The Connected System

“We found the bodies about a mile north of the Lynxia Dungeon,” Jerry said.

He stood on the lobby side of the counter, hands placed firmly on it as if they were the only things keeping him standing. Average height, build and looks, Jerry was from Northwood but Loch didn’t think he’d ever seen the man around. Brown hair had grown long with a shaggy beard that covered most of his face. He looked nervous.

Loch didn’t blame him.

Besides himself, the office was full. Darren Holmberg, Ed Turner, Kristin Conway, Kyle Smith, Piper and Cerie were there, sitting or leaning against the walls. Aside from Piper, it was the Clan’s leadership plus Jerry’s boss. Loch hadn’t wanted Piper there, but he needed Cerie. He could have made Piper sit out in the lobby out of earshot, but after seeing the bodies she had wanted to stay close to him. She was supposed to be concentrating on her sketches, but Loch knew she was listening in. He was surprised that Harper hadn’t tried to work her way into the meeting.

“Just the two of them. There were signs of a struggle,” Jerry continued. “Some blood splatters and the wounds on the coyote.”

“Can you remember exactly where you found them,” Loch asked.

Jerry nodded.

“The scavengers brought back some compasses,” Kyle interjected. “We’ve been having the hunters use direction and landmarks to map out the area. No way to measure distance or time yet,” he finished with a shrug. “It’s basic stuff. Head north until hit the large rock then turn so many degrees northeast until hit the brook.”

Kyle seemed slightly embarrassed about the method.

“That’s awesome,” Loch said, and meant it.

He was impressed that Kyle and his hunters had come up with the system at all. There had to be a way to work a time component into it and start figuring out distances. The world had to stop growing at some point.

“We’ve established some set points to use as markers to reference from,” Kyle added. “It’s helped us keep from stumbling into each team’s area and helps us locate grazing areas.”

“Great idea,” Loch said.

“I can’t take the credit,” Kyle replied. “It was one of the hunters, T.J. Wolfe. One of the newer ones, not yet Level 5. He said he’d done a lot of bushwhacking and off-trail hiking in areas with bad cell reception so didn’t always have GPS.”

“Tomorrow morning I want to head out to the site,” Loch said. “If there’s this monster in the woods, we need to find it. Jerry, can you lead us out there?”

“Yes sir,” Jerry said nervously.

“Can you find T.J. and have him come to,” Loch asked, looking at Kyle.

“Yeah.”

***

Loch held the others back when Kyle and Jerry left. He motioned to Darren to close the wooden double doors leading into the office. The top half of the door was glass with words stenciled in gold ink on them. Loch could read OFFICE spelled backwards. He didn’t know how soundproof they were, but with the glass, he’d be able to see anyone approaching. Because the office was at the top of a couple steps, he could just see the heads of people moving through the lobby.

He turned to Cerie, who sat on the desks between him and Kristin.

“What’s the rest of it,” he prompted.

“Wendigos do not appear on all Connected Worlds,” Cerie began. “First you need to know more about the Hunger. It is one of the Divine Beings but unlike others, like your patron Thor.” No one looked at Loch in surprise. They all knew about his Patron already. “And like your Patron Odin, the Concept of Knowledge,” Cerie said, looking at Kristin. That was a surprise and Loch made a note to ask about it later. “Hunger is more of an entity than a physical Adapted Being. Not that any Divine Being can truly be called Adapted anymore, not at their Levels of Power. But the Hunger was never an Adapted to begin with. No one is quite sure where or what the Hunger Advanced from but it has always been more Concept than thinking Being. The other Divine Beings called the Hunger and similar like it as Feral. It has only one desire and that is to feed. It is never satiated. It must always feed. Because it is always hungry, it corrupts Adapted to serve its needs to to bring it energy through feeding.”

“Isn’t that similar to what all Divine Beings and even the Connected do?,” Loch asked. “Isn’t our use of Spirit and our Advancement feeding them power?”

