Arm of the Shadow, Part II (Solo)

[Eridanus]

Day 2, Summer of 512 AV
Early Afternoon
Private Ward, Ionu's Mercy

Eridanus opened his eyes gradually, seeing the dim lights about him as he struggled to make sense of his surroundings. As lights and colors flooded his vision, he twisted his head slightly around, wincing as a dull migraine throbbed at his temple.

Where am I?

As he noticed the sanitary walls and white, rectangular tiles that formed the walls of the room, a sudden realization struck him as memories of the last incident were recalled. The same tiles and formation of concrete, except looking old and dilapidated. What had happened then? Why was he in such a strange version of the Ionu's Mercy?

As he continued to recall the events, leading back to the mission he was sent on, he sat upright at his bed with a shock. The mission! What was happening? There were too many questions left unanswered, but as he inspected his body he had to be grateful that his limbs were all still in one piece.

[Eridanus]

As he groaned and raised his hand to massage his temples, he heard a light gasp coming from a corner, and he turned his head blearily to see a human female grinning at him. As she wore the costume of a doctor's assistant of the Ionu's Mercy, he assumed that she was waiting for him to wake up. Nodding at her to signify that he was feeling somewhat conscious, she quickly headed out of the room as the vantha laid his head back on the bed, frowning as he tried to recall and make sense of the previous incident.

Time blurred by but he did not really feel it due to the general unresponsiveness and lethargy of his body and senses, and he did not know how long it took until people began walking into his room. He had expected a doctor, but instead he found himself looking at the curious expression of Kelly Ranzurch, one of the more prolific Overseers in the Department. She bore the image of an ordinary young human woman with her tidy brunette bob and easy-going eyes. People tended to forget how she looked like and memories with her even after working with her for quite a while, and there were whispers that it was not just her too-ordinary appearance that caused this effect.

What in the world is a rank four agent doing here?

Following in after her was an extremely tall, but unusually lanky fellow by the name of Lonin Mollansk. A Coordinator who spoke with a mild stutter, the long-limbed giant was the aide to the Overseer, and often spent his time in the planning room than out on the field. Some believed that it was due to his strategic genius, but others claimed that he was just weak and seduced his way to where he was.

[Eridanus]

After him was a dark-skinned Chaktawe with strikingly intelligent eyes. Eridanus recognized him to be one of the members of Intel, the Coordinator Pachosha. The vantha had worked with him many times before due to his encounters with the Shadowkin, and the desert man was the unofficial member of Intel assigned to cases regarding this phenomena in the Underground.

Finally, the three familiar figures of Prairie, Dilemma and Vicious strolled, but they were dressed casually in civilian garb. Eridanus was about to call them by their mission names, before remembering that they were no longer on a mission and were technically in civilian space. They were supposed to act like a bunch of friends, not the gathering of a secret organization.

He sighed, shaking his head as he gave a two-finger salute to his comrades as Vicious nodded stiffly while Prairie grinned and waved. Eridanus realized that he had actually spent more time on missions and within the Department compounds with these agents than 'normal time', leading to them finding it the most comfortable to call each other by their agent names even while off-duty.

"What's your status, Rede-I... uh... How are you feeling, Eri?" Vicious began gruffly, stopping himself in time when the Overseer flashed a warning glance in his direction.

"Body feels a little wooden, like a poorly animated doll. No permanent damage, I figure," The vantha replied, checking his arms and finding that the lacerations had disappeared. No doubt thanks to the the medical staff harnessing Rak'keli's divine power.

"Overse-Sorry... Afternoon Kelly, Lonin and Pachosha... and you punks," Eridanus greeted the visitors to the room in the order that they arrived. "You'd want an account, yes?"

[Eridanus]

"Wait," Pachosha started, as he began to weave a ward around the room that protected their privacy. When he was done, he gave the gesture for Eridanus to proceed.

And so he launched into his story, vividly describing everything that happened while both Pachosha and Lonin took notes. When he was done, he could see Vicious shaking his head in the corner, as a sort of sympathy for having to face that strange, screaming man.

Kelly glanced at Lonin, and the two of them exchanged glances with Pachosha, engaging in some sort of wordless secret conversation that only the trio understood. After a while, Kelly nodded and turned towards the vantha.

"Tell me, Eri. What do you know... of the Inverted Alvadas?"

"The-wha?"

"The Inverted Alvadas, Eridanus. Inverted, as in, you take something and you turn it into its polar opposite-"

"-to oppositize it, if you will-" Pachosha chimed in, to which Kelly rolled her eyes and promptly ignored.

