"Well, if it isn't Charlotte. What's your code name, again? Deus Ex? Why, your very existence is paramount to cheating. Not a god, though, right?" A voice behind her chuckled, and Charlotte turned; standing in the doorway, jester mask, tailcoats and all. The supposed arch-demon who'd caused the vast majority of this.
"Yeah, it's me," Charlotte agreed, grinning, measuring her breaths. If he snuck up on me, he didn't step there, he teleported. Be careful; you can't die but you can hurt. "What's up? I'm not here to kill anybody- we're looking for answers?"
"Well I gave them to your friends already. Will that suffice?"
"Humor me?" Charlotte asked, gentle, glancing around, still with that damnable smirk tugging at her lips. "What's going on here really? Not the flashy fireworks and stuff, but for real."
"Okay," The jester chuckled, leaning on the doorway and looking around. "This place is drab, isn't it?"
"Suppose so," Charlotte agreed, looking around; rusted tables and broken computer monitors. Leaves and debris on the floor; this place might have been clean a few hours ago, even- but the small warehouse looked like it had been trashed on purpose.
"A question before I enlighten you, is that okay?" The jester chuckled again, leaning harder into that doorframe. "If I tell you that my enlightening you won't solve anything- that this isn't a problem you can kill. Would you care?"
"No." Charlotte shook her head, reaching up and deftly untying, retying her hair in a flash. "I'm tired- the story has no direction."
"The story? This is real life, girl."
"Not what I mean. What's the point? We save some, some more die. Now why is this attack happening? Who's the enemy? I don't know- it's too confusing. I'm an executioner, not a strategist."
"So honest, and humble," The jester laughed, pushing himself off the wall. "The story is much simpler than you think. Starria hates anything that isn't human and Mir hates their ways. They want to fight- so what better to provoke a war than a chemical attack and a few thousand dead?"
"Right, so which side-"
"Who profits from war?"
"The manufacturerss of weap- oh," Charlotte whispered, nodding.
"Which nation would have a weapons company executed for using magic? Which would have a company executed for manufacturing something like this? Even with the obvious answers, does that tell you which nation houses said company? No."
Laughing, the strange man stepped forward, shaking his head. "I think I've given you enough to go on, haven't I? It doesn't matter, though; manufactured or not, the war is starting. This event; you can go out there and scream that it was manufactured, but story has no direction? Find some; maybe you locate the company to blame and stop them- though by that time they'll certainly have helped me. Maybe you participate in the war; Starria aren't great people, but is anybody without their own flaws?" He stretched, and Charlotte heard the noise of joints popping as the man reached up, arching his back. "Ugh, the aches never cease…"
"You said the weapons… manufacturer… they're going to help you?" Charlotte stepped forward, angling her head.
"I did. For what it's worth, Deus Ex: I'm sorry, but I've suffered a thousand times more than all of the people here that died. I had to do this. Your name, it's ironic, isn't it?"
You- what- huh- what the hell do you mean you suffered a thousand times more than all of this, who are you…?
"Charlotte? Plus- wait, aren't you- I mean do really think that killing all these people is somehow justified? What exactly are you?"
"Deus Ex- that's the name I meant. You're only that if it's an enemy that can be killed," The man chuckled, turning and walking toward the door again. "Well, I should be going."
"Wait-" -but he was already gone, and Charlotte was alone in a worn-down warehouse, with a strange feeling of emptiness.
This is… this… it's a money move…?
Does that matter, when the war is coming regardless?
Gods, what… why couldn't it just be simple…
-
"Wolfpack?" The first soldier raised his hand as Haru, Aurelia, and the others reached the impromptu military camp. "Go on in. Command wants a debrief. Fox, you have a message from Ica."
Haru shifted as she walked, rubbing one forearm with the other and swallowing, thoughtful, glancing sideways as Fox was led in another direction- though she glanced back, blowing a kiss, and Haru wished she could return the sentiment, right then, her chest tightening a bit. Weapons companies; it's simple then, right? We go ahead and we investigate, save Alex and bring him home, stop the war and everybody is happy! Not like the military wouldn't give us backing for that, right? No man left behind or whatever- they'd have to help us. Right? Yeah. Course.
The recovered soldiers were led into a tent where a soldier pored over a laptop, gun across his lap. Without looking up, he sighed, rolling his shoulders. "Report."