“Yes, but the Hunger doesn’t take that Spirit and use it, it just consumes it. Removing that Spirit from the Connection entirely.”

“What does that have to do with Wendigos,” Darren asked. “Aren’t they people that get transformed through cannibalism? When they’re hungry they eat the flesh of others and….”

“That is your myth but not the truth of a Wendigo,” Cerie replied. “The Hunger’s Wendigos are relentless killing and eating machines. They do not need to be created through cannibalism but through a summoning like other Patrons. It is one's hunger that draws the Divine Being to the person that will become a Wendigo. They are transformed and remain ever hungry, never stopping as the Hunger is always craving more. The transformed Wendigo, called by different names across the Connected Realms but most commonly the Alpha or Prime Wendigo has the Ability to create others of its kind. They are weaker and their consumption feeds the Prime Wendigo which in turn feeds the Hunger.”

She paused, looking around to make sure the others were all paying attention. Even Piper had looked up from her sketching and the teen looked terrified. Cerie sighed, wrapping her arms around her body, looking up at Loch.

“If not found and destroyed, the Prime Wendigo will keep on creating more and more of its kind. They will spread out, consuming and destroying everything they come across, the Prime Wendigo becoming stronger with every consumption, growing in power until none can stand against it. First it will be animals and Adapted, then when all those are gone, they will turn to the plants and nutrients in the world. It will not end until they have consumed everything and left a dead world behind. Finally turning on each other until just one is left and that one consumes itself until there is nothing remaining. The Wendigo is a plague. It must be stopped.”

Silence followed as everyone processed what Cerie had said. Loch was horrified. That such a thing could exist, that the Connection would allow such a thing to exist. But why wouldn’t it? The Connection’s goal was to push the Adapted into Advancing in Power, feeding it Spirit. The Wendigo was another obstacle put in the path of the Adapted. A way to force them to Advance, or fall behind and be consumed. Just another challenge.

The Connection was no better than this Concept of Hunger. The Connection was never satisfied. It wanted more, never stopping, always pushing the Adapted to generate Spirit for it to consume. Maybe that was why it let the Hunger exist. It sensed a kindred Spirit.

Loch turned to look out the window, seeing how low in the sky the sun was. They couldn’t head out now. It would be dark soon and it didn’t sound like this Wendigo was anything they wanted to face in the darkness. There was no telling how many things had been mutated like the Coyote. There could be an army out in those woods.

He turned back to the others, still seeing them trying to process. What other new horrors would the Connection be throwing at them? Things like the monsters, the invaders, all that had been bad enough but to learn about things like the Hunger? What other Concepts existed?

“I was originally thinking just a small team,” Loch began, drawing the eyes to him. “Scout out the location and see if we could trace this thing back to its den. But now…,” he shook his head. “Who do we have for the adventuring teams,” he asked looking at Kristin who opened one of her notebooks.

“There’s your group. Davis Millman and Drew Meyers aren’t back yet. Roger Lewis and his team are at the Lynxia Dungeon and due back in the morning.” Loch saw Ed Turner wince at the mention of that team, which included his son Mike. “Frank Russo’s team is in the Painted Caves Dungeon currently. The only other team is the one formed from that Pittsfield group, Josh Hauser. I think the people that came in yesterday are forming one but they haven’t gone onto any of the Dungeon schedules yet.”

Loch sighed. He really wanted to have Davis’ group as he’d worked with most of them before. Even Drew, who was relatively new to the Clan, would have been preferable. He didn’t want to work with Roger’s team and they might not get back in time. That left just the new group, who Loch didn’t even know. He remembered Josh Hauser’s attitude back at the wall and didn’t want to bring the man along.

Go scout and then come back and hope Davis or Drew, preferably both, were back?

They couldn’t take the risk. Not if the Wendigo was as powerful as Cerie had said. It had already been too long.

“Get ahold of Josh and tell him to have his people ready, we leave at first light.”