"As I was saying, the Inverted Alvadas. It is one of the larger areas categorized as a single domain within the Alvadas Underground. It is the domain that I, as Overseer, am assigned to. I am Overseeing the Inverted Alvadas, so to speak." Kelly ended.

Prairie was fetching chairs for everyone to sit on, and Eridanus realized just how much Lonin towered over everyone else. Even when seated he was the standing height of Dilemma, the shortest man in their party but by no means a short person.

When all was seated, Pachosha began speaking.

"That area you described so very accurately fits the description of Ionu's Damnation. You see, the Inverted Alvadas is exactly that - it is the twisted twin of our fair city, corrupted by the warped ideals of the Underground. What you encountered is what we broadly call a Patient. They are many variants of them, and from estimation from your account I would say the one you engaged has a power level between three to five dots."

"If I had my swords..." Eridanus mumbled.

"You'd had kicked his ass," Prairie called from behind, causing the group to turn around and to look in his direction with disapproval. "S-sorry," The agent visibly wilted under Kelly's glare, and Lonin cleared his throat loudly.

[Eridanus]

"If you recall your mission, Mister Trangeal," Kelly began addressing the squad's mission leader, otherwise known as Vicious. "You were tasked to investigate a new tear and resulting unknown entry in known and mapped Underground space."

"Max prepared a full report back at HQ already," Dilemma affirmed silently, to which the Overseer nodded.

"It seemed that this... parcel of land may be a concerted intrusion by Inverted Alvadas. One way or another, it is attempting to muscle its way in. As the Underground that we have mapped, as well as those distinctively belonging to government property, serve as a protective belt between the unknown regions of the Underground and the civilian-space in Alvadas, this is a severe matter."

"Take this as an urgent matter, that is all I have to impress upon you. Work well with Pachosha; I have similarly urgent matters to attend to," The Overseer finished, and with that she left the room, Lonin close behind.

"Chick's always busy, flitting here and there," Prairie whistled when she finally left the room, and Vicious smacked him on the back, chiding him in a mock serious manner, "Chick's our boss, Jag. And from how this is shaping up, our team might very well be assigned under her."

"I suppose a full explanation is in order," Pachosha's features softened as he regarded the vantha in a more friendly manner now that their superior was gone. "Here, take this, and interrupt me when you require."

Dilemma silently strode over and handed Eridanus a scroll of parchment and a sort of self-refillable ink quill, and the vantha sat back up on his bed, taking a nearby wooden tray to serve as his makeshift table as he began to take notes.

"Don't always rely on Eri to be the team's secretary, Max," The chaktawe grinned at Vicious. "Make sure you listen properly too."

"Hey, Relen and I are always attentive, it's Jag that you gotta watch out for-" Vicious began, before being interrupted by a self-righteous harrumph from Prairie that drowned out the rest of his words.

"Now, let me begin; everyone listen carefully."

[Eridanus]

While the rest were engaging in preliminaries, Eridanus was already busy at work, his quill scratching noticeably against the parchment.

[Base Personnel IC
Agent Supervising - Overseer Anonymous (Kelly Ranzurch)
AS 2IC - Coordinator Vulture Eye (Lonin Mollansk)
Agent Intelligentsia - Coordinator Mind Blank (Pachosha)

Field Personnel - Gray Team
Squad IC: Analyst Vicious (Max Trangeal)
Surveyor Redeemer (Eridanus)
Surveyor Dilemma (Relen Hedrus)
Surveyor Prairie (Jag McSvidt)

Date of Mission: 1st Summer 512 AV]

Preparing to continue, the chaktawe allowed Eridanus to finish before he began his explanations.

"No one knows when it started, but there is a dangerous domain within the Underground known as the Inverted Alvadas. As you are aware, the Shadowkin whom you faced are one of the many inhabitants. While they might be said to be the more common denizens of the Inverted, we only realized it to be so because the rest of the denizens somehow don't leave. That said, we believe that the twisted collective mind of the Inverted intend to exploit the mobility of the Shadowkin as shock troopers in their expansion. What we do know, is that assimilation of new land for the Inverted happens as such: they must first clear the land of natural occurrences, such as humans or buildings from the normal world, through destruction or assimilation. Then the fabric of reality in that area will distort, and it will shatter and return as part of the Inverted. We do not want this to happen obviously, because that will increase the 'incubation capacity' of the Inverted as well as improving the projection of their reach. It is imperative that we deny them expansion. There is no known method to freeing land from the Inverted, unfortunately, but our brightest minds are already on the case to figure out a solution. Got me so far?"

There was only silence as the rest of the team listened in rapt silence, with Eridanus furiously jotting all of it down.