"Sir," Aurelia stepped forward, sighing. "We succeeded in getting the trapped soldiers out of the church. The masked individual did show himself, but he harmed nobody and reported that he was being supported by a weapons company that he did not name. His objectives were as such; oversee the chaos and kidnap one of those summoned from another world. He took Alex and vanished. After that, it was smooth sailing. We haven't heard back from Charlotte yet, either, but as she's effectively unkillable and we haven't seen any infected on the way back…
"Understood. Alex is KIA, the rest of you are fine. Great. We'll wait to hear back from Charlotte, and then decide whether we still need to send any teams out. We don't need to worr-"
"I'm sorry to cut in," Haru began, and Aurelia frowned back at her. "Alex is not dead. He was taken by whatever weapons company is sponsoring this attack; that was stated as plainly as day. We need to-"
"KIA. Do you know what that means?" The soldier at the desk looked up, reaching up and removing his dark helmet, revealing a shock of black hair.
"Do you know what MIA means?" Haru shot back hotly, planting her feet. "Alex isn't dead, we need to find him-" The man flashed before she could see, and Haru landed on her ass, blood welling in her mouth, clutching her jaw.
"First off, Aurelia, you ought to teach your subordinates to shut up a bit more effectively," The soldier sighed, and Haru glanced up as something touched her head; Eileen's staff. In seconds, warmth flooded her head, and the blood stopped- and on top of that, Haru felt as though she'd just woken from a healthy eight-hour rest. Jeez, healing magic…
"Second off, Alex is KIA. Taken by a god of pain? There will be no searching, KIA ties the knot for paperwork."
"He's not, dead-!!" Haru snapped, and the soldier raised a foot to kick her… but his foot froze in midair, and when he tried to jerk back, he staggered back, falling on his ass, Eileen's magic shimmering in the air. Haru pressed on, shaking her head. "Aurelia why are you telling me to stop?! We watched him be taken- I thought you're the QUEEN'S agent, why would you want to AVOID saving a life?!"
"Haru, there's a way we do things," Aurelia sighed, delicately.
"He is alive," Eileen stepped forward, now. "Alex was taken to be… who knows? Tortured? Kidnapped? We must search for him, do you understand?"
"Yeah," Haru snorted angrily, climbing to her feet, righteous anger burning hot in her chest. "You already left him for dead once, coward, but you'd do it twice? Do you even want to mark him as KIA to make things simpler? Or just to spin the story and pretend that your pathetic, sorry excuse for commandment includes leaving your soldiers for dead and acting like you couldn't do anything differently?"
"Haru," Aurelia muttered nervously, but she ignored the succubus-pixie-lady.
"No, Aurelia, I mean it. Leaving people to die because, what? It's easier? Wouldn't that make you the same as- no we- we saw him- that'd make you-?"
"You-!!"
"I what- I just want to do the right thing here, how can't you understand that?!"
"Haru. WE can investigate Alex's disappearance," Aurelia snapped, narrowing her eyes. "There's no excuse to be insubordinate, and disrespect the people above you-"
"There is an excuse!" Haru disagreed. "You can throw me out of Wolfpack and let me find my own way if you want but if we were all comfortable bowing our heads and leaving people to die because- because- Are you even ignoring me because you think I'm wrong, or am I just not a HIGH ENOUGH RANK TO BE LISTENED TO-?!" Her usual calm cracking, Haru stepped forward and yelped as she was knocked down again by Aurelia, who glowered down at her.
"HARU. ENOUGH. THERE IS A PROCESS TO HOW WE DO THINGS AND I TOLD YOU, WE CAN INVESTIGATE THE WEAPONS COMPANY. Throwing a temper tantrum and stomping your foot WON'T solve ANYTHING." Her green-blue eyes narrowed angrily, tail thrashing behind her now, but Haru couldn't understand her anger, her chest hurt, she wanted to run into the rain screaming and find somebody, anybody to demand answers of. For a moment, she just sat there, confused, feeling something like heartbreak; the commander sneering at her in disgust. Aurelia seemingly uncomfortable, awkward. The other soldiers glaring at her with disdain, as if she was a civilian who'd wandered into their tent…
Gods, none of them respect me, so they don't even want to hear me… but I can't just let go…?
"Aurelia, why the hell," The commander snarled, climbing to his feet fully and dusting himself off, now. "-would you invite some soft, bleeding-heart civilian into your team?"
