The System’s Harvester

Late Morning - Early Summer : Richmond, Virginia | East Coast United States

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- Corporal, Diana Hale ~

"Hooh..." -Alright... Time to bring her in...- I let out a deep breath as I hastily disabled several automated systems so the autopilot wouldn't try to take control as I descended just meters above the tops of buildings. "Richmond ATC, this is Cardinal 7 on final approach. What's the status on the airstrip?"

"I-It's cleared!" His voice crackled with a hint of panic. "However, there is still quite a bit of debris, so if you can, please land on the left half of the airstrip!"

-That's less than ideal...- But it wasn't like I had a choice. "Got it..."

Carefully correcting my approach, I flipped several more switches, enabling and disabling systems as I needed them to try and preserve power. *cl-cl-cl-click* -When they taught us how to fly and land these things without any of our electronics, I thought they were crazy.. but I seriously owe them an apology...- *Beep* Finally engaging the emergency battery, my helmet's HUD lit up, and I jumped into my Cardinal's comm (communications) channel.

*Beep* "Connection Est-"

"Spin up the engine and turn on the debris shield." Manually adjusting the trim, I leaned back and pitched up the nose, finally starting to bring her down, just barely missing the edge of a rooftop. -Holy shit, that was close...- But I didn't have time to dwell on the mistake. "Turn on the cameras and extend the airbrake."

*hhhuuuUUUMMM* As the hum of the debris shield finally picked up, the view of the inside of my cockpit vanished, leaving just a clear view of my landing gear and the rapidly approaching tarmac beneath me.

"Alright..." -Let's bring her down nice.. and.. gentle...- *Thump*

*Cr-r-r-rackle* "Hooh..." I let out a tense breath as the sound of relatively small concrete chunks being crushed under my tires filled the cockpit. -Holy shit, this runway is a mess... Thank god for the debris shield...- Without it, several of the electronics on the belly of my cardinal would have been undoubtedly ruined, consequently grounding my jet. -And I can't afford to be grounded here...-

I felt a chill pass down my spine as the mere thought of staying here crossed my mind. -But what the hell happened for the runway to look like this in the first place?-

Thoughts began racing through my mind immediately, but the moment I looked up and glanced toward the neighboring tarmac, they stopped entirely.

Running the length of the runway, there were several thick trails of rubber and destroyed concrete that led up to an absolutely colossal airship sitting lopsided in the middle of the runway.

-W..what the hell?- Its tires had been completely melted away, and its massive landing gear had carved up a huge strip of the runway, spewing tiny pieces of concrete everywhere, even hundreds of meters down the neighboring runway.

"Hah..." I couldn't help but let out a nervous chuckle as I stared at it. -At least it's a Western Union airship... Maybe there are some strong guilds on board...-

But as the awe of the sight and adrenaline from my emergency landing started wearing off, the reality of the situation started setting in again. "Urk..." Before I knew it, it tied my stomach in a knot, bringing with it a wave of nausea that was nothing short of debilitating, but as I switched my comms back to the ATC, I tried to reassure myself. -I only need to be here long enough to refuel...- *Beep* "Hooh..." -I'll be alright...-

*Beep* "Connection established."

I did my best to gather what remained of my composure as I heard it finally connect. "M..my apologies, I had to use voice controls for a moment..."

"A-Ah, there you are! We were nervous something happened to you!" The man's voice was brimming with relief. "There is a tow on standby that will hook up to you when you come to a stop and bring you to Hangar 3. Unfortunately, there isn't much else we can do for you at the moment..."

-Huh?- My expression instantly warped with a mix of confusion and anxiety. "What do you mean, 'not much else'? I only need you to bring a refueler to me. I need JP36-"

"Miss..." But he only cut me off. "We don't have reserved military fuel grades on hand..."

The next thing I knew, my surroundings suddenly went dark, and the color drained from my face. "W..what?"

He reluctantly continued as his tone softened with sympathy. "The best we can do is call a refueler from the military installation across the city, but when we tried to speak with them a moment ago, they-" *Crackle-static*

-Huh?- His voice was cut short by the sound of static as my helmet's HUD suddenly updated, and the cardinal's voice greeted my ears. *Beep* "Connected to Andrews Airforce Base Command, Sergeant Major Samuel Moreno."

My mind and body, frozen by fear and despair, were instantly flooded with an intoxicating amount of adrenaline. -They managed to connect?!- Although I had been trying, no matter what I did, I couldn't get a stable connection. "Sergeant Major!"

*crrackle* There was still a faint static in the connection, but his voice met my ears like the voice of an angel. "Corporal! Corporal, can you hear me?!"

"Y-Yes, sir!"

There was a short pause before he continued. "Thank goodness. There appears to be some delay, but we can only expect so much from an ancient landline and barely functioning radio tower; it's all we have right now, though, so we'll have to deal with it..." He paused for a moment as the sound of clicking echoed over the comm. "Where are you, currently? We can't get a ping on your cardinal, even through radio."

