The Atlantian System: Creation

“Oh my gosh.” Afra exhaled, nearly hyperventilating. “Oh my…”

Her distress broke Leta from the vision. “Seriously, what? You’re making me nervous.”

“I… I am too low on the food chain to be speaking to you. This is reserved for people way above my pay grade.” Afra muttered, hands up as if trying to show that she wasn’t dangerous as she slowly stood from her seat.

“Jezzus, Afra, just tell me.” Leta squinted her eyes in annoyance. The woman had been more than happy to treat her like everyone else, yet suddenly started acting like Leta was supposed to be given a wide berth.

“N-no, I’ll go get Atreus. He’s the head of the Athen’s sect. He’ll-”

“Afra, stop!” Leta growled, her voice going low as Persuasion came to the surface.

[Host has used the skill, Persuasion. Persuasion successful.]

The woman stopped in her tracks, her body stiff as if suddenly petrified. Her gaze was full of shock and fear. Her mouth parted slightly as if to gasp when she saw Leta’s eyes glowing an eerie blue in the afternoon light.

At the woman’s obvious distress, Leta looked away, releasing the hold she’d inadvertently had on her.

“I’m sorry. Just… tell me what you think I am.” Leta sighed, trying to convey that she wasn’t a threat, though the slowly fading glow of her eyes wasn’t helping.

“Oh my god…Y-you’re a Crown. I-I have to go.” Afra gulped before fleeing from the room as if running from a monster.

“Okay…”

[It would seem the images described from the Host’s system integration process were a bit of a shock.]

“Yeah, I wonder why.”

[Based on archive records, Crowns refer to the King/Queen classes, which were created to manage overall human populations in various regions under the guidance of the Atlantians. These classes were subjects of fear and awe by the general population due to their impressive mastery of software such as Persuasion and Command and highly advanced offensive skill software. During the Atlantian reign, these classes were sporadic, with less than 1% of the inoculated population attaining this class. In addition, all classes save for the Priest/Priestess class were programmed to be subservient to the King/Queen which, coupled with the King/Queen’s passive software, Intimidation, would cause the general population to show reverence to those with the class.]

“Interesting…” Leta mused, partially out of academic curiosity at such a class, but also for inadvertently learning there were skills for Command and Intimidation.

[Please remember that, as the Monarch, the Host will not be affected by the passive skills of Leadership designated classes.]

Just then the door swung open forcefully and Vigo stumbled inside, his hair disheveled and dressed in nurse scrubs.

“Vigo-!” She started then went silent as he vigorously waved his hands to get her to stop.

“Shh!” He hissed as he quickly ran to her side. He had a cut over his left eye, bruises visible on his collarbone and shoulder, and one arm was bandaged in a temporary cast. He was certainly banged up from last night’s events but seemed mostly fine, which is why his wide eyes and cautious facial expressions were so jarring to her.

“We have to go. Now.” He told her, holding out another set of scrubs for her.

“I don’t-”

“There’s some unnatural stuff going on here, and we need to run.” He interrupted as he went to her medical display to unhook the IV. His worried gaze looked her over with an expression of horror. “Oh god, what did they do to you!? You’re nothing but skin and bones!”

“It’s fine, Vigo.” Leta tried to calm him down, but Vigo was in a state of panic.

“No, it’s not fine!” He snapped, his eyes going hard as if trying to explain a dire situation to a toddler. “Who knows what they could have done to you. To us!”

He held up his arm in the cast, “Look at this! This was completely broken in the middle and bent so far back, I could have touched my shoulder without moving my elbow. Now it’s just a hairline fracture.”

“That’s a good thing, right?”

“In moments! I should be an amputee, but a little old lady pats my arm and suddenly I’m walking around like I just took a hard fall. Now, come on! We need to leave.” He hurriedly pushed the food tray aside and put the scrubs in her lap.

“Wait, Vigo!” Leta hurriedly raised her hands so she didn’t accidentally drop her cup of water, “You need to calm down. Everything is fine.”

“Everything is not fine!” Vigo was starting to get frantic, “I watched some woman put her hand on a mug and the water started bubbling. There’s some really weird X-Men stuff going on here and we do not want to be a part of it.”

He was anxiously pacing the room, going to each window and scanning the rooftops of nearby buildings as if he fully expected to see a sniper with their sights on him.

“We’re probably their next target. We saw that werewolf and the shadow monsters. We know too much.” Vigo was mumbling to himself like a madman, “That’s it. We saw something we weren’t supposed to see, and now they’re keeping us here to turn us into one of them.”

“Vigo, calm down.” Leta intoned with her Persuasion skill.

The effect was instant as the lines bracketing the man’s mouth smoothed out and his wide gaze softened, his facial expression relaxing as if he’d just gotten out of a trip to the spa.

“Woah…” He slurred as he rocked on his feet as he gently turned back to look back at her.

“I don’t like the idea of making people do things against their will, but I need you to listen.” She spoke slowly so that each word was understood. “First, I’m sorry you got pulled into all this. You were definitely not supposed to know about this crazy world you’ve found. I’m… well I’m new to all this myself, but I’m what’s called an Arisen. Long story short, we can do things that normal people can’t do. Crazy, supernatural things. Right now, we’re in a hospital for Arisen. You’re not supposed to be here, but since you were with me, you’re also getting treated.”

Vigo took a deep breath, his eyes focusing as the Persuasion began to fade, “What…Arisen?”

“Yes. The doctor that healed up most of your arm? The nurse that can control heat and fire? All Arisen. These guys are called The Chosen. They look like normal humans but they’ve got superpowers.” She explained, trying to make this as simple as possible for the still recovering man. “There’s also another group of Arisen called the Blessed. They are literal monsters out of legend and like to eat Chosen.”

Vigo’s face went white with her words. “The shadow monster and the werewolf?”

Leta nodded, “Yeah, those were Blessed. You might not remember, but the reason we were both ejected from the truck was because it was hit by a Minotaur.”

His eyes nearly bulged out of his head. “Holy… really? Minotaur are real?”

“Yep, but they look nothing like what the legends say. Instead of a man’s body with a bull’s head, it’s more of a bull’s body with a human-like face. Super creepy.”

A look of horror crossed his face at the mental image, “Oh my god.”

“Yeah, it wasn’t fun. Anyway, the Minotaur is gone, but we both got really hurt so, well, here we are.” She emphasized with outstretched hands to gesture at the room around them.

Vigo blinked, his eyes distant as his frazzled brain tried to recover from the shock of finding out that he was a small fish in a very big pond. It looked like the human equivalent of the spinning wheel of death that came up when a computer crashed.

Seeming spent, he practically fell into the chair behind him. “H-holy shit.”

“Breathe, man.” Leta tried to encourage him, even acting out taking deep breaths. “I know this is a lot to take in, trust me. I’m literally only a few days into all this myself.”