help protect it if the shielding station went offline. All I had to do was use the access panel to get the generator to come back up.

Reaching the back of the room, I was greeted with a closed metal box, just like Selene had described to me. There was actually a small dent in it, and I winced as I reached out and pulled open the front panel. Inside was a hand scanner along with what looked like a card reader. I placed my hand against the screen, almost jumping when it lit up blue. After a second it turned green, and a loud mechanical whirring suddenly filled the room.

I turned around, looking with wide eyes as the center of the floor simply pulled itself open. A circular portion of the floor indented itself before splitting in half and then sliding away. Once the circular hole was clear, a hum filled the air, and a circular platform slowly rose to replace the flooring. I watched, slowly approaching as the platform settled itself into place, the sound of machinery abruptly coming to an end.

The circular platform was made of metal, and there were only two objects on it. The first was a cylindrical pedestal indented to allow a perfect sphere to rest on it. Both were made of some kind of reflective silver metal with a hexagon pattern engraved in it. The sphere itself was bigger than my head, and something about the object made me feel… uneasy. Something about it was off, like my eyes couldn’t quite see it correctly.

[Try not to stare,] Selene advised me. [You are looking at an almost perfect sphere. It was created and shaped to the specifications of the first million digits of pi. Your brain is recognizing that it is indeed a sphere, but because it is so much closer to a perfect one, it is causing a psychological reaction. It will pass, but you will probably get a headache before you get used to seeing the shape.]

I turned away from the alien sphere, blinking my eyes at the sudden strain they felt. Careful to avoid looking directly at it again, I turned to look at the second object in the metal circle.

It was… a box. Large, made of black metal, and completely featureless except for a cable as thick as my leg attaching the box to the pedestal, and another leading directly into the ground. Judging by the box sporting the same hexagonal pattern as the sphere and pedestal, it was clearly some piece of Zenith technology.

“What’s this?” I frowned at the box.

[I don’t know.]

I blinked.

“What do you mean you don’t know? It’s Zenith technology, right?”

[Yes, but… there is nothing in my database about it.]

“Is that… bad?”

[Not at all,] Selene responded cheerily. [There is plenty of information that I either do not have access to or simply do not have the memory capacity to hold onto. Because I was designed to fit inside your Soul Gem, there was a limit to how much data I could take with me. For instance, I only know the first fifty levels worth of Anathema creatures, and that list is hardly extensive. Most of my memory is taken up by the Vaults, Abilities, and Skills, but even then it is only the most common items. More specialized or unique equipment would require a search of the Arcane System, and with the Usurpation zone cutting off access beyond simply buying and receiving things, I’m currently unable to find out what this might be.]

“Oh. But this isn’t anything to worry about?”

[I don’t believe so. It’s Zenith technology hooked up to a mana generator, so it must have a purpose of some sort. It may be some type of booster or possibly a safety device. Although not a standard piece of equipment, a Guardian must have purchased and attached it for one reason or another. Once we get back to the shelter, we can ask Error Machina about it if you are still curious.]

“Okay…” I stared at the box for another moment before I turned my attention back to the mana generator. “So, what do I do now?”

[Before we can continue, we should discuss something. Mainly, what the plan is for our return trip.]

“Right,” I checked my mana in the corner of my vision. “I’m only at 82 mana right now, so we should wait until I can manifest you again at… 220 now that I’m level eight, right?”

[Yes, except for one small caveat. When my physical manifestation gets destroyed, there is a sort of penalty in place for an hour, requiring you to spend double the normal amount.]

“Wait, what? I thought you told me you could be manifested again without any repercussions?”

[Ah. I meant that there would be no lasting damage to myself or you. Truthfully, I didn’t mention this penalty earlier because I did not anticipate being dispelled. An Anathema would have to be well into the one or two hundred range to see me, so I assumed I was safe. I did not take into account the idea of me helping you in direct combat at the time. I… also did not want to add another thing for you to worry about, especially with the chances of it happening being so low. Apologies.]

“No, it’s…” I sighed. “It’s fine. That makes sense… but what do we do now?”

[We can simply wait an hour. That, or you can spend some of your stat points on your Willpower and Spirit to quickly regenerate the appropriate amount.]