"I was forced to land at Richmond's international airfield. I had run out of fuel, so I needed an extra long runway."

"I see... Perfect..." He silently mumbled under his breath for a moment before speaking up again. "Okay, I have a researcher here in the comm with us. Please follow his instructions while I will try and get some fuel to you... What Hangar are you in?"

A monstrous wave of relief flooded my body in an instant. "Hangar 3."

"Alright, I'll see what I can do. In the mean time, please consider the doctor's instructions the same as my orders, and remember that everything discussed here is classified."

-The same as orders from the Sergeant Major?- I felt an odd sense of foreboding as I looked over at the user list to try and find the researcher's name.

But before I could navigate the menus, a soft male voice filled the comm. "Miss Hale, this is Doctor Pete Forna, one of the Eastern Magic tower's lead researchers on the studies of The System and mana." The name didn't ring a bell, but I could tell he was a big shot. "Currently, I am working with the military to try and assess the situation, but since you are the only military operative we can contact in Richmond, I will need you to help me in a moment. You also being the only person to survive the main incident, If you have any questions or wish to inform us of anything you saw or that happened, please do so. Even small details can help immensely."

-So he's a researcher being let in on the situation...- Quickly thinking of where to start, I tried to collect myself before speaking. "Then, if I may... Are you aware of the details of the Regional Quest that was created?" *Vwoop* Opening up my system, my face was immediately lit up red by the ominous crimson panel. -They're usually only available to those within a small radius of the source... If he's in Arlington, then he may be outside the radius...-

But his response, rather than a simple yes or no, was more than a little worrying: "Of course, the entire east half of North America received the same quest. We're even receiving reports about it from as far as St. Louis, but based on its radius, the 'Entity' of the quest is in Virginia, likely within a few hundred kilometers of Richmond."

-H..huh?!- I immediately started panicking. "W-What do you mean? The 'Entity' is the monster I hit with a G3 near Apple Orchard Mountain! It survived the blast! The missile didn't even scratch-"

"That monster is already dead, Miss. Please calm down..." He paused as a hint of worry crept into his voice. "That.. thing.. wasn't the entity of the quest."

-W..What...- My brain instantly went silent as if it had short-circuited. "I..It's not..? It.. died..?" -Did the shockwave from the G3 give it internal injuries?- "I watched it run out from under the blast, though..."

But as my thoughts spiraled toward insanity, the doctor spoke with a heavy tone. "Something else killed it..." He paused for a moment as I heard a series of clicks. "We have a satellite currently looking at it, and by the looks of it.. it got into a fight with something and quite brutally lost..."

-T..that's impossible...- My mind was completely washed with fear at that point; the color had completely drained from my face, and I was sweating profusely, but after a moment, a thought that could only stem from insanity crossed my mind. "W..what direction was its corpse in?"

"North northeast."

-That's the direction Eli flew in... Could it have been...- "There was a woman my partner, Eli, went to pick up with his hawk before that monster dropped on us. If I remember right, he-"

"They are both dead." He spoke bluntly. "That woman was clinging to the back of that man's hawk when he was flying away, so we assumed she was a returning system mercenary whose return beacon was simply disrupted by the ridiculous mana wave we felt before the crack formed; however, right as our feed was cut, we watched as the monster incinerated them both... We confirmed it not long after.. not even the hawk's black box survived..." He paused as sorrow intruded his tone. "I'm truly sorry for your loss."

-A..ah...- As he mentioned it, I suddenly started shaking and felt tears begin to well in my eyes. Being reminded of the horrors I just experienced simply snapped my little remaining composure like a twig.

"However, if we cannot pinpoint the location of the monster, even more may die, so please bear with me."

My chest instantly tightened as if it were suddenly being crushed in a clamp.

"Based on what I'm looking at, it appears that our LMMF, or localized mana monitoring facility, is still pulling power through the electrical grid, so it may still be operable. If you can get to it and relay some information to me, we may be able to pinpoint where it is based on the facility's sensor readings..."

That was it, the order Seargent Major was referring to before he left.

The sensation of it being a choice was nothing more than an illusion. -But...- "How sure are you that, if the monster does enter the city, it won't be attracted to the facility's mana signature?"

"Absolutely certain." He spoke firmly. "It is purely a monitoring facility, so it would appear no different from an empty house to a monster."

-Is that so...- *flip* *puff* Quickly flipping up my visor, I leaned back into the seat and looked up at the sky through the clear glass, doing all I could to ease my mind. "Hooh..." With a reluctant breath, I spoke quietly. "Okay..."

But understanding that my refusal wasn't an option in the first place, he responded immediately. "Good. Now, if you could relay me to the ATC, I would like to get you a vehicle. We need to be as quick as possible."

