The System’s Harvester

Late Morning - Early Summer : Richmond, Virginia | East Coast United States
(Back a few minutes)

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- Corporal, Diana Hale ~

*Tssss* *click-click* The loud hissing of hydraulics and the stiff clicks of the cockpit's locks were usually sounds I more than welcomed. Typically, it meant that in the next half hour or so, I would be comfortable in the shower, bed, or dining hall. -But not today.-

*Click* *Woosh* As the glass canopy lifted and slid back, the pressurized air in the cabin exploded outward, and the g-suit my Cardinal had wrapped around me opened up to let me out, revealing my very tightly fitting black attire covering everything from the chin down.

For pilots of Cardinals, Blue Jays, and just about every other fighter I could think of, it was the customary uniform, fitting tightly and covering every inch of you so that the g-suit's immense pressures would be distributed evenly and comfortably when necessary. Some, like mine and most others distributed to pilots in the US, even had cooling capabilities.

However, for the first time since I became a pilot, it didn't prevent me from getting soaked with sweat.

-A..At least the system is online again...- Shakily opening the compartment beneath my seat, I moved my spare clothes and boots into my inventory before promptly equipping my normal camouflage over my tightsuit, which had been inaccessible since The System went down.

*Beep* "Helmet disconnect permitted." *Click*

Finally disconnecting several cables from the helmet, I stepped up out of the cockpit with it and walked down a few small steps on the fuselage before hopping down to the ground and making my way outside of the hangar.

*EEEeeeoouuu* As I approached the gate, the deafening screams of sirens began filling the air, not helping my nerves at all, before I eventually arrived in front of the dust-covered, ancient-looking white truck and held my Cardinal's key fob up to it.

*Click* It undid its locks instantly before popping open the door to let me inside. "Haah..." -Fuck...- There was no going back now.

Trying my best not to think that the truck could end up as my coffin, I reluctantly stepped up into it, quickly pressing several buttons on the car's dash in a sequence as per Doctor Forna's instructions. -I hope this works...- *Beep-crackle*

The moment I pressed the last button, the sound of static from my helmet filled the cabin through the car's speakers before my helmet's AI spoke. "Holographic system's offline. Would you-"

"Select low bandwidth audio only, and enable external control relay."

*Beep* "Adjusting settings... Complete. Attempting to reconnect to Communications channel." There was a short pause as I closed the door and got myself situated before the massive screen on the dash lit up with information I would typically only see in my helmet's hud.

-Holy shit... It worked...- Thankfully, the car's systems that predated my grandparents were still working.

But I wasn't sure whether to call it lucky or unlucky.

*Beep* "Communication Established with-"

"Miss Hale, can you hear me?" The voice of Doctor Forna, the researcher from the Magic Tower who had been instructing me since my landing, immediately filled the cabin.

"Yes, thankfully." His voice was like an angel's to my stress-ravaged mind.

But there was no time to relax. Almost immediately, he began instructing the AI in my helmet, disabling all kinds of security measures on the car before releasing the pedals and opening the dash to reveal a steering wheel.

Like nearly every other car made in the last few hundred years, it wasn't meant to be driven, but thankfully.. or unfortunately.. that car was made back when manual controls were still mandated, even if they were locked from public use. -To still have a steering wheel and pedals.. this car really is ancient...-

I felt like I was sitting in an old relic.

But rather than viewing it as an old hunk of junk, the doctor sounded very satisfied with it. "We were incredibly lucky the airfield still had one of these in service." He spoke somewhat distractedly while I heard the clatter of keys in the background. "It's got some really old equipment on board I can use to spoof the facility's security; that way, I don't have to risk sneaking you in... The only issue is it will come at the cost of communications, so we won't be able to talk until you hook your helmet up to the facility's main console. But don't worry, I'll explain all the details you need before I disconnect."

*Ding!* As the steering wheel finally lowered into position, the dash updated with an old map and GPS.

"Miss Hale, can you see the map on the dash?"

"I-I can." Swiping across the panel, I tried to get an idea of where the facility was in relation to me before letting out a breath of relief. -It's secluded...- It was right on the boundary of the lower and middle districts, about ten kilometers from the airport, and about a kilometer from a main road, meaning I would be far away from people or traffic if the monster were to break in.

"Unfortunately, it looks like you will have to navigate the city the old-fashioned way. Just like everything else communicating from outside Richmond to inside, the GPS isn't working..." He lowered his tone with agitation before mumbling to himself. "Could the mana density have really changed that much..?" But after a moment, he continued as if he never asked the question. "In any case, the Sergeant Major and I trust you can both drive and navigate there without a GPS, correct?"

I felt the weight on my shoulders increase in an instant. "O-Of course!" -It can't be any harder than driving my jet on the runway, right...-

Thankfully though, while I was nervous, compared to flying a jet, driving a car was nothing.

Finally getting on the move, I swiftly made my way out of the airport, navigating through colossal crowds of people who appeared to have been evacuated there, before making my way down the completely empty main roads while the doctor attempted to guide me through everything I was about to have to do on my own.

It wasn't too bad, but it was a lot to remember.

However, when the time for him to disconnect finally came, and the comms went silent, my mind was slowly overtaken by fog.

The longer I sat in silence, the more time my mind had to pick apart the details of what I had seen.

Finally taking note of the panicked expressions of people as they carried their loved ones coughing up blood toward the airport, I couldn't shake the idea that I was walking straight into the maw of a monster.

But trying to ignore that awful sensation, I drove for several minutes, eventually making it to roads that were completely desolate and clear of everyone, even thieves.

But while my senses continued screaming at me to turn around, when I was finally nearing my turn off the main road, I caught a glimpse of something that looked like a person in front of a store. "H-Huh?!" I hadn't seen anyone for several kilometers at that point. -I knew it was odd for not even thieves to stay behind...- But as I hastily looked back at the store, I saw nothing. -Huh? Where did they...-

*CLANG* "Emergency brake engaging."

