017 – CENSORED

Time to Seal: 03:50

Both truck bay doors stood open and no vehicles were there. But there was blood. A lot of blood. Mixed with fur and feathers. Someone tried to make a stand against the Wild Hunt here and it looked like they had failed. I carefully stepped inside. The blood had only partially congealed, leaving a slippery coating on the smooth concrete floor.

I was only a couple of steps in when someone screamed and appeared at my flank, swinging a fire axe. I sprang sideways in a panicked bound, clearing half the room. I watched as that someone slipped on the blood, nearly dismembering himself with the axe, as he caught his balance. He was maybe twenty and had none of the stature or size I’d expect from a fireman. Nor any of the uniform.

[“I’m human! One of the Blessed!”] I wrote in chat.

He wobbled unsteadily and paused. His eyes flickered over nothing, noticing my message.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry,” he said. Chat said his name was Ash.

[“It’s okay, Ash. How did you hide from me? What’s your class?”] He had appeared out of nowhere. I couldn’t have not seen him.

“I’m an Archivist. Very utility-based. But I get a random selection of spells every day, depending on the books I absorbed. This was a chameleon spell.”

Archivist. Book-absorption. That all had to wait for later.

[“Are others around? I will lead a group of Blessed here soon, we want to prepare it for the ice storm.”]

He shook his head. “No one besides me. I’ve prepared a closet against the cold, though that really won’t fit more than one person. But there are more rooms.”

[“Okay, keep hiding. I’ll be back soon.”]

“Uh, Eve. What’s with your eye? Tatiel says that it looks like a devil’s.”

[“Tatiel is correct. I did this so I could find this place for others. Ask Tatiel if that automatically makes me untrustworthy, or if I just made a hard call.”]

I didn’t wait. There was no time to lose. Once the others were here and he saw that I was no threat, he’d probably not attack me over that eye.

I swapped back to Guides chat.

[“What did the others say?”]

“They are still arguing but approaching the shopping center. People were very relieved you found a place.”

[“What’s your take on this? Should we do it? Should I spend charges there?”]

“You need to be fast. The fire station might already be survivable, but it’s not a guarantee. How bad it is depends a lot on the circumstances, but that wind will penetrate any imperfect insulated place. If the others fight you should absolutely invest a charge to help. The Created shouldn’t pose extreme risk, but they aren’t trivial either.”

I was weirdly relieved. I was tired of being prey. Those fangs and claws did provide a certain level of reassurance that I wasn’t helpless.

When I arrived back at the shopping center the others were about five minutes away. I changed back to human and settled down on that bench where I’d found Cee earlier. I pulled a water bottle out of my inventory into a shaking hand. I hadn’t even been running that long. Like an hour at most. I was exhausted and thirsty, but not even a hint of hunger. That ‘Well-Sated’ buff was really paying off.

[“We’ll be hitting the place soon, but it’ll be a quick hit and run. Only looking for insulation supplies and out again.”] I wrote in local chat.

[“Can I hitch a ride? I’ll drop off when I spot something useful and if I die, I die.”]

I got up and walked over to the awning. Might as well use the minutes I’d be a human to actually speak.

“I assume that’s not literally true? You are controlling this teddy but it’s not really you?”

The teddy appeared at the edge of the awning, looking down at me with its empty expression.

[“That’s pretty philosophical to be honest. I will die. I am really me in here. But I’m also in every other body I animated. My class is Hive Queen. The death is real but it’s not ultimate. I have plenty right now, but want to gather more.”]

“That’s both a bit metal, and very fucked up. You said you tried to get in before? Have you died before?”

[“Many times, Eve.”]

This conversation was rapidly exceeding my capacity for creepy tonight. I was saved by a cluster of white dots appearing on my minimap.

“Yes, you can hitch a ride, Cee. Come down, and we’ll join the others.”

The bear unceremoniously dropped off the edge. I caught it before it hit the ground.

[“Thanks, Eve”]

Teddy in hand, I approached the others. There was a vast mix of reactions. As I approached I caught a glimpse of myself in a shop’s window. I was covered in ichor, but with a patina of blood that covered half of my head. The broken horn had bled for quite a while. It provided a nice symmetry along with the yellow-red eye. If one liked that kind of monster aesthetic.

I was still examining my reflection when Jamie hugged me, pulling me off my feet in the process. My body stiffened involuntarily before I returned the gesture. The bear in my hand squirmed, reminding me of the person I was holding. I pulled away from Jamie and settled the bear on the ground. Liz was giving me a smile I couldn’t parse before her gaze also fell on the now-waving teddy.

“Folks, this is Cee. Cee, those are the others. We don’t have much time for details. Cee will tag along but do her own thing inside.”

[“Hello, Eve’s friends.”]

There was an uncertain murmur of greetings.

“Constance, how is your mana? Can you pull off that armor spell again? Twice?”

Constance stepped forward. “Barely, yes.”

“Okay, my proposal is that you hit me and Jamie with that. In my shape I won’t be able to reach into any shelves. According to that sign with the stores, there is a sports and camping supply store. That’ll be our main target. Jamie and I focus on clearing the path there and then keeping the corridor clear, you and the others head inside and grab everything you can. Tents, sleeping bags, ski clothes, even just tarp. Five minutes for that place then we switch to the bedding store. Skip the pillows—grab every down duvet and wool blanket you can carry. We’ll make one hell of a pillow fort.”