World Filter

A day later in the early morning hours, Mark sat in their most repaired office, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. He wanted to be anywhere but here for many reasons, but the biggest one currently sat across from him. Shelby refused to take his eyes off Mark, as though he might disappear at any second. Which Mark would be happy to do, if he wasn’t the one to invite Shelby to this interview. If they were to begin gathering Tenders, they need to start somewhere, not to mention being on good terms with these people.

The man had accepted Mark's invite deeper into their territory without hesitation and arrived early in the morning with a good deal of people at his back.

From what Mark could tell of their sudo religion, they didn’t seem to have leaders, and yet a good portion of people seemed to follow Shelby around.

Around five hundred people were currently gathered outside near the lobby. They avoided getting in the way, rather observing their Order from the streets. From the look of things, their fighting capability was decent though nothing compared to a fully formed faction, but Karter didn’t like having a force this close to their core. Even if they could defend, he decided he would monitor them until further notice.

Jonathan had been pulled from the underground to take over watching the spire doors again, much to his horror.

So it was only Mark, Ethel, and Sam present in the room.

“Right, Mister Miller are you aware of why we called you here today?” Ethel asked impassively.

Shelby scratched the back of his head.

“Ma’am, I got an invite, but I assume it was on account of the spire making me one of its chosen.”

Sam couldn’t help herself from correcting the distinction.

“No, as far as we are aware, the system chose you, not the spire.”

“Spire, system, it's all the same to me, Ma’am” Shelby shrugged unfazed.

All the while never losing his smile as he continued.

“The spire has already given us our next heading, opening its gates, which means you probably need my help, and I yours.”

Mark hadn’t expected that Shelby would already be on board, but his next words were worrying.

“From what my comrades tell me, Mark, along with two others from your faction watched over the door as people passed by.”

His eyes moved to Sam for a fraction of a second and then back to Mark. Sam had already guessed that it was their crests that allowed them to stand in for a Tender, but after that, they weren’t sure they’d have as much power once the doors were open.

From what Mark could tell, the system had not notified the people it had selected as its tenders, which meant finding them would be even harder than they first hoped.

Ethel didn’t seem to see any need to deny his probing question.

“I’ll confirm we want to open the spire to help everyone and that three of us have been chosen by it. ”

Mark’s face twitched, he didn’t like that Ethel was playing into this whole thing, but she was more adept in negotiation, so Mark said nothing.

When Ethel confirmed his story, Shelby’s eyes became crescents.

“Glad to hear we both want the same thing, how do you want to go about this?”

Ethel glanced at Mark with a strange look, but it disappeared before he could identify it.

“Well, as you already pointed out we’re taking turns to watch over the entrance and gathering people to open the gates. We have a couple of other avenues working on this, but we’d like your help with this task. I’d like to have you work closely with Mark and when you prove we can trust you on our territory, I’d like to give you full access to the gate.”

Mark shot Ethel a sidelong glance, even as Shelby’s shoulders straightened.

“We accept, but just so you are aware, we are attempting to create a free faction at the moment. If you’d be willing we’d appreciate an endorsement.”

Ethel didn’t seem to think on this too long and instead simply nodded her head.

“I make no promises that it will help, but we’re happy to put in a recommendation if your motivations to protect the spire and people around here remain honest. The moment that changes we will withdraw our support.”

Shelby nodded his head in understanding.

“I hear you, Ma’am, loud and clear.”

Mark had gone over what he knew of Shelby's group before they had arrived, and whatever else they were, their desire to help seemed honest enough.

Time would tell if there was anything deeper that they had yet to reveal.

As Ethel and Shelby continued to talk terms, Mark felt his mind wandering.

The second biggest reason for him not wanting to be here right now was the fact that he’d gotten back the clinic plans last night.

They were looking to break ground today and Mark had wanted to be there for that. The logistics team had put together a construction crew of casters and builders to work off the blueprint they had been designing. Mark had chosen a street that had been completely leveled during the invasion, while still being decently close to their core and the spire. Clearing the rubble would be the least of their problems.

Mark was just wondering how much they could get done today when Shelby’s chair squeaked as he got up.

Offering a hand to Ethel and then Mark to shack.

“I understand, I’ll work with your men and have my allies wait further out. If it's not too much trouble, I’d like to start my first shift right now. I can go relieve Mr. Wilson for you.”

Ethel nodded and hesitantly Mark took Shelby's hand. Once more that same presence peaked out from behind Shelby’s form, but Mark broke the contact before it could rush over.