“But that would mean spending more stat points without a plan,” I bit my lip, thinking about it. “I’d need to spend at least fourteen points in Willpower to get enough, but it would still take… almost fifty-two minutes to regenerate enough mana? Unless I spent even more in Spirit to boost my regeneration…”

Doing the math in my head, I began to feel uneasy. Sure, it would only take a few points to regenerate my mana back up in twenty minutes or less, but that would mean spending close to half of the stat points I’d just gained. It would get me out of my immediate situation, but what about the future? The more I just spent stat points without developing a proper plan, the more I was going to have to correct in the future and the more at risk I would be while I worked with something suboptimal.

“I don’t want to spend my stat points if I don’t have to,” I finally said. “Not right now.”

[Agreed. Spending them without a plan seems unwise. I suppose we could work on developing one while we are waiting for the manifestation penalty to time out.]

“Um… how much time does the shelter have left before the shield goes down and it opens up?” I asked, fidgeting.

[Three hours, sixteen minutes. They would still have a little over two hours of time left even if we waited.]

I frowned at that. Something about the idea made me feel intensely uncomfortable. Waiting an entire hour, doing nothing felt… wrong. The idea of leaving Lily and so many other people in danger any longer than I had to didn’t sit well with me. Sure, I’d gone out of my way to defeat a few Anathema before reaching the generator, but that was to help ensure I had all the resources I might need to save them. If I had the choice to immediately protect them, shouldn’t I take it?

Besides, something about the idea of waiting made the back of my mind itch, like I was trying to remember something important. There was something there, the just didn’t feel right.

“When we turn the generator on, will we be able to tell if the shielding station goes online?”

[Not really. There won’t be a direct response, but the mana generator control screen will inform us if it is online and sending the mana. That will tell us if the shielding station restarted and is drawing mana as planned. Even if I have limited information on the subject, Error Machina seemed to also believe the shielding station would automatically restart when powered, so there is little doubt about it working.]

“And once it begins restarting, it’ll draw the Anathema there, right? So won’t the path to the shelter be clear if we follow the same path back?”

There was a moment of silence before Selene responded in a hesitant tone.

[Yes. It should be, but the safer option would be to wait until I can scout ahead, just in case.]

“I… Selene, it might be safer for me, but what about everyone in the shelter?” I chewed on my lip nervously. “I know they’d still have plenty of time but… it just feels wrong. I don’t want them to have a doomsday clock ticking down on them any longer than possible. Letting them stay in danger… it just doesn’t sit right with me. Also…”

I trailed off, searching my mind as I tried to root out the nagging sense of worry that was plaguing me. There really shouldn’t be a problem with letting the shelter wait another hour, but-

I blinked, a shiver running through me as I realized it wasn’t shelter three that I had to worry about.

“What if Ji-woo or Sergeant O’Malley decide to come after us because we’re taking too long? We never planned for me being missing for an entire hour…”

[That… is very true. They might get worried you failed or were injured and send someone out. In fact, the longer we wait, the more likely that scenario is. You could spend all your points in Willpower and Spirit to regenerate the necessary mana in only a few minutes, but that would unbalance your stat distribution enough to be detrimental to your future…]

Selene trailed off, thinking about it for a moment before sighing.

[Very well. Returning immediately without waiting to remanifest me is a course of action I can approve of. The return back to the shelter should be safe, and potentially risking the officers’ lives or your future growth for a redundant safety measure isn’t worth it. Excellent job analyzing the situation and realizing the potential consequences, Mai.]

My shoulder relaxed in relief, cheeks warming at Selene’s praise.

“Alright. What should I do?”

[There is a hand scanner on the pedestal, but you should pick up your magazines and possibly refill them before you set out. We also need to deal with the webbing in front of the door.]

“Oh… right.”

I went to work, collecting my scattered magazines from around the room, storing them in my backpack. Selene helped me find them, using my HUD to highlight them in gold so I was able to see them even in the dim emergency lights. I stopped over one of them, something catching in my throat as I looked at where it had fallen.

“Selene… What happened to the bodies?” I asked quietly, staring at the puddle of blood my empty magazine rested in.

[I was hoping to avoid this, but… the remains of the team previously sent are currently cocooned in the corners of the room, near the ceiling. The Arachnomantis eats much like a normal spider does, injecting venom and… well, the specifics don’t matter.]