"Soft, bleeding-heart civilian," Eileen spoke slowly, "-is right? Mortal armies fail to understand the value of a life; but if you leave Alex to die, and the Queen leaves you to die, and the rest of the world leaves your nation to die… we would be as animals. So long as Haru, Aurelia, and the rest of Wolfpack will be investigating, we may let this rest. However, I will be joining."
"What, is the elf hot for the kid?" The commander rolled his eyes, crossing his arms, and Eileen shook her head.
"No. He only reminded me that there is more of this world to see than a secluded wood."
Haru cut in, frowning. "Please look, I get it I'm not a commander or a veteran but-"
"Haru," Aurelia snapped, grabbing the badger girl's arm.
"He's not dead-"
"Stop with your rambling; you don't know the limits; you're past it. No more warnings. Silence NOW. TEN MINUTES AGO." Her dual-colored eyes bored into Haru's, rage sparkling darkly. "Petty insults and feelings have no place in this setting. We can look into the weapons company- we can look at what happened to Alex. Don't get yourself so bloodied you can't fight. He's got to look out for his own people! The ones in front of him, not dead, not missing, don't you get it!?"
"I wouldn't be happy- to let you die, Aurelia- We saw him-" Haru snapped, but her voice was pleading. "I thought we were here to save people, and do the right thing…"
"Haru, it's not as simple as that," The tanned woman sighed, stepping back. "We can investigate though, okay? At the very least we'll run checks on the company, have Lif and Ica do a little digging. I promise that much, okay? Not to shut you up- you're right, but we need to have a serious talk about the way you present yourself."
"Appearances- pain- let him die-?"
"Shut. Up." Aurelia countered, voice wearing thin. However, when she opened her mouth to reply, the commander cut in.
"Listen, your catfight and insubordination isn't welcome in my tent. Out, before I have you all thrown out."
"I would like to see you try," Eileen stepped forward, planting her staff. "You will accept my help in what follows. You would be foolish not to- I can heal so many wounds; I can sustain you far better than you'd handle injury without me. You will not threaten Haru."
"-and, if I do?" Aurelia frowned. "This is my team, and being kind is a choice I-"
"You are not being kind," Eileen stated flatly. "You want everybody to be happy, but true kindness includes doing what's right, and being kind to a commander who'd leave his men to die and spin the tale is not deserved. You are being complacent."
There was silence for a moment, and then the commander shook his head. "Whatever, we need to wait for Charlotte's report. Get the fuck out of my sight- I'll do you a favor, not reporting this to anybody. The weapons company thing… Aurelia, you know what to do with that information."
"I do," The half succubus confirmed, sighing exhaustedly. "Sorry, about all this."
"It just feels so sudden," Haru muttered. "The infected were a threat, and now they're just… not?"
"I doubt if this will be our last time dealing with something like this," Aurelia muttered. "Now come on."
"I am coming." Eileen huffed, stepping up to Haru's shoulder. For a moment, there was silence, and then Aurelia nodded.
"Let's get out of here, then."
As she hurried to follow, Haru shook her head, head whirling with thoughts and confusion; is this place's culture really built on leaving people to die?
If we can figure out this weapons company stuff, we might be able to defuse whatever war they want to break out, right?
Nah, Haru. You're in over your head, and all of this is pointless-
No, don't think like that. If we figure out the company, we save Alex and prove the war doesn't need to happen… right…?
We can do this, we investigate, and we save, but…
"Is it really normal?" she asked Eileen as the blonde brushed past, swallowing. "To leave people to die when it's easier?"
"You're thinking like a summoned hero," Eileen sighed, and there was a ghost of a smile on her lips. "Not a government or a military."
"Haru??" Fox barreled into her from the side. "Are you okay? Who's blood is that?? Are you alright??"
"I'm fine…? We can talk about it later," Haru added, wincing when Aurelia shot a burning glare back. "What did Ica want…?"
"To let me know that we're being picked up in four hours- that's to you too Aurelia!! He figured Aurelia would need to make the report, so better to pull me-"
"Mm… I need some sleep," Haru sighed, rubbing her temples.
"Haru…" Fox huffed, looking up quietly. "Come on, talk to me…"
"Not right now," The badger girl shook her head, sighing, eyes dark. "Please, just… later…"
"N-Need me to go away, or…?" Fox asked, eyes widening, worried.
"Hell no," Haru whispered, smiling tiredly and linking their arms.