Divine Awakening

“It’s all true,” the Colonel said, “and every day more appear, like they’re awakening from hibernation. In one sense, it’s been a bit of a blessing. Every country has some form of these magical beings. It’s kept most of the focus internal, decreasing the chance of international conflict.”

“And in the pit?” Ash asked.

“This new energy is definitely originating there, and nothing electronic works in the area. There isn’t much around the top, but once you drop a hundred feet, the tunnels appear.”

“Tunnels?” Ash asked.

“Yes, tunnels. Not like caves but actual tunnels with mosaics, even lighting.”

Ash stared in disbelief at the Colonel.

“The initial levels have an Egyptian theme, for lack of a better term. And we haven’t made much progress past those, so we’re unsure what’s beyond. We intercepted a picture taken by a Russian team that made it farther into the tunnels and it showed something I’d describe as a gargoyle.”

“Are you telling me that Pit leads to hell?”

The Colonel shrugged. “Starting two weeks ago, I stopped dismissing even the most ludicrous explanations. So, to be honest, who knows? What I do know is whatever’s at the bottom of that Pit is leaking energy that doesn’t appear compatible with our technology, so extrapolate what happens if we don’t stop it or control it.”

Ash understood then: if the energy continued to leak and they couldn’t figure out a way to make technology work with it, then eventually that meant no technology.

“I see you’re starting to understand, but it’s probably worse than you’ve realized. China and Russia are both closer to this event than we are, making the problems for them greater. You don’t need to be a military genius to know what will happen if they think they’ll lose military parity with us. They’ll either do something very stupid here at the Pit, or they’ll ensure the rest of the world can’t take advantage of their weakness.

The Colonel rubbed his face with his hands as if scrubbing the terrible thoughts away. “So, when I mentioned the end of the world, I wasn’t joking. We know for a fact that plans are already being discussed. If we can’t get our hands around this situation, the Chinese or the Russians, or maybe both, will put this entire world back into the Stone Age, assuming anyone survives.”

The more Ash thought about it, the greater the issues loomed. In fact, he didn’t see a way that this could end without things going south.

“I recognize that look,” the Colonel said. “It’s how I felt thinking it through. But if you can believe it, it might be even worse than that. I’ve already told you dragons and elves exist but take a moment to think about that. If they’re real, then maybe all our myths have some root in the truth, and if that’s the case –”

The Colonel didn’t continue, but he didn’t need to. Ash followed the logic immediately. Gods. The Colonel was talking about gods returning. The appearance of Death, the Scarecrow Angel, and Ra made it obvious that nuclear weapons, aircraft carriers, and submarines didn’t matter to a god. If the gods of mythology were anything like the stories made them out to be, then the devastation would be far worse than anything a few measly nation-states could accomplish.

“One of the few paths out of this mess is if all of us fail and the reality of the approaching threat becomes clear. In that scenario the world powers will cooperate to survive. If one of us succeeds, however, the others will band together to destroy them. It’s only if none of us succeed that Earth can avoid certain annihilation. Then we can work together to harness the power for defense or destroy it.”

“How confident are you that the other countries will come to this conclusion?” Ash asked.

“After the first week of failures, the Russians dropped a tactical nuclear warhead into the pit. It never detonated. Two days later, the Chinese used a balloon to lower a neutron bomb on a timer. It never detonated either. To demonstrate the US grasped the situation and agreed with the necessary outcome, we also tried detonating a warhead in the Pit and, predictably, it failed.”

So perhaps there was a silver lining, Ash thought. Maybe this disaster could accomplish what nothing else had managed, forcing the world’s powers to stop trying to kill each other. Ash’s Third Eye chakra reacted to one of the Colonel’s statements, and he extrapolated the most likely scenario.

“If our only path out of this mess is everyone failing and forcing cooperation, why are we going? What’s the point of this?”

The Colonel nodded. “While all sides know that the country that gains control of this power will make an enemy of the rest of the world, it’s possible that won’t matter. It’s possible whatever lies at the bottom of that pit will make that country untouchable. Reaching the bottom and understanding the source is the highest priority. Until we arrive at the point where everyone believes they’ve no shot at mastering the knowledge, or that it won’t be enough to survive the consequences, the cooperation phase won’t start.”

“Which means every team down there has two missions,” Ash responded. “The first is to understand and control the power at the bottom of the Pit. The second is to stop all the other teams. And the other countries will be doing the same.”

Captain Riegel spoke this time. “And now you understand why the odds of survival are so low. Anyone entering the Pit not only faces the dangers it contains but all the other teams as well.”

Ash’s Third Eye chakra pieced more of it together. “Nomad’s team is a kill team.”

Captain Riegel remained silent.

After five seconds, the Colonel responded, “You’re correct. Their primary mission is to protect your team, with a high-priority secondary mission to neutralize any foreign teams that you encounter.”

“We made one other adjustment,” the Captain continued. “Instead of a traditional team, Nomad’s squad, as we told you earlier, mirrors the skills of your team.”

That sounded odd to Ash. “Skills of my team? I assume it’s full of skilled fighters to help defend against other kill teams, and the dangers of the Pit itself.”

“Perhaps,” the Captain said, obviously uncomfortable, “but that isn’t immediately apparent. Very few on your team have fighting experience. For whatever reason, combat skills were not a priority when Sephy assembled the most likely combination to survive.”

“What skills do they have? The more I learn the worse this sounds.”

“We’ll go over the details shortly, and I know this worries you, but understand the best combat forces from around the world have already died. Success in the Pit is not dependent on fighting skills. That is obvious.”

The Colonel continued. “Everything you meet down there will attempt to stop you. Your mission is to reach the bottom, understand the source, and determine if it can be controlled—and if it’s powerful enough to keep the United States safe from the rest of the world. If not, you need to destroy it.”

Ash’s Throat chakra had activated during the conversation, and since neither the Colonel nor the Captain had said anything to calm it down, he knew they’d left something important out.

“What aren’t you telling me?” Ash asked.

The Colonel smiled. “You’ll need to be a little more specific than that, Shamrock. There’s a lot I’m not telling you.”

Captain Riegel studied Ash intently, as if absorbing every detail of his behavior to analyze later.

“I think it has something to do with the Pit,” Ash continued. “Something important.”

This time, the Colonel looked at the Captain.

The Captain shrugged. “You’re the one that wanted transparency and honesty. So, you should tell him.”

“Tell me what?” Ash asked.

The Colonel sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose for three seconds before locking eyes with Ash. “We intercepted a Chinese transmission that originated from the Pit before the Chinese team went silent. They were frantic. Convinced the Pit was alive and that it had released monsters on them.”

“That doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Ash responded. “What did they mean by alive?”

“They reported that underneath the Egyptian-like tunnels was a more complex system that reminded them of Dragons and Underground Cities. That’s the Chinese name for the game Dungeons and Dragons. And just before they went silent, they transmitted that the dungeon itself was alive.”

“How would they know something like that?”

The Colonel shook his head, as if not believing the words he was about to say. “If the translation is correct, they said the tunnels and rooms shifted and changed. They said that creatures disappeared after being defeated and reappeared revived. And they said they received rewards.”

“Rewards?”

“The youngest translator called them ‘loot boxes.’”