“Oh…” I said, staring at my magazine. There was a handgun lying near it, in the same puddle. It was blockier than mine, more square shaped.

But it was still a handgun, lying in a puddle of blood. It had belonged to someone. Someone who tried to use it to protect others. Someone who had friends, family, a dream. And now it was just…

I was suddenly reminded of the blood soaking the back of my jeans from when I’d fallen. The blood coating my left hand…

My chest felt tight.

[You don’t have to pick up that magazine if you don’t want to,] Selene told me gently. [You can always buy more.]

“Okay,” I whispered.

I stared at it for another moment, then turned away.

Only one of my magazines had fallen in blood, and I had Selene buy me another three full mags, bringing me down to 130 points. I could have just bought ammo to refill my empty ones, but I really didn’t want to stick around longer than necessary. I had a few empty magazines lying outside the room I’d have to scoop up on my way out, and I made a mental note to do so… and also told Selene to remind me just in case. Exhaustion was trying to creep its way back into me now that I was no longer in any direct danger, but the threat of having to go back out was keeping at least a small bit of adrenaline running through me.

I stopped in front of the doorway out, sighing as I looked over my task. The webbing the Arachnomantis had used to block the way wasn’t very thick, and I could make out the door on the other side through the webs. Selene and I had expected the Arachnomantis to web the doorway when I started shooting from safety, but our solution to getting back out again was… less than ideal.

Setting my gun down for a moment, I reached over my shoulder and pulled out my ice axe. It wasn’t exactly the best tool for the job, but…

[I would suggest scraping at the sides of the doorframe and working your way along the outside.]

Following Selene’s instructions, I went to work, scratching at the wall and webbing. It went surprisingly well, only taking me a few minutes to clear the way. It did, however, take a lot of muscle power, and by the end of it, my arms were even more sore and I was sweating again.

“Alright,” I gasped when I was finished, pushing the now loose webbing to the side of the door. “Anything else to take care of before we go?”

[I do not believe so.]

Putting my ice axe away and picking up my gun, I blinked as the section of my HUD containing my gun’s information reappeared, showing me having only six bullets in my current magazine. I swapped it with one of my full ones, then made my way to the pedestal.

On one of its sides was a hand scanner and keycard combo, and I pressed my hand to it. A moment later, it turned green, beeped at me, and then a holographic, blue screen suddenly sprang to life in front of my face. I took a step back in surprise, looking over the slew of buttons and information presented before me.

[Everything looks good,] Selene informed me before I could even make sense of the various menus and graphs. [All you have to do is push this button, here. Then, we watch the third graph. So long as the line goes up and levels off, it means it is supplying mana.]

Gold highlights appeared in my vision, marking the appropriate spots. Anxiety suddenly creeped up in my chest, making my heart flutter as I raised my hand to press the button.

Please work, please work, please…

I pressed the button.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

More accurately, my finger pressed the holographic interface and then went through it. The button lit up, and I quickly retracted my hand. The display changed to a new sign, and I found myself reading it aloud.

“Warning: Mana generator was shut down due to mana overdraw. Default maximum mana generation is 80%. Attempted draw was 82%. Do you wish to restart the generator without a mana generation maximum?”

[Interesting,] Selene remarked. [This must be what caused the shutdown. Whoever set up the generator didn’t allot enough capacity. This mall is a fairly new building, and the shielding station must have drawn more to power the shelters than was expected.]

“So… all of this was just one big accident?” I asked incredulously.

[It would seem that way. As this mall was not part of the original city designed and constructed by the Zenith, it would have been humans in charge of all the calibrations and testing. I suppose someone along the way made a mistake… I will make sure to bring this up with Guardian Command to ensure this doesn’t happen again. I’m astonished that the fail-safes and testing didn’t catch this, but I suppose technology can be fickle, especially when set up by those unfamiliar with it.]

I frowned, eyeing up the machine in a contemplative silence. Something about that didn’t sit right… but maybe I was just reaching for an explanation. Something better than “oops, we made a mistake.” A lot of people could have died and some people did die trying to fix it. Chalking it up to just an accident was unsatisfying, even if it was true.

“Why is it set to a 80% maximum anyway?” I finally asked.