Shelby didn’t look insulted but his gaze was still locked on Mark. Then he shook Sam's hand and left the room.

When Mark was sure they were alone he turned to Ethel and asked in a lower tone.

“Are you sure it's such a good idea for us to play into this? I’m getting really strange vibes from this lot. They don’t seem malicious, but… I dunno”

Ethel glanced at Mark and tilted her head to the side.

“I’ve worked with people like Shelby in the past. They’re loyal to a fault if you treat them right, I’m aware it may be uncomfortable for you but right now we need results, can you do it?”

Mark searched Ethle’s face but he couldn’t find any hesitation there, so he nodded.

“Sure, I can work with anyone if it means we can save more lives. We need to get in that spire as soon as possible.”

Ethel nodded as she riffled through some documents.

“On that note, Karter has put together what he thinks should be our next step and if you are willing, here, the explorations team's first mission.”

Mark took the documentation and saw they were maps for the surrounding area around the Westchester County Department, up north. On foot, it would take days to reach this destination, but the three of them could easily cover over half the distance by simply flying, after that, it would be at most another day's journey.

“Right now one of our greatest needs is information. To do this we need to secure the equipment for global communication. Right now, what we need is a crisis communication center set up by the government before the fall. As it stands New York had a couple such stations, but all were either destroyed or key equipment was damaged in the fall.”

The idea of communicating with other continents had never even crossed Mark's mind, they had too many problems here at home. Finding out how others were doing hadn’t been a luxury they could afford, but now things were different.

Ethel was right they needed answers. Did the fall happen worldwide? Were there sectors that dealt with it better or worse? What kind of Corrupted had they encountered?

Did anyone else survive?

“To do this we will need to either set up a relay or bring back the equipment, provided it's not damaged.”

Mark noted they had picked a less populated area, probably hoping to increase the chances the equipment had survived.

Sam wrinkled her nose.

“And if it's unusable?”

Ethel shrugged.

“Then you return home and we look at this from another angle. This is still weeks away, plus we need to decide on your second in command. I'm just preparing you for the potential”

Mark looked over the documentation, he still had a fair amount he wanted to do before they headed out into the unknown.

For one he had heard the Insistute was set to open this afternoon. Repairs had been quick and with the sudden influx of new items in the Market place, people were hungrier than ever for Sp. Mark wanted to check in to see if there were any available classes he could make use of while here.

Mark had checked in with Lisa yesterday to find out how Patrica was doing. The religious district was worrying him and the fact that no one was allowed in only made things worse.

The news could have been better.

As it turned out, Patrica was having a difficult time getting her flock back under her guidance and was having to spend time in NAS’s territory. This new high priest was someone from her inner circle and during her disappearance he had poisoned people against her.

‘In their time of need, she had abandoned them, after leading them down into that hell hole.’

Mark wasn’t too sure how it worked but apparently, her Ideal was still functioning as before, but there was a division in how much it could do.

Patrica wanted to help who she could, but the other high priest was significantly more conservative and self-righteous with their shared power.

Mark could only guess that the Ideal was struggling under two different viewpoints. Which would either destroy it or create two separate gods.

Patrica was not on her own though, Lisa had been offering her full support and at least half of the church of Brilliance were still willing to hear her out.

Mark had not thought Patrica would have such a hard time and he made a note to go see her if he had time. Perhaps there was something he could do for her.

Though at his point Mark's plate was pretty full. Carl and Willow had come to a compromise of sorts and Mark was impressed by what a little healthy competition could do.

Mark had not left the room yet as there was one final thing to do today before he could go and oversee the clinic.

Something he had been dreading almost as much as seeing Shelby, if not more.

A woman from the logistics team poked her head in and nodded towards Ethel.

“Alright people, shall we call the first person in?” Ethel said calmly as she turned to the two of them.

Mark swallowed and nodded, nothing was going to be decided today, but Ethel had arranged for interviews with some of their closest people. They needed to begin filling the openings left by Chole and Daphne. Today was the first look at the candidates, and Mark was starting to regret his decision to be a part of this, but he refused to move.

The decision had to be made and Mark wanted the chance to be a part of this for Daphne, he owed it to her and the faction.

When the first person walked in, Mark was surprised to see Gibby making his way to sit opposite them. His causal smile watching them, Gibby had not been on the list of Ethel's recommendations but he was here now.

Mark settled in to listen to what the guy had to say.