The Atlantian System: Creation

The renovation turned the chapel into two separate areas with stone walls. The front, where the pews would have been, now featured a large metal table that resembled something from a science fiction novel. Against one wall was a sea of televisions, some showing newsreels from various countries, others showing CCTV footage of what looked like Athens. Simple panels of stained glass on the opposite wall lit the room in splashes of reds, whites, and yellows.

Four raised bumps on the metal table projected holograms of a city map and a man’s upper body.

His stature loomed large, with a thick neck supporting his round face, while his dark eyes squinted at Atreus standing in front of the table, his hand was ready to smooth back the hologram’s topee.

“You’re lucky someone didn’t snap off a picture and post it on social media with that little light show on the roof.” The hologram growled with an American accent, his voice echoing around the room from a hidden speaker.

“It is incredibly fortunate.” Atreus responded slowly, arms crossed over his chest as he tried to hold back his irritation, “Considering the Blessed were so adamant on killing our new Queen that they risked such exposure.”

“You’re lucky you’re not court marshaled for this little stunt-”

“What stunt is that, sir?” Atreus’s eyes narrowed at the hologram, “One of the greatest threats to humanity set its minions loose on Athens to kill our new Queen mere days after her Rising, and I’m expected to protect her with a skeleton crew with bad intel and subpar equipment. An unprecedented surprise attack, the largest raid we’ve recorded in the last 200 years done so effectively that neither the Sects nor any other Priestess said anything.”

“Because of your lack of foresight, I lost good men-”

“And I lost good people, too. Corbin. Luis. Nicole. Tomaseo. Adjany. All deaths that could have been avoided if my Sect hadn’t been stripped bare just when a Queen arrives.”

“Watch your tone!”

Atreus uncrossed his hands to set them on the lip of the table, meeting the eyes of the hologram with a look akin to cold anger, “Our counts show the number of Goblins that made it into that hospital was higher than our best estimates of Goblins in the entire country. You want to talk about court marshall? How about explaining to me how not a single Sect in the surrounding area noticed a gods damn Onikama found its way into Athens? Who’s not doing their damn job keeping the Comms down in an emergency so the Sects can talk to each other?”

His eyes flew up when he detected movement, seeing the Hunter and Leta strolling towards them.

Straightening, Atreus bowed low over the table. “You’re Majesty.”

The hologram turned and jumped when it spotted her, eyes widening when it realized who she was.

“Your Majesty!” His crooning was sickly sweet. “An absolute pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Elston Van Brawn, Governor of Greece, Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Kosovo, and Serbia.”

Leta raised an eyebrow. The man was as two faced as she’d expect a Governor to be. He had a look that screamed terrible politician. His syrupy tone and greasy smile rubbed her the wrong way. “What seems to be going on here?”

“Your Majesty, we were discussing the errors made in your protection during last night’s.. events.” Van Brawn chose his words carefully. “Your safety is our top priority, naturally. There were serious laps in safety. We-”

“Why are the Comms down?”

Elston opened his mouth as if to respond, then closed it when her words finally registered. “Apologies, your Majesty, I’m not-”

“Atreus here just said the Comms are down. Why can’t the Sects talk to each other?”

“I counted two attacks on Your Majesty in Santorini,” Elston said, seeming to flounder for words before a too-wide smile spread across his face. “The first was an unfortunate event, but it was believed that the second option may have been nearly successful because of information leaked to the Blessed.”

When Leta looked at Atreus, she observed his lips were pressed in a thin frown.

“So you shut communications down in order to prevent further information from getting out.” Leta summarized.

“Correct, your Majesty! Most astute-”

“So if you have the Comms shut off why didn’t you think to beef up security at the hospital?”

Allister coughed behind her as if he were trying to mask a laugh.

Leta gazed through the hologram at the General, who sported an amused smirk with his lip pulled up. “Atreus, who was to plan my security detail?” She asked, though she felt she already knew how the rest of this conversation was going to go.

“I was, your Majesty, after Governor Van Brawn and the Senator approved it.”

“So you designed the plan?”

“I designed the plan and, after it was reviewed and edited by the Governor and Senator, I executed the approved plan.”

“Edited, you say.” Leta pursed her lips and looked back to Easton the hologram, who was looking worried. “What edits were made?”

Atreus lowered his head. “The number of guards placed outside the hospital and those in plain clothes within.”

“That was-” Elston tried to interject, but Leta cut him off.

“What was the number changed to?”

“Two guards instead of eight at the front door, one instead of five at front reception, and three guards instead of ten to monitor the halls.”

Elston finally spoke up. “The numbers requested were unreasonable!”

“My safety is unreasonable?” Leta asked calmly.