"O..Okay..." Momentarily lowering my visor, I moved his channel before taking a moment of silence for myself. *Beep*

*Silence* *pat* As reality started to set in once again, I covered my eyes with my palms to hold back tears and bit my lip so hard it started to bleed. I wanted nothing more than to curl up in the safety of my cardinal.

But as I gave myself a moment to think with reason, I started realizing that if I didn't comply, I wouldn't only endanger the city, but myself.

Without refueling, I was stranded, and the more information I could gather on the 'Entity', the more precautions I could personally take from it, and the more likely I was to be evacuated if shit hit the fan.

"Hooh..." Easing my nerves with a heavy breath, I lowered my hands down in front of my mouth, holding them as if to pray before opening my eyes, revealing a determined gaze.

*Beep* Rejoining my comm, the scientist spoke quickly. "There will be a car waiting at the hangar when you get there. It's a bit old, but it will do."

Somewhat curious, I lowered my gaze back to the wide airfield in front of me as my cardinal was dragged by a tiny tow truck before I noticed an ancient-looking white pickup truck moving toward the same hangar we were without a driver.

It was an emergency tow for heavy aircraft, and it looked like it had just been used, covered in dust and debris.

But that wasn't what I cared about.

-Fuck...- It was slow. My odds of outrunning anything above level 50 or 60 were slim to none, let alone whatever level the Entity was. -Just.. please, god, whatever happens, at least keep the monster from seeing me in that thing...-

Considering I would be the biggest moving object for quite a distance, if I happened to get spotted, I was dead.

Or at least.. that's what I thought.

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- Evren Lestir ~

*tap-tap-tap-tap* Slowly running down the road, my hair was forcefully slicked back by the strong winds while I took my time to look around, attempting to search for anything that stood out until I caught a whiff of something incredible. -O..Oh my...-

My seemingly dark mood, caused by the countless questions racing through my mind, instantly lightened as I looked up the street to find what it was before seeing a warmly lit building with large glass walls and a picture of a white mug filled with brown liquid on it. -Is that.. what was it called.. a coffee shop?-

Quickly running up to it, I stepped out of the insane winds of the street and into the building, where my nose was flashbanged by scents I had forgotten existed. *Ring* -W..WOAH!- Before I even realized it, my mouth was watering, and an incredible hunger overtook me.

The inside of the building was quite simple: a warmly lit cafe with red and white checkered tile floors, white walls, and a beautiful wooden bar with dozens of pastries on display behind a pane of clear glass.

Beyond that, there wasn't much I recognized.

Behind the bar was a wall of unrecognizable equipment and a large display of drinks behind another, thicker glass wall, but while I was stunned, still struggling to get used to the smell and suddenly raging hunger, a sliding double door behind the bar opened with a hiss, letting what looked like a dog balancing a tray of doughnut-looking things on its head through. *Tsssss*

It was quite cute and almost indistinguishable from how I remembered dogs on Earth, but it wasn't alive.

*tap-tap* Hopping its front legs up onto the back of the bar behind the glass display of pastries, several somewhat spindly mechanical arms extended from behind its ears and began sorting the steaming.. heavenly-smelling treats behind the glass marked: 'Bagels'. -So these are.. 'bagels'...-

*pat* Quickly snatching one from the robot as he was about to sort it, I took a small marble of mythril out of my inventory and set it on his tray. -That amount of mythril should compensate for taking a bagel, right?-

Assuming it would, I wasted no time turning back to the warm, soft treat in my hands, making my eyes glow like a child's. I wanted to devour it on the spot, but deciding to start small, I took a small pinch out of it, and set it on my tongue.

"Oh... Oh my..." I almost wanted to cry. Although I had somewhat regularly fixed what I called 'seed bread', compared to this delectable piece that simply melted on my tongue, it didn't even deserve to be called bread. -It's so good...-

Taking a proper bite, my mouth was instantly flooded with flavors I didn't even know existed, and a wash of nostalgia and blurry memories overtook my mind.

I ended up savoring that bagel for longer than I wish to admit before finally, the cafe's doggy helper came back out with another batch I wasted no time raiding.

*Ring* By the time I left, I had a stack of four bagels I slid into my inventory while I nibbled on another.

But as I walked out of the cafe with lifted spirits, a white, wheeled object rolled past me at about 25 meters per second. (90 kmph) It was going a little slower than I had been running since I entered the city, a pace I viewed similar to a very slow jog. -Hm.. I wonder what that person is doing...-

Feeling a faint presence from the vehicle, I quickly caught up to it before getting in front and stopping.

*SCREEEEECH* It screamed as it seemed to be pulled into the ground and skidded to a halt.

*nibble* Standing in front of it, I calmly nibbled my bagel before tilting my head toward the pale woman inside.

*Ding*

"Oh, a human," I spoke bluntly. -What a refreshing sight...-

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