Getting thrown into the steering wheel as the entire car was pulled toward the ground by a massive magnet, my body stiffened in a panic.

However, while I thought I had crashed, when I could finally look ahead of myself again, I found myself perfectly centered in the road with 'a person' casually standing in front of me.

It was 'her'... The person we were tasked with rescuing before shit hit the fan. -B..but that wasn't even that long ago...-

It was way too far for a human to travel so quickly, even if she somehow managed to survive.

Yet there she was, casually eating a bagel while looking me in the eyes through the dark, heavily tinted glass without a single injury on her.

I didn't know what to even think, but as I instinctually tried to ping her with a system panel, to no avail, just as Eli had, I started questioning if I was looking at a ghost.

However, as I had time to look at her armor from so close, another possible explanation crossed my mind...

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- Evren Lestir ~

*Ding!*

"Oh, a human." -What a refreshing sight.- I quickly skimmed the system panel before looking into the eyes of the pale woman inside the car. -She doesn't have a system name, but she's awakened... How does that work?-

System Names, as I knew them, were aliases you were required to permanently set after you completed your first mission. They would replace your name within the system and, consequently, on Local System Panels as well as any other display that uses the system. These had all kinds of uses, from hiding your identity in competitions to letting locals easily spread rumors about you as you traveled.

As far as I knew though, when you awakened, you were automatically teleported to another world for that first mission with no ability to refuse, give up, or surrender. You either completed it or died trying.

-And if my memory is right, you get locked out of the System until you set the name.. so I doubt she'd be delaying it...- But after tilting my head for a moment, I shrugged it off. -Maybe it has something to do with Earth being a server world...-

Finally walking around to the side of the vehicle she was sitting on, I gently reached up and went to tap the window, but... *rattle-SHATTER* The glass simply rattled and exploded before I could touch it, layering the woman's lap with glass as the sound of static filled the air. "What the..."

But the woman didn't seem to care about the glass shards layering her lap in the slightest. Rather.. she was focused on nothing other than me. "Y..You... Are you a paladin sent by the church to help us..?"

-H..huh?!- It was an outlandish guess. -Did she seriously just.. call me a paladin?- A part of me was genuinely insulted. However, after seeing the glow on her face, my expression turned serious. -Do paladins have special authority here?-

Although I couldn't be certain, the way she looked at me was as if I were her savior. -If that's the case... I could make use of it...-

Seeing as she somehow couldn't see my local system panel to verify it, I decided to play along. "I only just got here. I need you to fill me in. I thought everyone was summoned to the Upper District."

She quickly tensed but seemed less anxious after I didn't deny her assumption. "Ah.. I'm not too sure what the situation in the city is, myself. I'm with the military. I just happened to land here after observing everything that happened in the mountains..." She slowly turned awkward as her gaze crept up toward my face. "We were told no one was in the area, so we thought you were civilian and moved to rescue you. I apologize if we interrupted your mission..."

As she lowered her head, my eyes wandered into the car, taking note of her attire and the intricate helmet sitting in the passenger seat before things finally clicked. -Ah.. That's why her presence felt a bit familiar...-

She was the pilot of the first jet that came to check me out on the mountain. -But for her to be here, driving the opposite direction of the evacuation...- "Are you here on a mission?"

She nodded before looking up at me more comfortably. "Yes. I am on my way to a mana monitoring facility nearby. A researcher from the Magic Tower in Arlington tasked me with relaying data from the mana monitoring facility to them to find out where the 'Entity' of the regional quest is."

-Huh? Regional Quest?- Opening my system window with a wave, I tried to see if I had one, but there was nothing. -Could it be...- My expression darkened instantly.

"Supposedly, it isn't that monster that dropped out of the crack over the mountain... According to the military, it was killed by some other monster they suspect is the 'Entity' of the quest." She spoke somewhat nervously before finally looking up and noticing my expression, instantly causing her to clam up and break into a cold sweat.

But I didn't notice, nor care. -To be targeted by an administrator the moment I return home... Is this the welcome I get after 500 years?-

Had the admin appeared in front of me at that moment, I would have kicked them through the planet.

But after a moment, I just pinched the bridge of my nose and let out a long, deep breath. "Hooooh..." -No... I can't be too hasty... Even with all my upgrades, I never found a way to kill an Administrator...- And while I hated to admit it, pissing one off as things were would only bring me trouble. -I need to lay low for the time being...- But that didn't mean I was going to be lazy. "Sorry.. you said you were headed to a mana monitoring facility?"

As my gaze returned to her, she spoke in a bit of a panic. "Y-Yes! I-It's only about a kilometer away!"

"Would you mind if I went with you? There are some things I'd like to look at..."

Her face instantly lit up. "O-Of course! Please! It'd be my pleasure to assist a paladin of the church!"

Although I needed to lay low, there was something I needed to dedicate every opportunity I had to understand and learn.

Mana.

-I'm not a mage.. nor will I ever be.. but if those upgrades I had were truly just mana techniques programmed into The System.. then wouldn't that mean I could learn them myself?-

Although I was still only just beginning to think about it, taking note that my system had previously reserved all of my mana for the upgrades I didn't use as well, the idea that I could better allocate my mana than the system was a thought that did cross my mind.

However.. I was very.. very far from that level. -For now.. I just need to reform my foundation...- I needed to study mana as if I had never touched it before, and build a completely new understanding of it. -The oversimplifications I know of will only trip me up...-

And the first step to rebuilding that foundation was to find a place that had a huge amount of information on it. Conveniently though, an opportunity had literally fallen into my lap. -I'll have to make the most of this...-

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