“O-of course not, your Majesty.” He stuttered, backtracking like a pro, “But to meet these demands would require pulling personnel from the Istanbul or Sofia Sects.”

“And why wasn’t that doable?”

“They were already in route to the dig site. If we called those still at the Sect, it’s a fifteen hour train from-”

“So you prioritized a dig site over the safety of a Queen? Look,” Leta pinched the bridge of her nose, “I feel you two can argue and point fingers at each other all day long. Explain to me how they got into the hospital without dying from exposing themselves?”

Atreus stood at attention in front of her as if addressing his superior officer, “Based on CCTV footage and witness statements, the Loupgarou arrived armed and dressed in quasi-military attire, making it appear as if they were a terrorist organization from Costez. The current political unrest in Costez off the coast of the Med has led credence to the story that the group were there to assassinate a high ranking Costezie figure. No figure has been named, but the event has caused further tensions between the two nations, and Greece and several other countries are now imposing sanctions on the Costez.”

Leta looked at the wall of televisions. A few were playing the same story but in different languages as they showed aerial footage of the hospital. Others showed images of men with faces covered, rifles held high as they chanted something she couldn’t hear.

“And the Goblins?”

Atreus’s fingers danced across the buttons, illuminating the table with a soft glow. The projection of city streets dissolved to show a three-dimensional image of the hospital.

“By some miracle, most of the hospital was under renovations during the raid as the hospital was a new purchase. The ground floor and first floor,” the floors highlighted on the hologram, “were open and used to treat Mundanes. Floor two was compromised, but the Mundane doctors quickly secured the theaters where they were performing operations. Third floor is empty save for utility area that also houses the hospital’s main servers. Without prying eyes, the Loupgarou cut the power to cause confusion before setting up a channel to funnel Goblins into the building past the Mundanes from the sewers.”

A moving van at the loading area in the back of the hospital flashed twice to get everyone’s attention. “In the back loading area, we discovered a Lorrie parked with a bed covered in dirt and rocks. With the hospital’s loading area and kitchen’s closed for the night, we believe they used the vehicle to bring the Onikama through the city and set it loose in the stairwell.”

Leta nodded. “That explains how they got in. What was the evacuation plan in case of an emergency?”

“Bring you to the roof to be lifted out. Hayato was kept on ice here at the monastery, specifically to be a means of last resort should you be attacked.”

She pursed her lips as her eyes roamed over the hologram of the hospital. Despite not being a strategist, she suspected Comms would be shut down at the same time that the Sect was short-staffed and unable to properly protect her.

She couldn’t determine if he was merely an oblivious idiot or had sinister motives behind his leadership decisions.

Both options were terrifyingly possible.

She clenched her fists tightly, feeling the heat of anger radiate through her body.

“So my dad getting hurt, my mom being taken by a Gargoyle, and Adjany getting thrown from the damn roof is all because you wouldn’t fucking make sure you had enough staff present.” Leta growled, pinning her glowing blue eyes to the hologram as her hair rose from static.

Elston demonstrated enough intelligence to recognize he was in trouble as he observed tiny sparks crackled around her clenched fists.

“Your Majesty, it’s a bit more complex-”

“I don’t think it fucking is.” She snapped, the glow of her eyes and the red of the stained glass window making her look like an avenging spirit rising to exact retribution. “I think it’s very simple. Your inaction caused my dad permanent harm, my mother to be kidnapped and possibly killed by the Blessed, and a talented Alchemist to be thrown to her death. I think it’s straightforward for you to think you’re guiltless in all this, but it’s. Your. Fault. “

“You’re Majesty.”

Leta snapped around with a sharp eye to see Allister, who had the decency to lower his gaze at her furious expression. “Our intel shows the Gargoyle took your mother out of Athens. We lost them just before they reached Mount Parnassus, but she was still alive when they were last spotted.”

The hope that bubbled up from the pit of her stomach at the idea her mother maybe, just maybe, survived the attack was a terrible thing.

She wished for it to be true.

She desperately desired for her mother to be alive.

But in the case that she was, her mother was now in the grip of an undeniable monster. Not like the psychotic Goblins or the Loupgarou driven by their instincts, but a true monster. The kind that derived pleasure from watching someone’s mind shatter while their bodies were mutilated and broken.

The sort of monster that fanned the flames of war and watch the world burn down because they thought the embers were pretty.

Leta took a deep breath, centering herself as she directed her anger towards something that had a constructive purpose.

“I don’t give a damn about how or why last night happened.” Each word came out slow but full of teeth as she fixed the hologram with a menacing glare. “All I care about is what we’re going to fucking do about it.”