[Two reasons. First, more than 80% shouldn’t ever be needed to power everything the shielding station is responsible for. 75% is the most it should ever be generating at one time, even with emergency shields in all the shelters activated, but a 5% margin of error is added just in case. Secondly, the 80% serves as a good way to measure if something is wrong. If the shielding station was damaged and attempted to overdraw power, the limit causes a shutdown until the problem can be addressed. Damage to a shielding station, a powerful piece of Zenith technology that actively turns massive amounts of mana into energy could have disastrous consequences. So, the limit is put on all generators to prevent any unfortunate accidents.]

That… made sense. But it also meant that this was just the one scenario in which the fail-safes had caused a problem instead of preventing one. It wasn’t the answer I wanted, but I begrudgingly forced myself to accept it.

“Are you sure that’s what the problem was?”

[As sure as I can be. The mana generator is only equipped with the bare essentials to monitor itself and ensure it is functioning properly. The shielding station, however, is equipped with a much more extensive suite of technology including security and monitoring equipment. I’m sure the software up there has an extensive error report of what exactly went wrong and why more mana is being required than normal.]

“Why doesn’t the mana generator have the same capabilities?”

[Because direct interaction with a mana generator is only supposed to happen while the generator is offline. The extreme amounts of ambient mana contained in the room while the generator is functioning is highly toxic to a normal person. Nobody is supposed to be in the room, thus it makes sense to put the control and monitoring equipment elsewhere. Even turning the generator on directly would be dangerous to a normal human. Only your unique status as a Magical Girl protects you from mana poisoning. Being “manaborn” also helps, though to a significantly lesser extent.]

“Oh… so it’s like a nuclear reactor, then? You don’t put the control and monitoring room right next to the thing generating all the radiation.”

[That… works as a comparison, I suppose. The only reason a control panel is installed into the generator at all is for emergency situations such as this.]

I nodded, satisfied with my answers. Steeling my resolve once again, I placed my finger over the “accept” button and took a deep breath.

“Alright. Push the button, make sure it’s generating mana, wait a minute for the Anathema to begin leaving, run out the door, pick up my empty magazines, then run back to the shelter as fast as possible. Am I missing anything?”

[No. I’ll highlight your path with the HUD so you do not have to refer to your minimap.]

“Okay… Here goes nothing.”

I pressed the button, doing a better job of interacting with the holographic display this time.

The second my finger left the display, a low hum began to emanate from the sphere, in a deep, throaty, bass sound. It began weak at first, then quickly grew in power over the next few seconds until I could feel it in my bones. Blue light suddenly shone from the borders of the hexagonal pattern, and the sphere rose in a gentle motion, suspending itself mid-air over the pedestal.

Sapphire light gathered in a nimbus around the orb, shrouding the sphere in a haze of shimmering particles. After a moment, the haze began to fall, funneling into the center of the pedestal where I saw a small hole. The hexagonal pattern on the pedestal lit up this time, and the holographic screen in front of me lit up with new information. A short moment later, the mystery box next to everything lit up with its own light as well.

[Mana output holding steady, though at significantly reduced levels… the shielding station must be drawing a lower amount while it starts back up. It looks like everything is good to go!]

I nodded, and turned from the display, jogging over to the door. Placing one hand against the handle, I started counting the seconds in my head.

I tried to take deep, calming breaths as I waited, but I could feel the steel wires of worry encircling my heart. It was a familiar thing, though, and I quickly grabbed hold of it. It was surprisingly easy, especially if I compared it to the anxiety and fear I’d felt when first entering the shelter. Or even whenever school ended and I…

I hit sixty seconds before I could dwell on the thoughts too much, and without another moment of hesitation, I opened the door.

I did a quick scan of the hallways but found nothing but darkness. Working as fast as I could, I crouched, setting my gun down as I took my backpack off and started shoving empty magazines inside. In my haste, one slipped from my grasp, clattering to the hallway loudly, and I winced, throwing another look around. Nothing immediately jumped out at me, so I finished packing the magazines, put my backpack on, grabbed my gun, and set off. Green arrows appeared underneath my feet even as I ran, and I followed them without hesitation.

I ran the entire way, stopping only at intersections to do a quick check down the halls before continuing on my path. The entire way was quiet, making my footfalls eerily loud as I hurried. The arrows led me around another corner to a doorway where the door had been broken down, and I carefully stepped onto the door as I continued, aiming my gun in front of me as I began to clear the doorway.

Then the lights turned on.